From the Field
November 21:
Paul Holt on the completion of his tour to Goa, India
Highlights of this year's tour, our 16th to this balmy South Indian paradise, were many and varied but included regional specialities such as Black-capped Kingfisher (voted ‘Bird of the Tour’), Indian Pitta, Sri Lanka Frogmouth and Brown Wood Owl; a large number of gorgeous south Asian species such as Indian Roller, Green Bee-eater and Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher and even a few local rarities such as a Red-headed Merlin.
Bird of the tour - Black-capped Kingfisher
Sri Lanka Frogmouth
Brown Wood Owl
Indian Roller
I love this tour. The birding is superb and we stay a remarkable, stress free, 14 consecutive nights in the same hotel! Can any other bird tour anywhere say the same? With comfortable, well-appointed rooms, an immaculately clean swimming pool, great food and superbly friendly, attentive service, it was all the more remarkable that we did as much birding as we did! Combine all this with Goa’s gorgeous weather, and one has the ingredients for a fabulously successful tour.
Basecamp
November 19:
Jon Feenstra from the midway point in his tour to Southern Ecuador
It has felt like a bit of a whirlwind, but that's the way it goes when traveling from one great birding destination to another, each one bursting with endemics, near-endemics, local specialties, and just plain spectacular tropical birds.
Grass-green Tanager
We're half way through the tour of southern Ecuador and so far we've been almost entirely on the Amazon slope of the Andes from tree line in El Cajas National Park to the low foothills of the remote Cordillera del Condor, and various levels of cloud forest in between. We've made visits to both high and low elevations of the vast Podocarpus National Park, and the small corner of the Rio Maranon watershed with its own special bird life. Some of our bird highlights include the critically endangered Pale-headed Brushfinch and the striking Jocotoco Antpitta, the bird that started a huge conservation movement here in Ecuador.
Jocotoco Antpitta
Other goodies were a pair of Giant Conebills working the branches in a polylepis grove, seemingly daily Andean Cock-of-the-rock sightings (including as many as six at once feeding in fruiting trees in Podocarpus National Park), a Coppery-chested Jacamar, Amazonian Umbrellabird, White-necked Parakeets, several of the gorgeous and near-endemic Orange-throated Tanagers, a dizzying array of tanagers and hummingbirds, and plenty of tricky little flycatchers and such just to add a little challenge to things.
Part of the group in Polylepis looking at Giant Conebills
Coppery-chested Jacamar
Orange-throated Tanager
The backdrop to all of this has been pretty amazing as well. We passed Cotopaxi, an erupting volcano on our first day, and waterfalls, sheer cliff faces, rainbows, and huge swaths of unbroken green-ness meet us every day.
A smoking Cotopaxi
Tomorrow, we're off to the Pacific slope of the Andes with new adventures and entirely new birds in store.
November 9:
James Lidster from his just-completed tour to Namibia
I just completed our first modern day tour to Namibia and it looks like I may have a new contender for my favorite tour! It offersed everything; over 250 species of bird and nearly 40 species of mammals;dramatic scenery from dunes and coast to rolling hills, desert and savannah; and superb lodges and food are also superb... and I really should add the odd German bakery and good South African wine.
Just another dramatic lodge location
The highlights of the first trip were the endemic and near endemic Dune Lark, Herero Chat, Hartlaub's Francolin, Ruppell's Korhaan (photo), Rosy-faced Lovebird, Ruppell's Parrot (photo), Monteiro's (photo) and Damara Hornbills, Benguela Long-billed Lark, White-tailed Shrike, Rockrunner, Bare-cheeked Babbler and Carp's Tit.
Ruppell's Korhaan
Ruppell's Parrot
Monteiro's Hornbill
And from our several days in Etosha driving our own Safari we were treated to 16 Black Rhinos. lots of African Elephants and Lions, one Cheetah and on the preceding evening a night drive with 5 Aardwolves!
Black Rhinos
African Elephants
Lion
Aardwolf
November 5:
Fabrice Schmitt and Steve Howell from their ongoing tour of Chile
Now back in Santiago after the first two sections, in Tierra del Fuego and the Lake District. Many highlights to date, ranging from majestic King Penguins on Tierra del Fuego (including a lone wanderer on a beach far from the new colony!) to demure Des Mur’s Wiretails in the Lake District bamboo thickets. A few images below, before we start our birding in Central and Northern Chile.
Our roadside ‘vagrant’ King Penguin!
The understated Des Mur’s Wiretail
Seeking Magellanic Plover...
...Finding Magellanic Plover
Rufous-chested Plover and Two-banded Plover on Tierra del Fuego
Darwin’s Rheas huddled in a 60-knot wind!
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, seen on our first afternoon.
