10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

This past weekend I headed out to eastern North Carolina with a group of friends to try our hand at a Rarity Roundup. Either would have been a new species for the trip, but no one was comfortable making the case either way. So it goes with rails in coastal North Carolina.

North Carolina 181

North Carolina Sparrows Groups Hunters 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

There’s a little hint of white in the malar and throat too, which would seem to be a problem for the species Black- chinned Sparrow. The bird was immediately apparent to be as such largely because a similar bird has been visiting a feeder, and well-photographed, in Henderson County in western North Carolina for the last three winters.

New Jersey 251

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

The Great Backyard Bird Count passed relatively uneventfully in North Carolina, and I hear other states/provinces had similarly pedestrian weekends. A little bit of background and North Carolina esoterica now. The Outer Banks are a chain of barrier islands that run down the northeast coast of the state.

North Carolina 209

North Carolina North America Owls America 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2013

As of the beginning of last month, I am no longer a resident of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Having done a very small bit of birding around Greensboro previously, my county list sat at a somewhat difficult 60 species at the time of my move, but with a ton of common species outstanding. After all, I’ve got some time.

North Carolina 184

North Carolina Species Birds 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2013

There are some birds I have not seen in North Carolina because they are very rare. There are some birds I have not seen in North Carolina because I have lousy luck. And there are some birds I have not seen in North Carolina because I am kind of a lazy lister. This is the story of the last one.

North Carolina 171

North Carolina Kentucky Soreing 2000 171

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2015

My fiancé and I now fish and bird together frequently, and over my graduate program’s spring break turned our sights to Pisgah National Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina. As he made his way downstream, I noted common birds, including American Robins, Blue Jays , Carolina Chickadees , and a pair of Cedar Waxwings.

Fish 208

Fish North Carolina Turkey Woodpeckers 208

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

A couple weekends ago I headed out to the Carolina Bird Club’s winter meeting in Nags Head, North Carolina, on the cusp of the Outer Banks. At the close of the meeting, I had a morning to fool around Dare County with the goal to finally tick over 200 species for the county. Birding North Carolina Outer Banks'

North Carolina 185

North Carolina Alligators Geese Owls 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Every part of the world has it’s suite of parking lot staples, those urbanish species that seem to prefer to linger about humanity subsisting in no small amount to the magnanimity, or more likely the laziness, of humankind. Here in the non-Floridian Southeast we have sparrows and starlings and pigeons.

North Carolina 209

North Carolina Fast Food Sparrows Birds 209

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2015

My friend Paul Taillie and I had to meet an intrepid bunch of birders for the inaugural Outer Banks Big Day field trip at the Wings Over Water festival in eastern North Carolina. We were setting the bar for what someone hitting all the good spots on North Carolina’s famous barrier islands could reasonably accomplish.

North Carolina 150

North Carolina Rattlesnake Sparrows Owls 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2021

As of mid-November 2021, the Collaborative had submitted more than 4,200 checklists (up from 1,700 in 2018) and has observed 691 species in the United States (up from 618). Thus, there are now seven states with 200+ observed species. The state with the largest increase was Arizona , with 139 species added.

West Virginia 244

West Virginia United States Puerto Rico Minnesota 244

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

My home state of North Carolina can probably be considered the northern edge of the south, which means that when one of these long legged beauties wanders up across our state line it’s a pretty big deal. And there were a couple of them recently reported down at the southern tip of North Carolina, so I had to go and have a look.

North Carolina 169

North Carolina South Carolina Birds North America 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2015

The Gulf Stream lies between 20-40 miles off the North Carolina coast, and to the unpracticed eye it looks scarcely different that the expanse of blue water it courses through. These three aspects combine to produce one of the most productive spots in the North Atlantic, a place where birds and fish and marine mammals congregate.

North Carolina 192

North Carolina Mammals Breeding Fish 192

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There’s a new proposal before the American Ornithologists’ Union’s North American Classification Committee to split Painted Bunting into two species (yay! — maybe, more later) and to name the new species “Eastern Painted Bunting” and “Western Painted Bunting” (no!).

Mississippi 278

Mississippi Mexico Alabama North Carolina 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

If the state of North Carolina is known for one thing in the greater birding world, it’s what goes on off of its central coast. But to the species that inhabit this place, well, let’s just say the old adage to “look beneath the surface&# has a very literal meaning. On land, that is.

North Carolina 160

North Carolina North America Fish America 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2015

(I checked Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as well and the same held, although that species did have a handful of summer records that the kingbirds lacked.). You do, however, see them in January in places like Florida and North Carolina. Of course, half of getting information out of any data set is knowing what questions to ask.

North Carolina 211

North Carolina New York Florida Fish 211

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

I’ve written before about by ongoing quest to find a new patch in new home of Greensboro, North Carolina, and my more or less failed attempt thus far in turning up anything of note. Sure, they were all one species, but the place was immediately birdy. Birding North Carolina Patch Birding'

North Carolina 167

North Carolina Sparrows Fox Dogs 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2013

Recently a baby was born in North Carolina with Trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality so severe most carriers die at birth. No buying invasive fish from the pet store and tossing them into a pond, where they will grow into behemoths and devour the native species. It just needn’t be at the cost of another’s life.

Wildlife 260

Wildlife North Carolina Agenda Raised 260

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2012

The Delmarva Peninsula juts southward towards North Carolina like the appendix of the eastern seaboard. All three species of expected falcon, including lots of big, beautiful Peregrines like the young bird above were everywhere. Perhaps the most impressive movement I personally witnessed were the Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Virginia 162

Virginia North Carolina DC Louisiana 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2013

After all, if the much smaller North Carolina Audubon could weather the off road vehicle (ORV) extremists who flooded the North Carolina Audubon Facebook page in the wake of the new ORV policy for Cape Hatteras then the national could certainly handle a week or so of crazy cat people. Pretty standard.

