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Ummm… yeah maybe I should explain. I’m not quitting already. I mean, I’ve only been a “beat blogger” for a few weeks now. No, I’m just giving my vacation notice. I’m not sure if I’ve earned a paid vacation yet (I am getting paid for this, right?) but before I took this job I had [...]

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite features on 10,000 Birds, one you can’t appreciate through our rss feed, is actually the header. Specifically, I love our randomly rotating triptych of bird photographs. Each one links to a cherished trip report or photo gallery. If you haven’t indulged yourself yet, waste enjoy [...]

The 10,000 Birds team does more than its share of birding at Jamaica Bay but at last we (as in ME) will be on location on a bay in Jamaica. And you’re invited! Jamaica has a lot more to offer naturalists than just resorts and rastas. With at least 28 endemic species and tons of [...]

This past Sunday I had made plans with Daisy to take two of our close friends, Kerry and Becky, to see the Great Horned Owls in Alley Pond Park.  Neither Kerry nor Becky are birders (though, if you remember, Kerry is getting there) but the idea of seeing an owl is often enough to get [...]

Last Sunday was a very weird day of birding that went in completely unexpected directions.  I slept in late, and by late I mean the sun was well up and the world was well lit by the time I left my apartment and walked to Forest Park for some digiscoping.  While at the park I [...]

Oh the birds I saw Saturday on the cold and clear December morning.  The sun was out along with the hordes of tourists that clogged the paths in the south of the park but the three American Crows and several Blue Jays standing sentinel seemed more concerned about an accipitor than the humans on paths [...]

On this blustery day I spent my morning walking across Queens.  Well, not all the way across Queens, but across a goodly portion of it, and it was definitely worth the slightly sore back, cold body, and soaking feet.  I was out of the house at about twenty after seven and caught the Q46 bus [...]

This Sunday I spent a delightful morning in the company of seven other birders, all members of the Queens County Bird Club, on a field trip exploring the ponds and parks along the south shore of Nassau County (the county immediately to the east of Queens).  Of course, Nassau County is heavily developed, with housing, [...]

The sun was shining at Jamaica Bay Saturday morning, there was almost no wind, and plenty of birds to see.  Waterbirds, whether they be dabbling or diving ducks, grebes or geese, coots or cormorants were the main attraction, but some passerines were still thick in the trees and bushes.  Kinglets with both ruby and golden [...]

Saturday morning I arose before dawn, brewed and drank some coffee, got my gear together, and headed to Jamaica Bay.  When dawn came it was anticlimactic: the cloud cover was complete and what little light filtered through was barely enough for photography.  And when I got off the bus at the entrance to Jamaica Bay [...]

This past Monday, Will and his wife Danika were going to drive down from Albany and pick me up at 7 AM for a birding expedition to Long Island’s barrier beaches, hoping to find a variety of migrants.  Their car’s tire had other ideas, however, so I was awake at 6:15 in the morning, jonesin’ [...]

Last weekend, as I have mentioned already, was loaded with birds and birding.  Saturday morning at Jamaica Bay was absolutely wonderful, with winter residents starting to arrive, some lingering breeders still sticking around, and plenty of migrants moving through.  I could tell it was going to be a good morning’s birding when, at the bus [...]

It rained on Thursday and Friday and again on Saturday.  By Saturday afternoon, not having birded since Charlie’s visit, I didn’t care if I was going to get soaked: I wanted to get out and see some birds no matter how wet I ended up getting.  So, at two in the afternoon I grabbed my [...]

I thought waking up in the dark on a Sunday morning and getting on the subway at 6 AM to join Charlie for some birding was a heck of a task, that is, until I found out that Charlie had just flown in from London yesterday, which he had arrived at from Chicago the day [...]

After my visit to Jones Beach this past Saturday I decided to work my way away back to Queens by hopping from park to park.  Cow Meadow Park, a Nassau County park, is just north and west of Jones Beach, and is well-known as a good spot to see some shorebirds.  This time of year, [...]

Sunday was a day with Daisy’s family, and what better way to spend it than with bawdy lasses, courageous jousters, hilarious jesters, and strong mead?  No better way, of course, which is why we headed to Sterling Forest in Tuxedo, New York, to the New York State Renaissance Fair.  For those who don’t know, Renaissance [...]

The shorebird time is upon us.  The time of heat and mud and undying stench.  The time of bloodthirsty mosquitoes and ravenous deer flies.  The time of heat shimmer, feather wear, and sweat streaming into eyes.  The time of spotting scope, rubber boots, and odd looks on the bus.  Shorebirds suck. Which is why I [...]

I hoped to see a Black-necked Stilt at the familiar but wonderful Jamaica Bay yesterday, and, well, I did.  It was foraging amid the geese, swans, gulls, terns, ibis, herons, ducks, blackbirds, and swallows at the west end of the West Pond.  Two other birders were already on the bird, or, had been on the [...]

Yesterday in New York was hot.  Way too hot.  Fortunately for Daisy and me our friends Kerry and Becky were heading to the beach and offered a ride.  And it wasn’t just any beach either, but the birding Mecca of Nassau County, Jones Beach.  The south wind was strong, the waves were huge, and we [...]

Suffolk County, Long Island, the easternmost county in New York State, still has some pretty darn good habitat for the birds. Whether one is looking on a mudflat, listening in the pine barrens, or searching in a salt marsh there are birds to be seen. Which, of course, means that 10,000 Birds couldn’t let our [...]