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2010 - International Year of Biodiversity

Starting on January 11th, 2010 becomes - and I’m sure this will come as a surprise to many of us - the start of the United Nations-designated International Year of Biodiversity (UN General Assembly Resolution 61/203).

2010 is supposed to be the year when commitments and agreements signed in 2001 [...]

Daisy, Desi and I had a wonderful Christmas visiting my folks upstate.  One of the nice things about seeing so many relatives is that everyone wanted to help take care of Desi, which meant that Daisy and I had a bit more time to, well, do whatever we wanted.  For me, this included making a [...]

New York City’s subway stations are a great place to observe Rattus norvegicus, otherwise known as the Norway Rat, the Brown Rat, the Wharf Rat, the City Rat, the Alley Rat, the Hanover Rat, the House Rat, and the Sewer Rat, among other names.  And while New York City, like cities on every continent except [...]

A couple of days ago I posted a gallery of images of the UK’s largest resident thrush - the MIstle Thrush. Here by way of comparison (and because it’s such a beautiful bird anyway) is another thrush, the Fieldfare Turdus pilaris. Unlike the Mistle Thrush, which it resembles in size and shape (distant flying birds [...]

In the past few years, my most excellent fortune has been to visit a variety of eco-lodges in the Neotropics. Most of these destinations have been absolutely fantastic yet still slightly… rough. Perhaps rustic would be a better descriptor for some, or homey or even, if I may be so bold as to introduce a [...]

The nor’easter that blanketed the east coast of the United States did not leave New York City unscathed, and the birds are flocking to the Forest Park feeding stations after the first serious snowfall of the season.  With about a foot of snow down in Queens, many of the natural food supplies that birds were [...]

At the bottom of my garden here in Great Chalfield is a group of Yew trees. I have no idea if these lovely trees normally fruit so heavily as I’ve only been here since the summer, but whether in response to the coming cold weather or not every branch has been laden with small red [...]

An intrepid New York City birder has been keeping tabs on an Ovenbird that has apparently decided to make the attempt to spend the winter in Bryant Park this year.  This birder has also been kind enough to keep the rest of the New York City birding community aware of the Ovenbird through the wonder [...]

On Monday I mentioned that we had one last Conservation Club give-away to launch before Christmas - and like everything we’ve offered already (three Sound Approach books, ten Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust memberships, BWPi/BBi DVDROMs and a platinum subscription to BirdGuides‘ News Services) this is another cracker (get the festive reference there folks? Heck, if [...]

When I was in Kazakhstan way back in May there were several species of lizard we spotted that I have neglected to write about for 10,000 Birds, which is a shame because they are pretty cool lizards, as most lizards tend to be.  Three of the four were spotted near one of the two waterholes [...]

Once again this winter the Forest Park irregulars, a devoted group of birders who spend far too much time in Forest Park, are maintaining two feeding stations.  Seeing as it is a sunny day and Daisy agreed to let me go outside for a bit, I headed over to the waterhole, which serves as one [...]

When we launched the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club last month we wrote out a list of FAQs and sent a little wish into the blogosphere which ran:
 

Q) I have a product and would like to be a part of this initiative - who do I discuss this with?

* That’s great. Please [...]

A third visit to the vacant lot in Queens with the lingering vagrant Ash-throated Flycatcher was the charm on Sunday.  Thanks to Danny and Alan for calling and offering me a ride over and to Daisy for letting me out of the house again (though I was home within an hour).  This time it wasn’t [...]

We here at 10,000 Birds launched a new conservation initiative recently, the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club, a new way of raising funds for conservation projects that rewards its members while doing it.

That’s right: we’ll be raising funds for conservation projects (keeping nothing of the money raised ourselves by the way - the idea here is [...]

The weather forecasts for this week in New York City indicate that temperatures will be dropping into the thirties on the Fahrenheit scale during the overnight hours for most of the week. For those of us well north of the equator the idea that it is December and winter is coming and bringing with [...]

Happy Thanksgiving! While our custom on the fourth Thursday of November is traditionally to trot out some thrilling turkey facts, this may be an auspicious time to ponder the remarkable fortune of Meleagris gallopavo, the Wild Turkey.
You might wonder why I would describe the bird being barbecued, baked, roasted, pan fried, and deep fried by [...]

I’ve raved about the birds (and beaches) of Jamaica, even highlighting the island’s lovely lizards, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I liked its leps. Jamaica offers predictably potent butterfly watching. For example, the island is swell for swallowtail butterflies, with a number of endemics including the largest swallowtail in the [...]

Yesterday we introduced our latest conservation initiative, the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club and the emails and comments flooded in (well, actually, they didn’t - but it was a Sunday in November, so we’re not disheartened quite yet!).

What we didn’t do yesterday - the post was getting very long as it was - was to [...]

Most visitors seem to be drawn to Jamaica for its admittedly world-class beaches and with good reason; having enjoyed that warm, clear Caribbean from a gorgeous, white sand beach myself, I wish I had spent more time at the seaside. Yet, when I look back on my all-too-brief visit to Jamaica, my thoughts first turn [...]

Visiting Jamaica is truly a sensory experience. Not only does one see astounding beauty and feel that warm Caribbean sun, but one also hears every night a collection of chirps, croaks, and hoots that fairly falls between a symphony and a cacophony. This unmistakable ruckus, which persists until birdsong takes over at dawn, is the [...]