Feral Cats 272

Feral Cats Trap Neuter Return Tnr Extremist 272

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Here in North Carolina, I’ve managed to avoid seeing the dreaded Juncos for the last few days, though their presence has been noted on the local listserv. The flocks that just a fortnight ago held multiple species in varied, if subdued, hues, now overwhelmingly consist of a single species. You’re done.

North America 230

North America North Carolina South America Tennessee 230

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2015

But sometimes the stars align perfectly, as they did a couple weeks ago, in the form of North Carolina’s first record of Townsend’s Solitaire. The species has been on my personal radar for North Carolina for years.

North Carolina 145

North Carolina Mountain Lions Otters Lions 145

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Got to finish browsing for the fawns and collecting chiggers,” wrote Becky, from an island off North Carolina. Why is there no state or federal money available to care for federally protected species? “I don’t want to be too hasty in my response,” wrote Gay in Virginia. I’d wish for respect for what we do.”.

Wildlife 255

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma Michigan 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2011

There was a time, a few years back, when I had some really good luck getting on a run of first state records for North Carolina. Fortunately for me, most of the recent new additions to the North Carolina list have been birds that have stuck around long enough for masses of state birders to get on.

North Carolina 154

North Carolina Sparrows 2008 Hunters 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

He is a current member of the North Carolina Bird Records Committee and an eBird coordinator for North Carolina. Nate Swick is a contributor to 10,000 Birds, American Birding Association (ABA) blog editor and event leader, and environmental educator. of Natural Resources and by Nate.

North Carolina 263

North Carolina Birds North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2016

For the past several weeks a pair of Trumpeter Swans have made themselves at home along a road through Mattamuskeet NWR in eastern North Carolina. I know this for a fact, because this is precisely what I did last week when I spent a day in the eastern part of North Carolina chasing rarities.

North Carolina 131

North Carolina Wounded Hunting Geese 131

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2011

We had no high hopes of an absurdly long bird list but I figured we could see some decent species and send Nate back to North Carolina with tales to tell of the marvels of birding a major metropolis. But that is what I did yesterday morning because Nate was in town, I had some time available, and we are birders!

Fish 186

Fish New York City North Carolina Breeders 186

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2015

For many birders it may be hard to believe that I could have seen 399 species of birds in North America and none of them had been a Peregrine Falcon, but it’s just one of the strange ways birding plays out. This year Pine Siskins have been present in not overwhelming numbers across the Piedmont of North Carolina.

North Carolina 225

North Carolina Falcons Florida North America 225

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

My route is full of this I, of course, cannot be made to take the blame for either of these unfortunate “incidences” For the first, I blame the North Carolina Department of Transportation. 49 species in 9.5 Hardwood forest, some openings. I mean, really. That and the moral reprehensiveness of slavery.

North Carolina 162

North Carolina Transported Morals Science 162

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

It wasn’t that long ago that Sociable Lapwing was considered a critically endangered species with a population of only around 1500. The current outlook is not nearly as critical as believed before, but the species is still declining and no one is exactly sure why. It was a bird not on many people’s radar.

Pakistan 199

Pakistan India Iraq North Carolina 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2021

“This beautiful and singular bird, although a constant resident in the southern extremities of the peninsula of Florida, seldom extends its journeys in an eastern direction beyond the State of North Carolina.

New York 264

New York South Carolina North Carolina Massachusetts 264

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. One target species down, though barely, and one to go!

Wildlife 165

Wildlife North Carolina Woodpeckers Florida 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2018

Known as a warbler haven, 30+ species visit this bi-state park near the Kentucky and Virginia southern border. Considered ‘undeveloped’ as a park, the habitat diversity here is some of the best in North America. Grandfather Mountain State Park, North Carolina. American Kestrel. Photo by © Mike Blevins. Barred Owl.

West Virginia 202

West Virginia Virginia Kentucky South Carolina 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

I’ve already had three species of vireo for the year ( Red-eyed , White-eyed , and the occasionally overwintering Blue-headed ). Nothing says “real” spring like the first burst of piercing slurry whistles from down a North Carolina stream.

North Carolina 167

North Carolina Breeders Rights Experience 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Although it was nothing like going from New York to California or even Buffalo, New York to North Carolina, a change of location, however slight, can bring new birds especially in Costa Rica. They shared the bushes with three of Costa Rica’s common flycatcher species, each nearly as vocal as the blackbirds. Right at home.

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Barn Owls Stray Dog Blackbirds 199

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

They formed their little clumps along the water, all the species mixed together until a walker approached too closely. Though we were almost rained out, my graduation Outer Banks trip will remain a highlight of my time in North Carolina. Shorebird cluster along the beach.

North Carolina 193

North Carolina Alligators Wildlife Woodpeckers 193

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Lake Junaluska is surrounded by mountains, beautifully situated in scenic Western North Carolina, near the famous Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Spotting our favorite species can be exhilarating, active, soggy, exhausting, stressful, and so much more. Birding can take many forms.

North Carolina 100

North Carolina New York City DC Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The first, the much caricatured hard-nosed lister who stops at nothing to get just one more bird, and the second, the deep-patch birder who just wants to hang around the common species. That regular common species are ignored? Both of these opposite ends of the birder spectrum combine effortlessly in the county birder. State tick!

McDonalds 177

McDonalds South Carolina North Carolina Jordan 177