10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2021

You fly to Phoenix, or Tucson, rent a car (or ride a bike cross-country, if you are Noah Strycker), drive to the tiny towns of Patagonia and Sierra Vista, and voila! All sorts of exotic and beautiful species may be seen. Southeastern Arizona is unusual, precisely because its species mix is as much Mexican as it is American.

Arizona 264

Arizona Mexico Los Angeles Houston 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

Getting to actually see four species, in the last two weeks, and to hear two more is almost unheard of in my experience. Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. It all started in getting to photograph the Northern Pygmy-owls in Madera Canyon.

Owls 190

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 190

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2018

The crunch is on, and with less than two weeks left in the year, we are trying to squeeze out as many more species as possible. Last week, we quite impulsively jumped in a rental car and drove 2600 miles round trip to south Texas to pick up 34 new species. If we could get there, all other expenses were covered.

Bahamas 113

Bahamas Tucson El Paso Texas 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

We have escaped the clutches of the Bahamas, and are finally back “home” in Tucson, Texas. Our first stop was the Lakeview Drive Ponds, Corey’s primary birding location when he and his family visited the island a few years ago. The Little Big Year species – 1291. The Little Big Year species – 1291.

Bahamas 149

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 149

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

The naming of the hornbill family is a bit farther fetched. Wikimedia Commons Bucerotidae is etymologically opaque to most birders, I’d venture, but when Rafinesque described the family almost two centuries ago, he had kine on his mind.

Cows 147

Cows Cattle 2011 Deer 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

This was a wonderful re-introduction to the desert species I was seeking. I managed to get some video of this greedy thrasher before a family walked down the path, and you can view it here. I met the group in Tucson and we spend the next week birding the hell out of the Sky Islands. Highlights included a day on Mt.

Arizona 109

Arizona Lovebirds Phoenix New Jersey 109

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

In the right season, with a little luck, we often find it, and sometimes it perches high and long enough that we can admire its scimitar of a bill, its stern face pattern, and even the patch of rusty red on the undertail that gives the species its English and its scientific names. I had no idea I should have been embarrassed.

Tucson 140

Tucson 2011 Arizona Deer 140