Ruili is a Chinese city right on the border to Myanmar, and a major border crossing. When I last visited the town almost 10 years ago, it had a Wild West feel, and Wikipedia claims that it is “an important location for trade with Myanmar, in both legal and illegal goods and services” but it seemed pretty tame to me this time. My major struggle in the city was with the equipment in a super modern hotel room, with instructions all in Chinese, preventing me from getting a hot shower and hot coffee in the morning. I admit this is not quite on the level of fellow writers’ posts describing birding ..read more

When waiting it felt like ages, but once I heard them it felt like they had returned way too early: Firecrests singing in our local park in Bonn. On the way to work in the mornings and on weekend walks, I was very glad to hear the songs of all the migrants arriving. In addition to the Firecrests, within a few days the songs of Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, and Eurasian Blackcap started resonating through the freshly sprouting vegetation. I always love the feeling when migrants have just returned, knowing they just travelled thousands of kilometers, some from Subsaharan Africa. Then somet ..read more

Most weeks, I can blog about going somewhere a bit more exotic, and seeing something a bit more unusual for me. But this week, I had no car to drive, so I had to go on foot to the nature reserve on the far side of our neighborhood. This place, called Los Filtros Viejos (the Old Filters) because it used to be Morelia’s main water source, is actually a great place for birding. The only reason I don’t go there often, is that it is only lightly forested, is often hot (especially in April), and I inevitably end up walking a hard 10 km/6 miles on its very uneven, rocky pathways in order to see its ..read more

Last year I bade farewell to an old friend, or, to be more precise, my much-loved Swarovski scope. Technically, it was an ATS 80 HD spotting scope, together with three eyepieces, a 20x, 30x and a 25×50 wide-angle zoom; the latter was the lens I used most often.(The 20x wide-angle lens was great in poor light in the rain forest.) I had owned the scope, from new, for 23 years, in which time it had travelled with me to four different continents and around 40 different countries. I would be fascinating to know how many species of birds it was pointed at during its time with me, but it must have b ..read more

To be honest, I never cared too much for swans. On the one hand, they are very easy to see in Germany, swimming in public parks or teaching pensioners how to eat bread. On the other hand, their white color and their considerable size made me see them as somewhat arrogant birds – the white Golf convertible of the bird world. Contrary to how ChatGPT would now continue this post, seeing them at Lake Kussharo did not really change this view. In winter, this lake is almost completely frozen – but a few meters very close to the coast are near some hot springs, and the Whooper Swans use this space ..read more

It is mid-March and I am back in Colorado for meetings. Of course, excellent opportunity to go birding with my friends Brad and Laura. Before the meetings started we had three glorious days of seeking out what we started calling “red-faced rascals” – the series of finches that look like they have been dipped in raspberry coulis. My colleague Doug wrote me an email describing the whereabouts of these “rosy finches” and my wife had to manage my excitement with horse tranquilizer… What a fantastic little birds. I flew into Denver from Mexico. I might have to add the Dallas airport staff to the l ..read more

Of all the gulls that occur in Britain, there’s none that is as pelagic as the Kittiwake. It’s a bird that rarely occurs inland, and outside the breeding season it spends its time far out to sea. British-ringed Kittiwakes have been reported many times from Greenland and Newfoundland, and birds in adult plumage are regularly seen in winter in mid-Atlantic.  In March, as the days start to lengthen, so the wandering birds return to their breeding cliffs. Most male Kittiwakes return to the colony where they hatched, but only a small minority of females do so, though most will nest relativel ..read more

Most weeks, I use a recent outing to inspire my weekly post. This week, however, we had visitors, and I had a bird-free Monday. (Monday is normally my fun day, to paraphrase Prince, and the Bangles.) So I had to look to a fellow 10,000 Birds writer for inspiration, instead. Thanks, Jason, for mentioning Trash Birds — even if you used the phrase in an unusual way. In Jason Crotty’s article this week, he used the common birders’ phrase “trash birds” jokingly, to refer to some trash cans painted with realistic bird images in Portland, USA. But, as most of our readers know, the phrase “trash bird ..read more

In Portland, Oregon, the Golden-Crowned Kinglet is fairly common in appropriate habitat, particularly during migration and in winter. The eBird bar chart for the kinglet in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, is below. But this “tiny, hyperactive songbird” is not found only high in the tree canopy. It also found much lower, adorning some of Portland’s public trash cans. These practical and functional examples of public art were “designed by local artists and chosen in partnership with local community members.” The artist is Alex Chiu (website). He has also collaborated on a huge down ..read more

This post starts like every birding blog post should start – by showcasing some bulbul species. (Yes, I am joking. According to the highly successful book ” 7 Habits of Highly Successful Birding Blog Post Writers”, only about 50% of birding blog posts should start with bulbuls). And of course, given that black is the new black (yes, I know – not a very original phrase), it should start with a Black Bulbul.   If you are more of a part-time lover of the color black, the Black-crested Bulbul may be a better choice. Though you have to give up on the nice red bill. But you gain a crest. I ..read more