10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Visiting the continent after the end of most of the autumn migration meant that the number of bird species I could see in northern France, Switzerland, southern Germany, and Austria was much reduced. Mute Swans seem equally adapted to human presence in Europe. Mallards were, of course, everywhere water could be found.

Austria 156

Austria Switzerland Europe Geese 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

She has lived in Maine, California, France, New York, and currently makes her home in Virginia Beach Always bringing her camera along, Erika is building her life-list by trying to check off at least one new species each week in her field guide. It was amazing watching them swoop so deftly and then barely skim the surface.

DC 205

DC Florida Washington Tampa 205

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2013

She has lived in Maine, California, France, New York, and currently makes her home in Washington, DC. Despite all the people, the birds were incredibly active, rarely shy, and a reminder that natural wonders like the cherry blossoms interact with more than just us humans. I wanted to bird among the blossoms.

DC 240

DC Washington Birds Geese 240

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Dates of first arrival listed by Schorger (1966) are: Italy 1520, Germany 1530, France 1538, England 1541, Denmark and Norway 1550, Sweden 1556. Early research suggested that “Fragmented distributions and population bottlenecks due to human activities appear to have increased genetic differentiation among populations” (Leberg 1991).

Turkey 249

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 249

Animal Ethics

MARCH 11, 2007

Americans do have a special relationship with horses, and how we treat them reveals much about our own humanity and how far we have evolved. Our American horses are not being shipped to the hungry in Africa; they are being served in the most pricey restaurants in France, Belgium and Japan. But horses are not cows, pigs or chickens.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Horse Slaughter Horses 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

Perhaps it’s an unseen human in this vignette that’s eager to share, lobbing citrus skyward at these gulls. Everything is fair game to gulls, as shown in this vintage advertisement for Paillette, a brewery in Normandy, France. But then I looked at it from the opposite perspective.

Connecticut 296

Connecticut France Game Humane 296

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2017

… Have I seen a Corn Crake… maybe in France? No, I’d remember that, I didn’t see that many birds in France. Instead, I stare at my phone while my brain goes through something like this, “Corn Crake? Is that even possible? Isn’t it a Eurasian bird?… What if it’s an escapee?

New York 189

New York North America France Feral Cats 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2012

Now that’s probably the equivalent of humans trying to eat bark to survive. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks flaunted their gaudy colors like topless sunbathers on a beach in the south of France. Yellow-billed Cuckoos were everywhere. An Upland Sandpiper wandered next to the lighthouse.

Florida 250

Florida Kentucky France North America 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

It is threatened by habitat degradation as a result of the human exploitation of natural resources in the taiga and lower tundra regions of its breeding range, and by lake drainage for irrigation and hydroelectric power production (Armenia).” We, humans, seem to be quite hostile neighbours to other life forms around us.

Montenegro 203

Montenegro Serbia Greece Bulgaria 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2023

That means that before starting the migration, the birds spend 15-18 hours per day feeding and fattening up and even moving their sleeping locations close to the food source to save time ( source ), equivalent to a Tour de France cyclist locking himself into a McDonald’s restaurant for a few days before starting the race.

Birds 130

Birds Eggs Breeders McDonalds 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

In the human psyche, owls can be cuddly signs of good luck and benificence (as they are in Japan, and Harry Potter movies) and, at the same time, eerie and unsettling. Either way, they are perhaps more central to our stories and lore than other birds, a familiar example, as Darlington reminds us, being Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Finland Serbia 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Do away with hunters and allow If you want less hunting in your culture, I suggest France.

2011 263

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 263

Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

The Argument from Human Grain Shortage All of the clearly moral arguments for vegetarianism given so far have been in terms of animal rights and suffering. New moral vegetarianism, however, rests on moral arguments couched in terms of human welfare. It is argued that beef cattle and hogs are protein factories in reserve.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Meat Cattle 40