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A Few Jordanian Birds

10,000 Birds

My wife and I had the privilege of visiting Mexican friends in Jordan in early October. Even upon our departure from Jordan, I was informed that my ever-so-dangerous binoculars could not go in my carry-on bag. However, Bethany-on-the-Jordan, the site of Jesus’ baptism, was my first shot at some real habitat.

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A Bit of Birding on Lake Chapala

10,000 Birds

First, we had our five-week trip to Spain, Turkey and Jordan in September and October. Then we threw together a semi-planned family-related trip to the States in early December. I assured him then, and assure you now, that I am fine. But my wife’s and my lives have been rather chaotic of late.

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I and the Bird: What is a Swallow?

10,000 Birds

Taxonomically, swallows are one of the few families of birds that has seen little change in its ranks. For centuries, it seems that ornithologists and naturalists have correctly pegged swallows to the right family. The family is global in its distribution, with 83 species of around 19 genera. Barn Swallow , Hirundo rustica.

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A Most Unexpected Encounter

10,000 Birds

Some of this tourism occurred because we were supposed to visit Jordan, but recent geopolitical events have made Americans rather unwelcome in that corner of the world. The addition of a family of Least Grebes was a nice touch. This trip included seven international flights, between six countries, on three continents.

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How Many Hummers?

10,000 Birds

In the end, it gave me 44 lifers: 10 from Turkey and 8 from Jordan, which I had not visited before, and 26 from Spain, which I had visited previously, but in which we spent much more time. Among these, one must certainly include the New World-only hummingbird family.

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I and the Bird: What is a Grebe?

10,000 Birds

And now we enter into a family of birds more or less unknown to non-birders. And truth told, over the years they’ve been something of a square peg for ornithologists too, not fitting precisely into any of the known families of birds. Pied-billed Grebe Pair Build a Nest – Larry Jordan, The Birder’s Report.

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A Modest Proposal for a Wildlife Conservation Stamp

10,000 Birds

Just ask whoever greenlit the A&E reality show Duck Dynasty , about a family that sells duck calls.) A mockup of what a Wildlife Conservation Stamp might look like. Duck hunting is big business in the United States. But what about those of us who’d rather just look at ducks than shoot them? Where’s our duck stamp?

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