November 3:
Rich Hoyer from the mid-way point on his tour of Southeastern Peru
The first half of our Manu Biosphere Reserve tour has been so full of amazing bird sightings it was like a tour all in its own. In the past six days we’ve descended the moist slope of the Andes from Acjanaco Pass to Villa Carmen Biological Station (with some light rain just part of one morning, much less than expected) and are soon heading out by boat down the Madre de Dios River to the lowlands where the diversity is supposed to increase. But that’s hard to believe. We’ve already seen over 350 species of birds in less than a week.
At the highest elevations a couple of tanager flocks finally appeared with gorgeous Grass-green, Golden-collared, and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers showing well, as well as a very cooperative Black-throated Tody-Tyrant.
Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
Close fly-bys of two female Swallow-tailed Nightjars, a tantalizingly close calling Rufous-banded Owl, and roosting Chestnut-collared Swifts were highlights from a short evening walk. My attempts to rile hummingbirds with Yungas Pygmy-Owl imitations resulted in a the real thing responding and flying it. But instead of keeping hidden in a tree high above our heads as they often do, this one landed amongst the lichens, bromeliads, and orchids in the trees below eye level on the down slope side of the road where we had excellent views.
Yungas Pygmy-Owl
We had a good experience watching some very active Andean Cock-of-the-rocks on their lek, one bird being particularly bold by performing his head-bowing display on a branch right in front of us.
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
The feeders at our mid-elevation lodges of San Pedro had nice Booted Racket-tails, Many-spotted Hummingbirds, and Violet-fronted Brilliants, but it was a resident Wedge-billed Hummingbird that fed from the pink Heliconia flowers in the garden that stole the show.
Wedge-billed Hummingbird
Other birds in the garden were gorgeous Silver-beaked Tanager in rich light and a pair of bold Andean Motmots (two of several that we saw) that came to feed on bananas.
Andean Motmot
Perhaps the most astonishing and thrilling sighting from the mid-elevations was a juvenile Black-and-chestnut Eagle that our van flushed from a low log on the side of the road. The monster flapped slowly in front of us as we came to a sudden stop, and it perched not 10 yards from the road. A passing car threatened to flush it before we got photos, but the bird remained nonplussed, proceeded to preen, and the driver of the passing car even paused to point his camera phone out the window.
Watching the Black-and-chestnut Eagle
Juvenile Black-and-chestnut Eagle
On our way to the lower Kosñipata Valley we saw yet more great birds. Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulets foraged at eye-level, a pair of Wattled Guans surprised us in trees next to the road, and a stationary Lanceolated Monklet perched in the open but far from obvious was brilliantly spotted by one of the participants. The butterflies were out of this world. Some of the showier and more colorful were the clear-winged metalmark Chorinea sylphina and the shocking Superb Leafwing, wings spread below a bridge over a small stream.
Clear-winged Metalmark
Superb Leafwing
The birds of the bamboo thickets here at Villa Carmen Biological Station were amazingly cooperative. While standing in one spot just a ten-minute walk from our rooms we saw Bamboo Antshrike and Yellow-breasted Warbling-, Goeldi’s, White-lined, and Manu Antbirds. White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher was in another bamboo thicket as well, and we ended that first day with over 130 species. Even closer to our rooms was a family group of the most unlikely of the world’s birds, the Hoatzin, and at the same marsh we enjoyed a tail-wagging, head-bowing, and sac-inflating performance from a pair of Black-capped Donacobius. The overnight thunderstorm and yesterday morning’s continuing sprinkles produced a termite emergence that resulted in an explosion of bird activity such as a flock of a dozen flycatching Purple Honeycreepers and three male Plum-throated Cotingas perched in some treetops. We then watched a non-swarming column of army ants with a kleptoparasitic silverfish living amongst them, followed immediately by a cooperative Rusty-belted Tapaculo that everyone got to see very well. Later in the afternoon a great surprise and first local record was an Upland Sandpiper in a newly planted field in the agricultural plots that are part of the station’s involvement in helping the communities of the region develop sustainable farming methods. We missed seeing the adult Common Potoo that had been on a nest, but in its place instead was the most adorable half-grown chick roosting on its own, trying its best to look like a tree trunk.
Common Potoo chick
November 1:
Gavin Bieber and Susan Myers on their recently concluded tour to Queensland and New South Wales, Australia
Our tour covering Queensland and coastal New South Wales kicked off with a fine week around Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands. From a surprisingly bold Noisy Pitta striding around the grounds at Kingfisher Lodge to an unexpectedly difficult but very much appreciated Southern Cassowary in the rainforests near Kuranda there was a wealth of birds.
Noisy Pitta Photo: Ade Buckel
Southern Cassowary
The bird diversity in the northern reaches of the tableland was higher than normal, benefitting from the record droughts to the west. Larger than usual numbers of Australian Bustards and Squatter Pigeons and a few truly irregular species to the area such as Diamond Dove made for excellent birding.
Diamond Dove
Australia has more than a few beautiful species of pigeons, and we were happy to see gaudy Topknot Pigeons perched in the canopy and large numbers of the elegant Torresian Imperial Pigeons along the coast.
