10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida By James • March 8, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by shorebirds.

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Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 225

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2015

The 19th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival ! Having an up-close-and-personal photo shoot with a Florida Red-shouldered Hawk. Enjoying the endemic-to-Florida Florida Scrub-Jay is always a highlight of the festival. I can’t wait for January! To be exact, 20-25 January 2016. So, are you coming?

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2016 Wildlife Bald Eagle Florida 223

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2014

I was at the Blue Heron Wetlands in Titusville, Florida, during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival hoping to connect with a Purple Gallinule that the field trip I co-led with Laura Erickson failed to find. The birds in Florida, on the other hand, are of domestic stock gone feral. And why is it still there?

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Feral Florida Ducks Texas 203

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

That will be the opening day of the 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Florida is a great place to bird in January because in addition to the year-round species there are a host of birds that winter in the relatively balmy climate that Florida has in winter. This will change.

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2015 Wildlife Florida Honduras 228

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

On my previous trips to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival I had only once spotted an armadillo, and that was on the side of the highway as I whizzed past, which is hardly the view you want when you are seeing something for the first time. At least this one chose Black Point Wildlife Drive to be the road it hung out along.

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Florida Coyotes Wildlife Mammals 177

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Many of these refuges and associated Conservation Areas, which have the potential to protect more than 1 million acres of vital wildlife habitat, have been forged through creative partnerships with sportsmen, conservation groups and private landowners. And some members of Congress want to cut funding dramatically 2.

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Wildlife Hunters Ducks Hunting 233

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2011

I can’t wait to explore outer space at the 15th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival from 25-30 January 2012! I don’t get to go to outer space as part of the 15th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival ? Joining a Florida pelagic trip! Visiting Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

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Wildlife Florida 2012 Birds 196

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Cloud, Florida, Doug, with whom I had been birding all day long, found a Yellow-throated Warbler foraging behind us. They winter in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. 10,000 Birds is a Scrub Jay-level sponsor of the 15th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. …

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Florida New York City Dominica United States 192

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

For birders visiting Florida there are several different types of habitat that must be visited. When I am at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, I try to get to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in order to see the aforementioned species and also Brown-headed Nuthatch , which for this New Yorker is a pretty cool bird to see.

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Wildlife Sparrows Woodpeckers Florida 217

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2015

You may not have heard about the Florida Bonneted Bat (Eumops floridanus) , and that is fine, not many know this bat even existed. This bat is rare and range-restricted in South Florida, which are some of the reasons it was recently listed as an endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Florida Bonneted Bat roosting in Palm Tree.

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Bats Florida Endangered Species Cuba 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Thanks to a kindhearted man who found it, an able and willing wildlife rehabilitator named Linda Bowen who nursed it back to strength, a helpful pilot who got it to Florida, and a host of others, a White-tailed Tropicbird that was found on the ground and exhausted in Connecticut in the wake of Hurricane Irene will be released tomorrow.

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Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Connecticut Wildlife 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2012

Platalea ajaja is a marvelous bird and I was delighted to make its acquaintance - for only the second time in my life – at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge’s Black Point Drive when I was attending the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in January.

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Wildlife New Jersey South America United States 210

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2011

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be meeting on Wednesday and will be voting on the removal of sixteen species from the state’s endangered species list , including four birds – Snowy Egret , Brown Pelican , Limpkin , and White Ibis.

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Endangered Species Florida Species Pelicans 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

I think most readers of 10,000 Birds will, at this point, remember my great disappointment in January of 2012 when I went on the Black Rail field trip at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival and neither heard nor saw a Black Rail. John’s National Wildlife Refuge just under two years from when I left it, a defeated birder.

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Wildlife Philippines Florida 2012 194

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2015

That being said, I found this juvenile recently at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. The complex headquarters at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge , Colusa NWR , and Delevan NWR all have photo blinds that are available to reserve. It was perched right next to the road on the auto tour route. Click on photos for full sized images.

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Sacramento Wildlife Florida Hunting 188

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APRIL 20, 2011

Even in the Brazilian Amazon, I’ve never seen this many whistling ducks together–there were sixty at a manmade lake behind the Brevard Community College near Titusville, Florida. I don’t get a lot of life birds in North America any more, but this confiding little gent offered himself up to the list: a Florida Scrub-Jay.

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Florida Tail Banding Ohio Ducks 145

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Wait, you probably are already going to do that… Anyway, here are the images, all taken when I was in Florida at the end of January for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival: Quiz Pic 1 Quiz Pic 2 Quiz Pic 3 Diabolical? Not diabolical enough? Too diabolical? Whatever your thoughts, good luck! … a.

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Florida Wildlife Species Birds 160

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JANUARY 26, 2015

For me, one of the best parts of going to Florida for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is the chance to see Roseate Spoonbills. Three years ago I shared a gallery of images of spoonbills at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge but I think it is time for another. You can never get enough spoonbill!

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New Jersey Florida Wildlife 2015 254

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

On Saturday, 28 January, while I was at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, Doug Gochfeld and I made our way to central Florida for most of a day’s birding, looking for the specialty species of that region. Stay tuned for parts two and three of me and Doug’s run through central Florida. Truly amazing, no?

