10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. In 2023 I attempted to keep a year list of mammal encounters: the list barely exceeded 20 species, while it became complicated by seeing bats and voles that I was unable to name specifically.

Fur 182

Fur Otters Bulgaria Estonia 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2012

The current header image of my own blog is another Barn Owl, this one a ringed individual I found daylight hunting, and unconcerned by the presence of my car as it hunted from posts presumably feeding young in early summer last year. Above our fireplace is a large painting of a Barn Owl.

Barn Owls 179

Barn Owls Finland Owls Portugal 179

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

Several poachers were waiting in ever thickening darkness (Serbian legislation forbids night hunting). Barnacle geese breed mainly on the Arctic islands of the North Atlantic, while the nearest wintering areas also lie along the northern coasts of Europe: the Netherlands and the Baltic Sea (Estonia, Finland, Denmark and Sweden).

Geese 143

Geese Serbia Ukraine Estonia 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

An Englishwoman, she thought, originally, that she would stay within the British Isles, to see the five or six native species. As she notes, Eastern Europe contains significant pockets of agriculturally undeveloped land, and thus has a far greater diversity of species “from invertebrates to large carnivores” than in Northern Europe.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Finland Serbia 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Given the complexity of the research, the result feels like a bit of a letdown – “northern populations start migration earlier than southern populations, especially in autumn” The species name of the Chestnut-eared Bunting is fucata , from the Latin “fucare”, to paint red.

Eggs 204

Eggs Birds Bangladesh China 204