We’re birders all, of course, but wouldn’t you look away from the feathered folk for just a moment if you saw that face looking up at you?

Looking “up” because you’d be elephant-back, close enough for the thrill, far enough for safety.

Paul Holt writes about the excitement of our latest tour to Ranthambhore, Nainital, Bharatpur, and Corbett:

We knew instantly what it meant when we heard one of the park guides whistle: people in another vehicle were watching a Tiger! And there, walking right up the middle of the jeep track, was our first Tiger. It was a fantastic encounter, with the animal in view for almost 15 minutes, walking right up the center of the forest road as if she owned it—which we knew she did.

Someone was heard to mutter that any birds we saw after our Tiger would simply be a bonus.

This was our third game drive inside Ranthambhore Tiger Sanctuary, and we’d go on to see two more fine beasts on our fifth and last drive, plus a solitary male at Corbett. That makes seven years in a row that we’ve seen Tigers on this tour….

See out the Year of the Tiger with Paul February 7-24, 2011! Just call us if you have any questions about this fantastic tour, full of birds–and some pretty exciting mammals, too.

Perhaps the most highly sought bird in all of Peru, the Long-whiskered Owlet is also among the most mysterious. Long known only from mist-netted specimens, it’s been seen a handful of times since 2007–most recently YESTERDAY by Rich Hoyer as he finished up scouting for this summer’s tour of Northern Peru. The images he sent on are among just a few photographs ever taken of this fancy-faced little owl.

Rich’s tour focuses on this and another spectacular Peruvian endemic, the Marvelous Spatuletail. We’ll keep you up to date as the tour begins later this month.

A Plain-capped Starthroat appeared Sunday at the Casa de San Pedro B&B in Hereford, AZ. Jon Dunn’s tour Arizona: Second Spring spends three nights here next month.

Will the starthroat still be there? No way to say, but historically, individuals of this species have lingered long and shown considerable “feeder fidelity” in southeast Arizona.

New rules will go into effect January 1, 2012, governing inter-island travel in the Galápagos.

Starting in January 2012, no vessel will be permitted to visit the same site more than once every 14 days. The brilliant week-long itineraries now in effect will no longer be possible; by visiting the best sites, those itineraries make them unavailable for the next week’s cruise. It seems certain that all cruise companies will now divide up the best islands so that each week’s cruise visits some–but of necessity not all.

The upshot for birders? If you want the best of the Galápagos in just a week’s time, plan to go this year or in 2011.  Rich Hoyer‘s next cruise is scheduled for November 12-21, 2010, followed by another convenient, but different, itinerary in November 2012.

The NYT has a good-looking and very timely slide show from “The Valley” on line. If you’ve never been, this should whet your appetite–along with the most recent reports from Gavin Bieber‘s spring and winter tours to one of the great meccas of American birding.

Among the brilliant beauties lurking in the Rio Grande’s narrow band of thornscrub are Altamira Orioles. And who knows, perhaps your visit will be graced by something as surprising as the Black-vented Oriole photographed on South Padre Island two days ago.

So how do WINGS leaders spend their time when they’re not leading tours?

In the field, of course, birding and learning–and contributing to conservation by participating in such activities as “birdathons.”

Rich Hoyer‘s Voyeurs will be going head to head with Gavin Bieber‘s High Rollers in Tucson Audubon‘s annual event.

Where will you be birdathoning it this spring?

Southeast Arizona. Photo: Rich Hoyer.

Oaxaca is famed the world ’round for its richly historic culture and for some of the best birding in Mexico. This year’s Oaxaca Birding Marathon, held over the last of October and the first of November, provided eloquent testimony to the area’s birding potential, with 406 species (!) recorded over two and a half days by 23 participants led by our friends Eric Antonio, Roque Antonio, Edgar del Valle, and Manuel Grosselet.

Among the birds tallied were 39 endemic and 28 nearly endemic species.

Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. Photo: Manuel Grosselet.

The weekend’s list was a riotous jumble of great birds: Boucard’s Wren, Dwarf Jay, Dwarf Vireo, Aztec Thrush, Chesnut-sided Shrike -Vireo, Townsend’s Shearwater, Rosita’s Bunting, Red-breasted Chat, Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, and on and on.

Rosita's Bunting. Photo: Manuel Grosselet.

Manuel and his colleagues are already planning their next marathon. And here at WINGS we’re looking forward ourselves to our next visit to Oaxaca and Chiapas with Steve Howell and Rich Hoyer in March.

Today’s NYT points out that Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance,  remains one of the most culturally vibrant cities in Italy, as we’ll discover in Tuscany next May.

Join us!

The world’s last wild flock of Whooping Cranes is headed south to its Texas wintering grounds.

Whooping Cranes. Photo: Steve Hillebrand/USFWS.

As many as 36 cranes were seen over the weekend in the area of Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira NWR in Kansas. The next days and weeks will see virtually all of the mid-continent flock arriving on the Texas coast, where they’ll be waiting on Gavin Bieber‘s February tour, Whooping Cranes and the Rio Grande Valley.

Steve Howell has updated the photo gallery for his 2011 Western Pacific Odyssey (the last time this itinerary will be available from our cruise company).

Kagus can be surprisingly accommodating! Photo: Steve N.G. Howell.

There are some astounding images in Steve’s collection. I know I should be most enthusiastic about the birds, but the gallery’s other “flying” creatures are absolutely breathtaking. Take a look!