10000 Birds – Maine’s Great Black Hawk, Rescued!

A few days before Christmas, I vibrated in the passenger seat of my mother’s car as she turned towards Deering Oaks Park in Portland. The Great Black Hawk – a species with a native range in Mexico to South America – had been spotted in this park for weeks, but not every day. Though I had arrived…

10000 Birds – Graduation Birds

Graduation ceremonies are quite long, and one weekend in December I attended my 5th such ceremony celebrating my husband’s bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. Graduation is a time to reflect, celebrate achievement, look towards the future… But there’s also a lot of empty wait time. So, on the morning of his  Gainesville commencement…

10000 Birds – A Single Purple Gallinule

All birders love the Everglades. There are so few places on Earth where one can see thousands and thousands and thousands of wading birds on a single visit, their white and blue and pink bodies contrasting with the golden swishing of marsh grasses or the deep green of cypress swamps. Whenever I enter the boundaries…