10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. After breeding they also disperse over the rainforests and savannas of West and Central Africa, where they hunt for aerial insects.

Africa 266

Africa Gabon South Africa Uganda 266

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Co-author Frank E. Species Accounts.

Indonesia 184

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 184

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

I’ll never forget my introduction to the mammals of Kruger National Park, South Africa. This is the thing—no matter how devoted you are to birds and birding, once you get to Africa, you can’t resist the mammals. This means you need to pack a mammal guide in addition to your bird guide. Believe me, I tried.

Rhinos 252

Rhinos Animal Mammals White Rhinos 252

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

The gamekeeper drives by, I wave my greetings but do not mention the jackals I am observing at the moment: this animal is not protected in Serbia and is allowed for killing year-round (one may say “hunting” instead, but I am having problems trying to spot the difference). All this happens less than a mile from the nearest houses.

Sheep 185

Sheep Serbia Eagles Mammals 185

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

It’s the boar hunting season. By the cliffs we find several Eurasian Crag-Martins and a consolation species – a family of Golden Eagles in the air! One Grey-headed Woodpecker flies across the road – a promising start. At first, the road is paved, but as soon as the tarmac ends, the tracks become decorated by hunters in orange vests.

Greece 259

Greece Boars Woodpeckers Eagles 259

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2024

If you see a flock of kestrels in southern Europe, then the chances are that they will be Lessers, for the Common Kestrel never flocks, though occasionally in summer you will see a family hunting together. The answer is likely to be a higher percentage of small mammals and birds than they take in the summer.

Falcons 246

Falcons Spain Europe Portugal 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2020

These are fairly simple activities, no scavenger hunts or bird identification exercises, and it occurred to me that some are activities I thought up on my own in past years, to work through with my nephews. It’s an excellent resource for family and child-learning adventures. Like I Love Birds!,

Los Angeles 264

Los Angeles 2019 Birds Reptiles 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

But I do have rules about whether I can have said to have visited a country, ie does the country “count” which I have inherited from my family, particularly my Dad. But you haven’t come here to read my writing about mammals or reptiles, so, yeah, there are also lots of birds. Red Lechwe.

Botswana 162

Botswana Lesotho Elephants Bald Eagle 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

She is an excellent mother, managing not only to feed her four large cubs, but their visiting father One-eyed who comes by every now and then (he has two more families and being the good father he is, visits them all regularly, usually around lunch time). Conservation endangered species India Mammals tiger' Very dusty Swarovski CLs.

Tigers 259

Tigers India Killing 2006 259

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2021

Given this Blog is 10,000 Birds I would like to share, over time, some of the 350 plus Sunshine Coast birds and my favourite birding locations plus some mammals and other critters of my greater area. We were also lucky enough to see a beautiful pair of Sacred Kingfishers hunting along the coastal edge. One is pictured below.

Australia 264

Australia Cooking North America Fish 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

That bald head, so odd and homely, is actually an adaptation for sticking one’s head deep inside the gut of a deceased mammal. Old World Vultures are nestled within the family Acciptridae along with the hawks and eagles. They primarily prey on the large mammals of the African plains, grasslands stretching from horizon to horizon.

California Condor 236

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 236

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

This outstanding member of the wattlebird family is unique among songbirds in having different shaped beaks for each of the sexes. We’ll also keep our eyes open for several members of the New Zealand wren family. There aren’t many mammal ticks on this trip, but the ones you get are pretty remarkable. Laughing Owl.

New Zealand 251

New Zealand Ducks Mountain Goats Australia 251

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2012

Among the Efe (Pygmy) people that I lived with in the 1980s, the young men would in fact disappear from the bosom of their families and spend a lot of time, perhaps months, living on their own in the forest. But it seems that many societies have a version of this that is less dramatic.

Collecting 215

Collecting Birds Rodents Wounded 215

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

This is not to say, however, that birders on holiday are, should they choose to travel with family, friends or other assorted loved ones, resigned to seeing nothing, or even nothing except the common stuff. I was thus able to pick an off-the-shelf ecotourism route and, having selected a company, customise it to my family’s needs.

Bats 243

Bats Birds Elephants Family 243

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

These strange birds are two species in their own family; White-necked or Yellow-headed, endemic to the Upper Guinea forests and Grey-necked or Red-headed, restricted to Lower Guinea forests. The rare Rufous Fishing Owl was one of the many species seen by the group here.

Ghana 251

Ghana Hunters Gambia Guinea 251

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2024

” Blue-bearded Bee-eaters seem to have a pretty clever hunting strategy. Location, location, location – some practical advice for River Lapwings aiming to have a family: “ River Lapwing nests on open, unvegetated river banks achieved significantly greater nesting success than those in crop fields” ( source ).

Squirrels 204

Squirrels Birds China Bears 204