10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

I am shocked to be writing this post already, and doubly shocked that I’ve seen six new species for Queens since I guessed what my next five Queens birds would be just eight months ago, back in March. Way back in March we were in the midst of a global pandemic and Queens was the epicenter of the epicenter that was New York City.

New York City 151

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2015

It being mid-August in New York City there is one place where I have to be as often as I can. This year, what with family plans and other commitments, I didn’t get out on the pond until later than usual but it was worth the wait. Coming to New York City any time between now and the end of September?

Jamaica 162

Jamaica Wildlife New York City New York 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2018

Sparrows predominate but there are a host of other species to find and identify. So, of course, I’ve been out and about looking for birds as often as family and job allow me to. I’ve scoured some inland parks in Queens, led field trips for New York City Audubon, and watched morning flight on the coast.

New York City 141

New York City Birds New York Sparrows 141

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2014

Now that I live in New York City I rarely manage to make it that far north and when I do it tends to be winter, which is kind of odd. My string of winter-only visits to the Adirondacks is over now, happily, because of a three-day weekend with the family in Montreal. Wait, what?

New York City 161

New York City New York Canada Woodpeckers 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2016

I opened the year in California and even though I flew out in the evening on New Year’s Day I did see some species out there that I would otherwise not have seen for the year. Winter birding around New York City was just so-so but I did add one species to my Queens list.

2016 128

2016 Puerto Rico New York City New York 128

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2015

The month before we lost him to bone cancer at age eleven, I was in New York City and met a British man. But he also left a family surrounded by people who shared their grief, who asked if they could help, and who were willing to talk about the ones they’d lost themselves. He left many broken hearts behind.

Wildlife 220

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation New York City Dogs 220

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 184

New York City Fox Owls California Condor 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2015

New York City in July provides limited opportunities for birders to see birds. I saw a Willow Flycatcher , several Northern Mockingbirds , and a bunch of Yellow Warblers. The wrens were a joy to watch, exploring, chattering, getting themselves into and out of trouble.

New York City 165

New York City Blackbirds New York Collecting 165

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 192

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 192

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2018

Though temperatures have rebounded from the nadir and were temporarily above freezing here in New York City, the mercury has plummeted again and long outings out of doors are distinctly less pleasant than they would be if it were T-shirt weather. What’s a birder to do when weather fails to cooperate? Of course not!

Dominican Republic 103

Dominican Republic New York City Culling Birds 103

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

states and thirty-seven counties, and added a whopping ninety-two species to my life list. I didn’t travel much this year, with a June family trip to California and Nevada and a four-day trip in July to Trinidad and Tobago being my only opportunities to get birds not in the northeastern United States. My life Gyrfalcon.

2013 172

2013 New York City Nevada Trinidad 172

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2013

We here in New York City (and in much of the northeastern United States) are dealing with a pretty major cold snap for late May, with temperatures last night falling down to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). So while the rest of my family slept in I nipped out to the park this morning to see how the swallows were doing.

Suffering 180

Suffering New York City United States New York 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

It’s among a handful of species — American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee , the unholy trinity of House Sparrow – Rock Pigeon – European Starling , a few others — that have been everywhere I’ve ever lived. We never would have gotten all those extra species of Red Crossbill that way.

Connecticut 173

Connecticut Baltimore North America New York City 173

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. I remember the talking (Song?)

2017 117

2017 Portugal Rabbits Europe 117

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2016

It’s been nearly three weeks since the family and I left Breckenridge but I’m still thinking about all the birds that we enjoyed from my aunt and uncle’s backyard deck at 10,500 feet above sea level. We spent three days in Breckenridge and each morning I was the first in the family to awaken.

Fox 100

Fox New York New York City Soreing 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

Here in New York City, May is a magic time for birders as the migration floodgates open. To celebrate spring migration, I usually review an exciting new bird book. There are over 11,000 species of moths in North America. I have a hard enough time with the 1,103 bird species on the ABA Checklist.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

The guide covers 520 species of birds regularly found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, including, interestingly, a number of exotic species. There is also a traditional index to bird species, by common and scientific name. Species Accounts are arranged taxonomically, grouped by family.

North America 166

North America America Sparrows Birds 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

Now my Queens list stands at a whopping 302, which means I have actually added thirteen species since my last predictions. This Virginia’s Warbler was my most unexpected new bird in Queens. My shorebird list in Queens is now at thirty-eight species! (It It is pictured at the top of this post.). Number 300 in Queens!

