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10,000 Birds Month in Review: October 2008

October 31, 2008 by Corey 1 Comment

October is over and though this post is being posted just short of midnight on Halloween there is no need to be afraid…10,000 Birds will keep publishing in November and beyond and bring you all the birds you need (even if somehow, and this should make you afraid, John McCain wins the presidency).  What a month October has been!  Charlie was made a tribal elder, Mike finally found a California Gnatcatcher and Corey enjoyed two new warblers for the year in one day.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of our second best month traffic-wise ever!

As usual, we saw and photographed lots o’ birds.  Among them were Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Hooded Merganser on the wrong side of the Atlantic, a Black-throated Green Warbler, Ortolan Buntings, non-breeding Mediterranean Gulls, Long-tailed Widowbirds, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, an injured Virginia Rail, and Sanderlings.  Not only that, but Monarch Butterflies too!

In addition to posts focused on a single species we had our usual amazing assortment of write-ups about our birding trips.  Places the three 10,000 Birds bloggers posted about this month included Jamaica Bay, Mendon Ponds, Central Park, Upper Newport Bay, Fort Tilden, Jamaica Bay (again), Central Park (again), Upper Newport Bay (again), and Upper Newport Bay (again again).

We participated in several blog carnivals, including some Mike hosted like I and the Bird # 85 and Berry Go Round #10.  The ones we just participated in are Carnival of the Blue #17,  I and the Bird #86, I and the Bird #87 and the first-ever MetaCarnival.  Also, we participated each and every week in Bird Photography Weekly.  As usual, we participated in Skywatch Friday by asking where folks were birding each and every weekend of October (and the first weekend of November).  Mike also took the time to write about a huge birding event, the World Birdwatch.  Did you participate?

The good news continued for the Small African Fellowship for Conservation (the Sharpe’s Longclaw project).  Charlie experienced some life-changing moments and detailed his trip to the Njabini wool-spinning workshop (in a post that made this blogger’s eyes leak a little bit).  He also asked and answered the question “Can bloggers make a difference?”

A marvelous guest post about studying Green-rumped Parrotlets was written by Nick of Biological Ramblings.  And Jory continued to provide his amazingly well-thought out quizzes as well (and answers too).  He wasn’t the only quizmaster this month though, as Charlie had a pretty good one too (and, yes, he provided an answer).

And posts that don’t really fit in with the rest of the long list of links already provided were written too.  We showed our literary chops with Corey continuing the Birdtopia saga and Mike sharing some Emily Dickinson, a kinglet limerick, and reviewing the new literary journal about birds, The LBJ. Mike also shared information about the migratory routes of the Americas and Charlie educated us all by explaining how to tell a Common Buzzard from a Red-tailed Hawk.

Mike was also busy with another project this month as well.  Today the Nature Blog Network Blog was launched!  Congratulations Mike!

Finally, we got further confirmation that we kick @$$.  How was your October?

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.