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One of the things that has vexed me about my fellow bird watchers is the inability to read signs. Well, that’s not fair. It’s the acute ability by many bird watchers to ignore signs. I’ve heard several excuses from, “It’s a great way for the land owner to get to know me,” to “no one [...]

The United Kingdom fosters what may be the most vibrant and fully-developed birding community on the planet, and there is at least one or two Germans out there who love nature deeply and truly. So why is illegal killing of birds such a widespread practice throughout Europe? “Birds are shot, trapped, caught with nets, glued [...]

Back in 2006, Problogger Darren Rowse proposed a fun Group Writing Project challenging bloggers to put together a good “How To” post. Up to that point, I’d offered Great Reasons to Become A Bird Watcher in an effort to encourage the uninitiated to try bird watching. The next logical step was to explain the right [...]

After last week’s big Brit wedding bonanza I couldn’t help but chuckle at the news that one of the RSPB’s premier nature reserves in the North of England has opened itself up for weddings. Leighton Moss lies within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is more famous for its breeding Bitterns [...]

So much of the US is getting dumped on with snow.  At first it seemed like a nice holiday treat until you realize that your city has called its sixth Snow Emergency and it’s still technically autumn.  I love snow, I wouldn’t live in Minnesota if I didn’t, but you have to have a plan [...]

While most of 10,000 Birds’ writers and readers are enduring the northern winter coming early, down here in Wellington we are enjoying one of the nicest springs I’ve known. All around the city trees and plants are flowering and birds are pairing off.  Last week the weather was warm, sunny and calm (the later the [...]

Given the number of bird bloggers stomping around the 10,000 Birds site since the guys launched the concept, Mike, Corey and Charlie could be forgiven if they felt they had been ‘invaded’ in recent weeks. Having sat back and read the various contributions I’ve been getting more and more nervous ahead of this first post, [...]

…but what you can do for the ABA.  For those of you who have not been paying attention to the ins and outs of the American birding scene of late, the ABA is, of course, the American Birding Association, an organization that I recently joined after the board named a new president, Jeff Gordon.  With [...]

It’s sad but true; some people just don’t deserve to be able to visit as marvelous a birding Mecca as Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  Why?  Because simple rules, like staying on the paths, is too much for some people, people who feel entitled to walk wherever they feel like no matter what harm they may [...]

The birding world has celebrities, celebrities that we at 10,000 Birds like to call birderati, and sometimes one is lucky enough to meet them.  On Monday morning I received an email letting me know that one such member of the birderati, Tim Appleton, co-founder of the British Birdwatching Fair and manager of Rutland Water Nature [...]

Do people go birding while inebriated?  There is the blog The Drinking Bird, but what about the drinking birder?  Birdchick hosts Birds and Beers but that is held in bars and the birds tend to be discussed, not seen.  There is a painfully bad song called “Drunk Bird Watching” on You Tube but the only [...]

As we did in 2007 and in 2008 we three 10,000 Birds bloggers would like to share our top ten birding moments of this nearly completed calendar year.  When one sets about trying to find merely ten top moments from the hundreds, if not thousands, of birding experiences that three people have had over the [...]

I was recently reading a rather vitriolic comment thread on a blog post related to carbon dioxide and global warming and came across references to the Dunning-Kruger effect, in which people who made what seemed to me like outlandish statements about climatology while admitting that they had no formal training in any related field were [...]

There are way too many birders out there who do not have a significant other or who have a significant other that does not appreciate their birding partner’s birding.  I say we should revel in our birding and take pride in what we bring to the table and to the bedroom and our partners should [...]

WARNING!  GRAPHIC BLOODY WOUND PHOTO IN THIS POST!  IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE IT CLICK HERE FOR SOME CUTESY-TYPE STUFF! As I was walking through the very dark Forest Park yesterday morning at half past five so I could get to the Q53 Limited bus to take me to Jamaica Bay by the time [...]

A week or so ago (time is flying by so fast these days it may have been months ago or yesterday I’m no longer sure) we were contacted by Duncan Wright, a Wikipedia editor asking us if we’d post an article on 10,000 Birds on the merits of Wikipedia as a birding resource – too [...]

The jury is still out on whether we have a formal birding community in North America but at least we have a Birding Community E-bulletin. This superb monthly newsletter is the handiwork of Paul J. Baicich and Wayne R. Petersen, two widely known and respected birders. I’ve only been receiving the e-bulletin for a few [...]

Last year we at 10,000 Birds were tagged with a meme by Tai Haku that compelled us to list our Top 10 Nature Moments of 2007.  This year we were not tagged by a meme but we decided to do another top 10 list because, well, they’re fun!  So, without further ado, here are the 10,000 Birds [...]

On the next to last weekend in January, when the cold wind is blowing snow and ice and there is nothing I’d rather be doing than reading a book while curled up on my couch under a blanket and a cat or two , I’ll be birding.  Not only will I be birding, but I’ll [...]

Up until the early 1900s the birding scene was still dominated by the shotgun set.  That is, to identify the birds that one could see, one shot them and collected their still-warm carcasses for identification purposes.  Some had switched over to using the low-powered optics of the day but this new method of identifying birds [...]