10,000 Birds

Welcome to the fourth year of I and the Bird! Our third anniversary bash really was something, thanks to our distinguished host and scintillating contributors. You can be forgiven for not reading through all the entries (…yet) but one response to the topic question spoke unexpectedly, albeit eloquently to the narrow scope of the topic […]

 
“I and the Bird” is three years old! That’s amazing. I remember the conversation Mike and I had when we first met back in 2005 (we went to Jamaica Bay if you’re interested) and he talked about an idea he’d had for a new blog carnival he was launching called “I and the Bird” (IATB). […]

It’s summertime and the birding is easy… easy that is because all we have to contend with in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere are resident breeders. Once the mapcap excitement of migration dies down, we’re left with the usual suspects, just robins and catbirds and sparrows, etc. etc.
JUST robins? JUST catbirds?
It can be so […]

The jammy finger has chosen yet another winner, but we’ve still seven books AND the iPod to give away. Not joined in yet? Why, it’s very easy: just find the 10,000 Birds post that the following quote comes from and mail - today - the URL to charlie10000birds AT gmail.com

“The morning after the wedding I […]

It is often said in sympathy or defiance that where there’s life, there’s hope. The difficult truth is also that where there’s life, there’s death. Not only will every organism alive today eventually shuffle off this mortal coil but, in time, each and every species will transition from present to past tense. A mad, magical […]

Birding the Cape: the west coast
May 29, 2008

For my second trip to South Africa in just three weeks, this time to Cape Town (the first was to Johannesburg), I decided to hire a professional guide for the two (actually, one-and-a-half) days I would be there. Normally I’m happy just to hire a car and wander […]

This marvelous month of May is marked primarily by motion. Change is in the air as blossoms bloom, trees leaf, and critters of every species and stripe scramble to and fro in frantic preparation for quick conjugation followed by the pleasures of parenthood. At least that’s how it goes down throughout most of the Northern […]

At one unguarded moment or another, every person fantasizes about turning a passion into an occupation. “What could be better,” you might muse, “that to be able to read romance novels (or watch YouTube videos or host dinner parties, etc.) for a living!” Surely, those that have found a way to be compensated […]

Spring migration is just heating up around here so I’ve been stealing odd hours in the nearest stretch of decent habitat. Riverdale Park is a thin ribbon of greenspace along the steep northwestern border of New York City. I’ve never found this park to host a truly impressive array of birds; the sightlines are poor […]

There is more than one way to look at a bird. So many people see birds as part of the scenery, if they look at them at all. Others might perceive a meal, a mystery, a passing fancy, or perhaps even a talisman of truth. While one would think that bird watchers all look at […]

Corey and I visited Central Park this morning for some early spring birding. At this point in the season, a good day might be 8 species of warbler, rather than 20. We topped 8 just barely, but made up in quality what we lacked in quantity. The undisputed star of the show was a bird […]

Lo, another fortnight has passed and we have before us a magical new edition of I and the Bird, the blog carnival for the avian inspired. But before I introduce the next truly tremendous presentation, I’d like to offer amends to our gentle host, the pseudonymous Snail of Snail’s Eye View. You see, when Snail […]

Birding, on its face, seems to be a rather ecologically sensitive activity. What could be more environmentally sound than getting out into nature and scoping out birds, right? While it is true that one of the foundational drivers of conservation is the concept of protecting what one loves, sometimes one’s desire can exert […]

I’ve been going on (and on and on) about my recent adventures in Guatemala while Charlie regularly visits tropical hotspots. This isn’t to say that all the best birding takes place proximate to the equator. Arctic Bay in Canada’s Nunavut Territory, for example, supports a surprising range of birds. You can find waterfowl (Snow Geese), […]

I’ve been on the road quite a bit lately, enjoying outstanding avifauna in the process. This gets one to thinking about how inextricably travel is tied up with birding. Not being an amateur racer or NASCAR devotee, I can’t think of another activity that puts as many miles on one’s car, and that’s just to […]

As we’ve discussed before (during these cozy, biweekly chats of ours) birding is not just an art. It’s also a science, one rooted in that branch of zoology concerned with the scientific study of birds. Not all birdwatchers are professional scientists. Far from it. Instead, there exists a continuum from those who are vaguely aware […]

This may seem a funny question, but have you ever described yourself as an neophyte field biologist? Field biology, as described by some authorities, “operates at the level of the organism, community, ecosystem or landscape. Field biologists use nature as a laboratory and combine the principles of biology, the physical sciences and mathematics to study […]

January has the potential to be a particularly special month for birders. Not only do the holidays often bring new books and toys to play with, but those of us who keep year lists acquire a gift more precious even than Swarovski optics (well, maybe not THAT precious!) Once the previous year’s tally is archived […]

Passion is fleeting. The ardor that compels the neophyte to dive headlong into an activity will most certainly abate before mastery is achieved. Birding is no exception to the universal rule. The daunting breadth of ornithological knowledge and fieldcraft savvy required to break into the ranks of merely “intermediate” will deter many a […]

Every ardent adherent of the avian observation lifestyle learns at one point or another that you just can’t go birding every day. Sometimes weather is an issue; extremes of heat or cold, wind or rain, fog or sun can put a damper on outdoor activity. Sometimes life gets in the way and demands of family, […]