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Wildlife North Carolina Woodpeckers Florida 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2014

Herons and raptors and rails and gulls and ducks and cranes and jays and owls and alligators are all awaiting me – and you – at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Blue-winged Teal like these at Meritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2012 certainly count as good birds. I can’t wait until Space Coast!

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Wildlife Tampa Alligators 2012 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2018

As the Caribbean’s emerald waters fell away below our seaplane, I had no idea what to expect from my visit to the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. Photo by US Fish and Wildlife. Sooties, noddies, and where to find them. This hard-to-spot, large seabird is distinguished from the Brown Booby by its yellowish bill.

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Florida Marine Life Turtles Humane 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Having now visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in January this New Yorker will never have that problem again. I had only been in Florida for about fourteen hours when a herd – yes, a herd, not a flock* – of American Avocets was foraging its way across the shallow water in front of me.

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Wildlife Florida 2012 Groups 175

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

A Miami native and resident, Carlos is perfectly situated to write about South Florida, which will be his beat, though it would not be the least bit surprising if he occasionally writes about birds and birding further afield. We would like everyone to give a warm welcome to the latest Beat Writer here on 10,000 Birds, Carlos Sanchez.

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Florida Puerto Rico Costa Rica Ecuador 161

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

So what’s so special about seeing the resident re-introduced Whooping Cranes in Florida? One of the last remaining Whooping Cranes in the non-migratory Florida flock. Whooping Cranes occurred naturally in the eastern United States until the late 1940s, and there are records of Whooping Cranes in Florida until the 1930s.

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Buffalo Florida Louisiana 2004 256

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DECEMBER 11, 2014

After what I can only presume were some very frustrating delays, registration for the 2015 Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is now ready to go on their website ! Register, show up, and enjoy the great birds that Florida has to offer in January. See you there… Birding festivals Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival'

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Wildlife 2015 Florida Birds 161

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

Back in January, when I was enjoying my attendance at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival down in Florida, I had an enchanting encounter with our national bird , the Bald Eagle. And where there is a lot of wildlife there will also be other wildlife that shows up to eat the original wildlife.

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Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife Florida 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2021

Jayne Neville, a former wildlife rehabilitator specializing in songbirds, moved from Connecticut to Florida and immediately began making the acquaintance of all the birds in the area. Jayne had a pet carrier handy for wildlife rescue and the eagle was transported to Peace River Wildlife Center and treated for electrocution.

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Bald Eagle Wildlife Rehabilitation Rabbits Eagles 264

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AUGUST 14, 2019

Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Here, birds make up only some of the wildlife sightings. Marks, which covers 68,000 acres in Florida. Marks National Wildlife Refuge appeared first on 10,000 Birds. The highlight for me in the inland wetlands remains a Marbled Godwit , my first.

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Wildlife Alligators Raccoons Deer 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2014

“We had a call one morning about a snake and a hawk,” says Tom Sweets, the executive director and chief rescuer of the Key West Wildlife Center , located at the very tip of Florida. Key West Wildlife Center takes mostly birds, but will rescue mammals, marine mammals, and both land and sea turtles as well.

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Reptiles Chickens Sea Turtles Wildlife Rehabilitation 240

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

I can’t wait to be in Florida! The 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is less than a month away and while we don’t have snow down yet here in New York City I am pretty sick of cold weather and could use some warmth and Florida sunshine! John’s National Wildlife Refuge” trip.

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Wildlife Bald Eagle 2015 New York City 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2014

My very first rescue was a House Sparrow caught in a glue trap,” says Donna Osburn, a wildlife rehabilitator in Kentucky. The unhappy duo pictured at left, a Common Grackle and a Brown Anole, were discovered in the back of a grocery store complex in Florida. Birds birds glue traps glue traps sticky traps wildlife rehabilitator'

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Mice Rodents Rescue 279

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JULY 3, 2014

Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The wood stork was listed as endangered in 1984, because the Florida population was dropping at an approximate rate of 5 percent per year. Wood storks primarily breed in Central and South Florida.

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North Carolina Bald Eagle South Carolina Florida 230

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I challenge that false notion and welcome those to visit Anhinga Trail in late winter and see one of the great wildlife spectacles of Florida. Regardless, it is still freshwater wetland birding in Florida at its best.

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Wildlife Alligators Miami Florida 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

While at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival I could not resist making the drive north to Daytona Beach one day to witness the awesome gull fly-in from the dump to the beach. … 10,000 Birds is a Scrub-Jay level sponsor of the 2014 Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.

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Florida Panama Wildlife 2014 227

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2015

In less than forty-eight hours I will helping guide a field trip to Viera Wetlands at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Like the White Ibis above, Florida’s big wading birds are so cooperative, so beautiful, and and so willing to be photographed that it is a digiscoper’s dream. I can’t wait!

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Florida Wildlife 2015 Species 190

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MAY 3, 2015

Will I see you in Titusville, Florida, in 2016? … 1o,ooo Birds was a Scrub-Jay level sponsor of the 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival and will likely be again for the 19th. They are the cherry on top of the field trip, presentation, and great bird sundae.

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2016 Wildlife Florida Birds 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2013

In under a month I will looking at lots of great birds at the 17th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. My favorite part of Blue Heron Wetlands two years ago was this amazingly awesome “Florida” Red-shouldered Hawk , though there are lots of other great birds to see there as well.

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Florida Alligators Wildlife 2008 202