10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2015

The Marine Nature Study Area in Oceanside is one of the premiere places in New York to get great looks at a variety of saltmarsh species without having to slog through a saltmarsh. It was an exciting experience to see this heron going about its business from close range, close enough that I could hear the crabs being crushed.

New York City 233

New York City New York Hunting Sparrows 233

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

One of the rites of passage I underwent as a birder following my move from New York City to upstate New York was my first winter excursion to the rolling, snow-covered grasslands north of Albany to look for Short-eared Owls ( Asio flammeus ).

Owls 247

Owls New York New York City Cuba 247

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2014

It is the first record of this invasive species for New York City and it served as a nice contrast to the hordes of pigeons in the neighborhood. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 177

New York City 2014 Breeders Virginia 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2012

Though birds sing because it is a biological imperative I find it hard to believe that they don’t get some basic enjoyment out of the experience as well. I would add a third – for the sheer joy of it! I know I do! The dawn chorus is a delight to the ear, a celebration of having survived the night to welcome the sun.

New York City 197

New York City Birds New York Breeding 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2019

I definitely didn’t see much, but sometimes the usual species satisfy well enough. Corey enjoyed a weekend upstate in his hometown, beating the heat that baked New York City. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2019 159

2019 New York City Virginia New York 159

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2015

Corey had a huge number of birds to choose from this weekend as northwest winds were continuous through New York City all weekend long. But of all the species he spotted he felt either of the two Grasshopper Sparrows at Kissena Park in Queens was his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 150

New York City 2015 New York Sparrows 150

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2013

Corey had an absurd array of avians to choose from as his Best Bird of the Weekend considering that between Friday and Sunday he saw 148 species in his journeys around Queens, the Bronx, and Sullivan, Ulster, and Orange Counties. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

New York City 165

New York City 2013 New York Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2015

I had racked up only twenty-odd species, all of which I’d have to be blindfolded to not see if I spent a year in New York City. Did I have a lovely experience with the birds as well? A literal wild goose chase had led to a cascading series of errors in which I missed nearly every bird I sought.

New York City 161

New York City Squirrels Bears Owls 161

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

Many birders have places they return to year after year, special pilgrimages promising scenes and species they see nowhere else. Enjoying these locations over time allows us to experience our beloved birding sites in all their multifaceted glory, even when those facets aren’t exactly glorious. How about you?

2018 124

2018 Ponies New York City Tennessee 124

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2018

Corey did not have a plethora of pleasing species from which to choose his Best Bird of the Weekend this weekend but he supposed that the American Kestrel that perched up for the New York City Audubon field trip he led at Queens Botanic Garden on Sunday morning will have to suffice. How about you?

2018 124

2018 New York City New York Birds 124

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

There are owls in New York City. The two stories about New York City are personal favorites, of course. Big owls: Barred Owls on Riverside Drive and down the path from Harlem Meer, a Great Horned Owl in Central Park’s Ramble.

New York City 223

New York City Fox Owls California Condor 223

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2019

Corey enjoyed leading a New York City Audubon bird walk at Forest Park on Saturday morning and visiting Breezy Point on Sunday. Though he had quite a few species to choose from his easy favorite was any of the many Razorbills he saw at Breezy Point. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2019 113

2019 New York City New York Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

New York City apartments don’t allow feeders to be hung from fire escapes (though I know certain birders that skirt that rule), and it wasn’t until I had already been birding for four-and-a-half years that I obtained a small yard in central New Jersey in which I could place a feeder or two or three.

New York City 189

New York City Birds Squirrels Woodpeckers 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Dorian’s gregarious personality and self-deprecating sense of humor makes even the most meditative sections one of a piece with his birding experiences, producing a good read that may make you think. Plus tales of birding from the point of view of the traveling cyclist. There are also surprises.

Los Angeles 243

Los Angeles Massachusetts Birds New York City 243

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

The 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is less than a month away and while we don’t have snow down yet here in New York City I am pretty sick of cold weather and could use some warmth and Florida sunshine! Sign up if you want the chance to see an enigmatic and charismatic species.

Wildlife 157

Wildlife Bald Eagle 2015 New York City 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

The book is organized into ten chapters, framed by a Prologue and Epilogue focused on Weidensaul’s banding experience in Denali National Park. His participant observations connect to his own research experiences, providing history and perspective. Weidensaul traveled to each location to witness the research in process.

Cyprus 264

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2018

He didn’t find anything particularly spectacular but he did see quite a few species. His Best Bird of the Weekend was either of a pair of young White-crowned Sparrows he found in Kissena Park in Queens, a good bird for winter in New York City! How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 100

New York City 2018 New York Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2018

Corey had a wonderful weekend of birding, hitting a variety of spots across Queens on Saturday and then leading a New York City Audubon field trip looking for ducks in central Queens on Sunday. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2018 100

2018 New York City New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2018

Not only did I bag the beautiful bird I expected, but I also encountered a tasty species I never expect there until I see it every year: Olive-sided Flycatcher. Speaking of OSFL, Corey had quite a haul of species to choose from this weekend after leading two walks for New York City Audubon and doing a ton of birding on his own on Sunday.

