Senior Leader James Lidster writes:

I’ve just finished a busy season, ending up with superb tours to Mongolia and Iceland. Since then I’ve been residing in The Netherlands (more about that later), where I spent the better part of a week labeling every photo I’ve ever taken since buying my DSLR in 2005! Some of the better photos from my latest two trips are shown here, including this one: proof positive that staying in a ger in Mongolia really isn’t that much of a hardship.

It was from comfortable surroundings like this that we experienced such fine birds as Amur Falcon

and Steppe Eagle.

Raptors were a highlight in Iceland, too, including a spectacular adult female Gyrfalcon.

But the real spectacle on this island of fire and ice is the massive number of breeding alcids and shorebirds.

Black Guillemots nest in the crevices of harborside rocks, and Red-necked Phalaropes–rare elsewhere in Europe–spin on freshwater pools.

The British Bird Fair is just concluded, and now I’ll be taking the opportunity to have a look around at the Dutch Bird Fair. Between now and the start of my fall tour to Bulgaria, I’m going to be keeping myself busy (and hopefully healthy!) by learning to surf. Only two lessons so far, but they’ve been enough for me to gain a solid first impression: it’s great fun, but it looks so much easier on television!