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I am always intrigued by the multitude of opinions out there on various birding subjects, but lately none more than digiscoping. With all of the birding shows involved in my schedule I have the opportunity to hear many of these opinions. Often enough, I hear birders discussing digiscoping as if it were an after thought, [...]

Behind the Outback Steakhouse at Edgewater Commons, a shopping center across the Hudson River from New York City, is a rusted pile of wreckage that is gradually falling apart and into the river. I am not really sure what it is or why it has been left to blight a small portion of the view [...]

There are few things in the natural world that frighten me. I certainly do not consider myself brave or courageous in any way, but I’d like to think that walking the wilds for 30-something years now has made me aware of the dangers and the ways of avoiding them. I am cautious, I am vigilant, [...]

I have said it before and I will say it again – I love getting to Jamaica Bay at the end of a day and photographing waterfowl flying in and out of the West Pond.  The bird that is flies in and out in the greatest numbers of late is Greater Scaup Aythya marila, sometimes [...]

Autumn is a season of transitions and migrations, a slow descent from summer’s heat to winter’s cold. Sometimes blustery and rainy, sometimes warm and sunny, it is the second best season for birders, only beaten by spring. One of my favorite parts of fall is the long, drawn out duck migration, which seems to never [...]

Finally!  It took long enough but I have finally seen an Eurasian Wigeon in my home borough, at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond to be exact.  It was nice to add bird number 284 to my Queens life list, though it seems kind of absurd that it has taken so long to see one [...]

Okay. I know at 10,000 Birds, we’re not only supposed to wow you with blog articles, but we’re also supposed show you some awesome photos. So let me get this photo of a Trumpeter Swan out of the way: That’s an up close shot, but sometimes you can see some cool things when you are [...]

On a recent visit to Cape May Point State Park in search of an elusive Purple Gallinule I did not find my quarry but I did find quite a few photogenic birds.  One of them or, rather, several of them, were Gadwall – a pile of ducklings with their mother.  I am used to seeing [...]

Last Saturday we spent the day at Herdsman Lake in Perth due to a sudden work trip for Grant, which got extended over the weekend and I was able to join him. We were rather lucky with the weather as it is winter and it is wet! Of course you don’t really care if you are [...]

When the American Ornithologists’ Union publishes its annual North American checklist update next month, many birders will be disappointed to see that a proposal to re-split Mexican Duck (Anas diazi) from Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) has failed. The Mexican Duck, as its name suggests, is native to Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States, and [...]

The more I learn about ducks, the more impressed I am with their blatant promiscuity. Mallards, of course, bring new meaning to the term dabbling duck, what with all those wild mallard hybrids and domestic cross-breeds running around. But apparently, all the Anas-species ducks are overly amorous or at least indiscriminate. Consider the teals. Teal [...]

The haunting call of the West Indian Whistling Duck has long been a sound synonymous with the ever-shrinking wetlands of the Caribbean. But, as with so many other species, these birds have been left to do their own whistle blowing. The whistling duck call carries with it the crimes of big business, the failures of [...]

I don’t know if I am just really lucky this year or more observant but I found another oddball Ruddy Duck recently.  Instead of a leucistic female this time a male with black cheeks and small white lines beneath its eyes crossed my path.  The dark-cheeked Ruddy Duck was in the same spot as the [...]

Lately, I have grown a bit obsessed by Ruddy Ducks, those lovable little stiff-tailed ducks that are nearly ubiquitous on any sizable freshwater body of water in New York City this time of year.  The variety of plumages that they show and the way different individuals molt at different times is interesting to me and [...]

This past Saturday I made my way to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s West Pond a bit before sunset in order to try to get more flight shots of ducks like these as they made their way in to the pond to roost for the night.  On my way in I convinced a fellow Queens birder, [...]

Bufflehead are one of our most amusing ducks.  The simple black-and-white plumage of the male Bucephela albeola might appear bland but not if you see one well and in the sun in which case the iridescence on its head shines.  Bufflehead also have rather shockingly pink feet which they deploy like landing gear as they come to their [...]

A recent visit to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond was rewarding in both number and variety of waterfowl, but none drew my attention like one particular Ruddy Duck.  The little stiff-tails are almost year-round at Jamaica Bay though almost all leave to breed in the summer and in the depths of winter, when the [...]

The Redhead is one of the sexier of our ducks, if searches on Google for “sexy redhead” are any indication.  It is a well-named duck, as the male does have a red head.  Of course, other ducks have red heads too but for whatever reason Aythya americana got the name and now has to live [...]

The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) attracts more attention than most ducks, at least in North America. When this native of Mesoamerica and South America is spied in the wild, usually in some corner of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, it elicits admiring oohs and ahs. When a Muscovy is seen anywhere else, the result [...]

We here at 10,000 Birds believe that every bird is beautiful and, moreover, that every part of every bird is beautiful. Even we, however, tend not to stare too long or too hard at the nether regions of ducks dabbling for dinner.  We understand that some of our readers really, really like duck butts though, [...]