New York City 100

New York City 2018 Jamaica New York 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2020

It was an invigorating experience and an example of my favorite kind of birding, that of the spectacle. After all, it’s not every day that you more than double the all time high count for a species in your home county, and it is definitely not every day that you get to witness a spectacle like a 12,000-strong gannet feeding frenzy!

New York 237

New York Fish New York City Experience 237

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Mostly the ducks were Red-breasted Merganser and Greater Scaup , the two most prevalent species on the pond, but there were a few other birds mixed in as well. It is my belief that the birds were migrating, though one New York birder suggested that they might have been flying out for some crepuscular feeding.

Ducks 184

Ducks 2011 Jamaica Deer 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2018

Fifth, Kirtland’s Warbler is an amazing conservation success story, having come back from the brink of extinction to the point where it is now proposed for delisting as an Endangered Species. It’s hard to think of a species I would rather see in New York State. Will I ever twitch a bird this good again?

New York 123

New York New York City Michigan Endangered Species 123

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

GISS—general impression, size, shape—is intuitive, the result of an unconscious cognitive process derived from experience in the field. It is not a handbook, though it approaches species from a collective viewpoint. “BBI These chapters differ in length and content, depending on the number of species in each group.

New Jersey 180

New Jersey Birds Science New York City 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2012

A pretty major front was supposed to make its way over New York City in the wee hours so we decided to play it by ear and call each other early in the morning and figure out if the weather would be decent enough to go out at all and, if so, where we would go. First state records are held to an extremely high standard.).

Cape Verde 172

Cape Verde New York New York City Albatross 172

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2017

In 2009, I traveled from New York City to the tropical rainforest of Ecuador. Though each chapter offers a wealth of mind-boggling knowledge, I particularly enjoyed the chapter on “Tropical Intimacy: Mutualism and Co-evolution,” with its examination of species interdependences and evolutionary oddities.

South America 180

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 180

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

Many years of experience have been lost. There have been 221 species recorded on the count, including goodies like Gyrfalcon , King Rail , Western Tanager , Ash-throated Flycatcher , Sedge Wren and Black-throated Gray Warbler. The New York City area’s Christmas Bird Count density is absurd.

Birds 164

Birds New York City New York New Jersey 164

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I haven’t yet been birding in Europe but whenever I occasionally skim a field guide about the birds on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m always encouraged to find that I’m already familiar with many species found over there, even though most of my birding experience has been limited to eastern North America.

2017 122

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 122

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2016

Species that back here in New York either don’t occur or only occur in winter and that necessitate a drive far to the north of New York City were common in the backyard in Breckenridge. My worries were unfounded but I must say it is an interesting experience to have foxes begging by the table.

Fox 100

Fox New York New York City Soreing 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2016

Both are declining species who have attracted the attention of birders and conservationists, and both are hanging on, showing the remarkable spirit that I think characterizes New Yorkers throughout the state. Brian Laben had a wonderful experience seeing this rarity in upstate New York (or, is that mid-state?

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle New York City Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2019

Their populations, plus those of other species that ‘wore’ the coveted long, colorful feathers used for women’s fashionable hats, were being dangerously depleted by hunters intent on feeding the millinery industry. Fitting, since New York City and London were the centers of the millinery trade. This is good stuff.

Virginia 126

Virginia Portland Industry New York City 126

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

Solid Air: Invisible Killer- Saving Billions of Birds from Windows is the summation of Dr. Klem’s expertise, experience, and professional life–what we scientifically know about bird and glass collisions, a handbook on how to prevent them, and, not insignificantly, the story of a remarkable career.

New York City 264

New York City Illinois Science Killing 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

His topic was the report recently issued by the Audubon Society where the organization claimed 314 species of birds in the United States and Canada are threatened by climate change. If 314 species are threatened in the United States and Canada then the numbers world wide must be absolutely staggering. Get involved!

New York City 245

New York City New York United States Canada 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

we learn) that are home to coveted boreal species, breeding wood-warblers, and two species of Grouse. There are 461 species on the Maine checklist. This field guide covers 265 species, the ones most likely to be seen–residential and migratory, almost all nesting birds, many wintering birds.

Los Angeles 233

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 233

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Redgannet, you’ll have to come visit New York City sometime soon. are up next, with a wonderful Australian species: It is very hard to choose a Best Bird of the Year any year. This weird little skulking waterfowl is a species I had hoped to chance upon in various places for quite some time. Clare (and Grant!)

2020 260

2020 Birds Costa Rica Germany 260

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Formerly, as you can tell from its name, it was a military base, mostly tasked with keeping New York Harbor safe from attack. I was joined on the platform by Luke Musher, a recent transplant to New York City who I met a week earlier in the same location with Doug Gochfeld. And this bird was way out over the water.

New York City 225

New York City New York Battery Pelicans 225

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

There might be some question as to if the birding that resulted from Hurricane Irene on Sunday, 28 August 2011, was the best birding ever in New York State but any day that can even be entered into that conversation is going to feature some amazingly good birding.

New York City 160

New York City New York Birds 2011 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2016

Here is what you need to do: Send me a brief description of the best bird you’ve ever seen in New York State–name of species, where you saw it, when, and why this is a bird that has stayed in your memory. You can tell that it is written by a birder who learned how to bird in New York State. ” 3.

New York 185

New York New York City Birds 2016 185