You are browsing the archives of 2006 January.

January 2006 is a month that will be long remembered in 10,000 Birds history. This is the month where we finally answered that burning question, “What is a Seahawk?” Welcome, football fans everywhere! Another highlight of the month was the Core Team excursion to the Bahamas. From Lakeview Drive on Paradise Island to our guided [...]

Though we had observed most of Paradise Island’s avifauna the previous day, we got great follow-up views as our trip progressed. The predominant gull we saw was Laughing, mixed in with a handful of Herring and Ring-billed. The prevalent raptor was American Kestrel, the Bahamian race possessed of a pure white belly. Collared doves and, [...]

Our first full day in the Bahamas was slated to be our big birding day. Having done a fair bit of research before setting out, I realized that we couldn’t possibly experience the best of New Providence birding on our own. We sought too many rarities with too small a window for success. So, I [...]

The first bird Sara and I spotted in the Bahamas was the same species as our last in the United States, a House Sparrow as at home in the Nassau International Airport as its cousin was in JFK. The second bird we saw, a ubiquitous invasive that has overwhelmed this particular island, was a Eurasian [...]

When it’s a Spindalis species tanager, obviously! Traveling these days is hardly the carefree, spontaneous, all-I-need-is-a-toothbrush-and-ten-bucks experience it used to be before I took up birding.  Now, every excursion is preceded by serious research into potential and target species, checklists, rare bird alerts, and trip reports.  But this intensive ornithological preparation is doubly beneficial: first, [...]

We’re just about at that point in the winter season where I start daydreaming about glorious, sun-drenched days of summers past. The source of some of my favorite tropical, or more accurately, Neotropical memories is the trip Sara and I took to Belize in July 2003. Though we embarked on a week’s worth of thrilling [...]

Long-eared Owl, rear view Close views of our friendly neighborhood kestrel yesterday morning along with the welcome weekend warmth augured well for our annual pilgrimage to Croton Point Park in northern Westchester. Croton Point is an essential waypoint on the New York winter birding circuit because of the amazing variety of birds of prey that [...]

Watching wildlife is a delightfully stimulating activity, one that can be enjoyed thoroughly from youth to senescence.  However, the choice regarding which specific creatures to watch is one that should not be undertaken lightly.  While the selection of a suitably numerous, beautiful, and accessible class of organisms will ensure a lifetime of pleasure, the wrong [...]

Now that Seattle’s football team is an NFL powerhouse, I’m getting a slew of inquiries asking, “What kind of bird is a seahawk?” Good question, sports fans! Seahawk is but one of many nicknames for the awesome Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). This large, long-winged bird of prey cuts a striking figure, dark chocolate brown above and [...]

Call at The Clog Almanac did a search engine survey of various religious stereotypes based on the Google-powered Prejudice Map. Very interesting! I already know how harshly I’m judged as a secularist. What I wonder instead is how I’m stereotyped by my interests: According to Google, birders are known for… …picking apart records sent to [...]