WingsBirds Updates

Northern Peru: The Cloud Forests of the Rio Mayo and Abra Patricia

Will Russell — 2013-05-09 09:27:57

Paul Lehman on his just-completed "repositioning" cruise from San Diego to Vancouver

Wings Staff — 2013-05-08 03:24:48

The inaugural WINGS Pacific Coast "repositioning" cruise 14-17 April was a great success, with superb birds, a fine ship, excellent food and service, and all at a remarkably reasonable price. We experienced strong headwinds for two of the days but our ship the Holland America "Zaandam" sailed steadily through it with flying colors, and the pterodroma petrels were all up and flying! We had a great showing as our group saw one Hawaiian Petrel (below), one "Dark-rumped" Petrel, 10's of Murphy's Petrels, and one or two Cook's Petrels. We also tallied a fine Laysan Albatross, a rare Flesh-footed Shearwater, many Black-footed Albatrosses and Fork-tailed, Leach's, and Black Storm-Petrels, a number of Parakeet Auklets and Scripps's Murrelets, several Black-vented Shearwaters, and over 500 Sabine's Gulls--as well as Humpback and Fin Whales--and all in grand style and comfort!

Gavin Bieber on his just completed tour of South Florida

Wings Staff — 2013-05-06 16:00:35

Our survey of the habitats and avifauna of this remarkable region took in such wonderful sights as the seemingly endless “sea of grass” of the Everglades, the heavily developed metropolitan coastline of Southeast Florida, which maintains a nice selection of protected areas and shelters many more species than just the celebrated “exotics,” the stunning cypress bottomlands, heavily laden with epiphytes and flowers, the upland pine/oak scrub and grassland savannahs of the central peninsula, coastal mangroves and bays, and stretches of sparkling white sand beaches. We enjoyed a myriad of birds too, from breeding Brown Noddies (below) and an incredible fallout of over 200 Yellow-billed Cuckoos on the Tortugas to migrant Bobolink and Blackpoll Warblers (both below), and even saw a few vagrants from the Caribbean like Black-faced Grassquit and Western Spindalis (both below). Add to that mix 19 species of reptiles and amphibians, 16 species of fish, and a host of pretty butterflies and dragonflies and the diversity of south Florida in the spring becomes hard to beat!

Congratulations Chris Wood - A New US Big Day Record

Will Russell — 2013-05-03 07:09:16

WINGS leader Chris Wood and his colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Team Sapsucker just obliterated the US Big Day record with an astounding 294 species in a single Texas day — 30 species more than the previous record. Initial estimates suggest the team will raise some $300,000 for Cornell's conservation programs and eBird. Find out more about the day here, and about the weather that facilitated such an amazing run here.

Paul French from his on-going tour to Georgia and the High Caucasus

Wings Staff — 2013-04-29 16:51:49

We’ve just reached the half-way point on our tour of Georgia, and are currently reflecting on our time spent in the Greater Caucasus, the highest mountains in Europe. All of the hoped-for specialities performed admirably, and we were treated to extended encounters with Guldenstadt’s Redstart and Great Rosefinch (images of both below) at their only Western Palearctic location. Indeed, the rosefinches provided “walkaway” views as we watched several at close quarters feeding among the buckthorn. The redstarts will depart for higher altitudes in the spring, and we witnessed one Guldenstadt’s climb high into the thin air and disappear into the clear blue skies above us, suggesting that we got our timing of this trip spot on! Other highlights included daily sightings of Lammegeier (below), including one that buzzed us twice within 30 meters, confiding Caucasian Chiffchaffs (below), lekking Caucasian Black Grouse, strutting Caucasian Snowcocks and a pair of unconcerned Wallcreepers (below). Raptor migration was also evident whenever we remembered to look up; the species list includes Eastern Imperial, Steppe and Golden Eagles, Honey and Steppe Buzzards, Marsh, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers, Levant Sparrowhawk and Osprey. We feel in top form for the raptors that are to come when we enter the rolling steppes of Chachuna tomorrow…

Ghana

Will Russell — 2012-12-13 08:53:52

Ecuador: the South

Will Russell — 2012-11-05 07:01:12