2012 158

2012 New York City Jamaica 2013 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2012

After a long fun day with extended family and friends and long drive back to New York City I didn’t get to bed until well after midnight and Daisy did not understand why I set the alarm for 5 AM. I just had to hope that the bird would stick around for a day so I could see it on Monday morning before work.

Jamaica 158

Jamaica New York City Abandon Abandoning 158

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2011

We took a family outing up to that same Storm King Art Center, which is located about an hour north of New York City in Mountainville, Orange County, last weekend and had an absolute blast. We also observed some evidence of other species breeding.

New York City 160

New York City Soreing New York Breeding 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

Birding by Impression is a conscious, deliberate method of identifying and recognizing birds based on the study and evaluation of “distinctive structural features and behavioral movements” and comparison with nearby and similar species. It is not a handbook, though it approaches species from a collective viewpoint. “BBI

New Jersey 169

New Jersey Birds Science New York City 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2011

The trees forty meters high, the six different species of palm tree that boggle the mind in such cold weather, the hundreds of ferns from the tiniest ones growing on branches to the beautiful big arborescent fern, and the wild orchids including the Masdevallia tovarensis which is endemic to the region. … a.

Venezuela 233

Venezuela New York New York City 2008 233

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Back on Friday, 12 February, I was dismayed when I read the weekly New York City Rare Bird Alert email. What a marvelous sight my seventh goose (and 313th species) for Queens was! It was another nice look but I didn’t linger as I wanted to get home and enjoy the rest of the day with the family.

Puerto Rico 121

Puerto Rico Geese Canada Porpoises 121

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2012

Or, one of the 145 species of Glass frogs living in the Cental and South American rainforests, I could look through the transparent skin on their undersides and see their internal organs. All species of frogs and toads share the fact that they are amphibian creatures, they have two types of skin gland, four legs, and, well, they jump.

Reptiles 184

Reptiles Madagascar Family New York City 184

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 148

South America Ecuador Reptiles America 148

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 118

Virginia Portland Industry New York City 118

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 169

Ducks 2011 Jamaica Deer 169

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

So is the response of people from all over New York City and beyond. I helped a guy lug a cart full of water, food, and other supplies up eleven flights of stairs to his apartment, something he would not have been able to do alone, and made sure he and his family were alright and had everything they needed.

Battery 103

Battery Suffering New York City Birds 103

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

I finally got my first phoebe of the year yesterday, Saturday, 19 March, a mere eighteen days after the first phoebe of the season was reported in New York City. And, if you don’t get Eastern Phoebe or if they winter, what species do you use as your sure sign that spring has arrived?

2011 179

2011 Deer Philadelphia New York 179

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2013

Three species of owl in one park in the Bronx in one morning! I came home, ate some lunch with Desi and Daisy, and then we went for a family walk in the familiar confines of Forest Park. Barred Owl in Pelham Bay Park. Now that is a great way to start a day!

Owls 166

Owls Skunks Hunting New York City 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2021

July in New York City is generally an unpleasant experience. This is why New Yorkers in summer have fled the city for the mountains upstate, the beaches on Long Island, or, really, anywhere, for as long as New York has been a metropolis. Sandhill Crane , species number 330 in Queens!

Jamaica 264

Jamaica Birds New York City Ducks 264

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 228

2020 Birds Costa Rica Germany 228

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2019

Within its 400 pages, the Birds of the West Indies covers 712 species, 550 of them regularly occurring and 190 of those endemic to the region, many of them to single islands. Furthermore, there are six families confined to the Greater Antilles. If a species is monotypic, this is clearly stated.

Saint Kitts and Nevis 156

Saint Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Dominican Republic Cuba 156

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

As someone who has a spent a week this August on a family vacation in Seattle I think that I am eminently qualified to write a full blog post on how to bird Seattle.

Seattle 175

Seattle Bald Eagle Squirrels Birds 175

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

” Writing about owls means writing about roughly 250 species (I counted 245 on the 2022 Clements spreadsheet, but I might have missed a few, and we all know that each classification system is different). These are behaviors that are most likely to vary across species and topics that make for compelling stories.

Owls 207

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 207

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2015

During my previous five trips to Indonesia, I only heard but never caught a glimpse of three species. Now my tally stands at four species seen and a fifth heard-only. 2015 was challenging, at best, on a personal level but it was a fantastic year for birds in New York City. Sounds good to me! A country-first?

2015 183

2015 Costa Rica Birds Sparrows 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

And having a kind and loving family I was given a wonderful gift for my birthday, a full day’s birding! And being a New York City dweller in winter with a full day available for birding meant, what else, a run out to the eastern end of Long Island for seaducks, gulls, and, sparrows.

Groundhogs 100

Groundhogs New York City New York Sparrows 100