Torresian Imperial Pigeon
Our day on the Great Barrier Reef was complicated by some boat issues, but the birds were plentiful, with 11 species of terns seen over the course of the day (Here is a mixed flock with Black-naped, Common, Roseate, and Lesser Crested Terns). We must give special mention to the area’s many species of mammals, especially this sleeping Lumholtz’s Tree-Kangaroo (and the very cooperative Platypus) that we found south of Yungaburra, our pleasant base on the tablelands.
Black-naped, Common, Roseate, and Lesser Crested Terns on a Great Barrier Reef beach
Lumholt's Tree-Kangaroo
Our second week centered around the famous O’Reilly’s Lodge SW of Brisbane and Royal National Park on the southern outskirts of Sydney. The birds around O’Reilly’s are astoundingly tame. Forest birds often investigate your shoelaces and even normally very shy birds like Eastern Whipbird can be easy to spot. Bolder birds like Rufous Fantail can be positively pushy.
Eastern Whipbird
Rufous Fantail
The gorgeous Regent and Satin Bowerbirds are common visitors around the lodge, where Eastern Spinebills frequent the flowering shrubs, and Australian King Parrots look over (or from) your shoulder for any dropped tidbits.
Regent Bowerbird
Satin Bowerbird
King Parrot
Our scheduled pelagic trip out of Sydney was cancelled due to high winds and swell, but our backup visit to Barren Grounds National Park gave us superlative views of Eastern Bristlebird. Royal National Park was a great and scenic backdrop for our final day and a half, with Superb Lyrebird showing well, and dazzlingly blue Azure Kingfishers lining the creek.
Superb Lyrebird
Azure Kingfisher
We finished the Eastern Tour with 283 species, and an amazing 444 species for the two tours combined. . It is always with a touch of sadness that I board the plane to leave this amazing continent, and I very much look forward to next year’s tours!
October 30:
Gavin Bieber on his just-completed tour of Western Australia and Northern Territory
We spent the first week of our new Western Australia Tour birding around the southwest corner of the country. A wetland in central Perth provided our first waterbirds, including these fine courting Black Swans.
Black Swan
Forests around Dryandra and the Stirling Ranges were very productive, with repeated views of Carnaby’s (Short-billed) Black-Cockatoos, the aptly named Splendid Fairy-Wren, the western form of Crested Shriketit (surely an excellent candidate for species status) and Rufous Treecreeper. The gorgeous coastline near Cheyne’s Beach was our backdrop for several days, where we had especially good views of Western Whipbird (as well as the other two skulky heathland endemics; the Noisy Scrubbird and Western Bristlebird) and several beautiful Southern Emu-wrens.
Splendid Fairy-Wren
Southwest Australia coastline
Our second week covered the red center of the country around Alice Springs, the tropical north of the 'Top End' around Darwin, and two days around the outpost town of Kununurra, near the east end of the Kimberley Mountains. Around Alice Springs we found some confiding Spinifex Pigeons, marveled at the shiny purple nape patch of Western Bowerbird and were lucky to find a nesting pair of the generally scarce Black-breasted Buzzards.
Spinifex Pigeon
Western Bowerbird - Photo: Ade Buckel
The humid and comparatively lush lands surrounding Darwin seemed stuffed with new birds at every turn. Hulking Blue-winged Kookaburras and a very cooperative pair of Rufous Owls were especially nice.
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Rufous Owl
Kununurra has the feel of a real outback town, with isolated and very beautiful grottos, and almost comically swollen Baobab Trees dotting the savannahs. Although it was very dry this year, we still found 10 of 11 species of finches possible in the area (including the beautiful Gouldian and scarce Yellow-rumped Mannikin), and the day trip out to Lake Argyle was superb with dozens of Yellow Chats, flocks of Magpie Geese, and tame Short-eared Rock Wallabys. We wrapped up the 17 day itinerary back in Darwin, with an amazing 323 bird species seen!
Kunnunura grotto
Northern Territory Baobab
Short-eared Rock Wallaby
October 19:
Rich Hoyer on his recently completed tour to Bolivia
The Chaco region was as interesting as ever, this year providing abundant Black-legged Seriemas as well as Crested Hornero, Many-colored Chaco-Finch, Chaco Earthcreeper, Lark-liked Brushrunners and many other regional specialties. A Crested Gallito that perched up for photos was perhaps the star of this part of the trip.
Crested Gallito
Our time in the enchanting valley of Refugio Los Volcanes was superb despite the persistent winds – Bolivian Recurvebill, Bolivian Tapaculo, Slaty Gnateater, and this most confiding of Subtropical Pygmy-Owls.
Refugio Los Volcanes scene
Subtropical Pygmy-Owl
We had the good fortune of seeing a flock of Red-fronted Macaws fly right over us in our first afternoon in the Comarapa area, followed the next day by Bolivian Earthcreeper and Bolivian Blackbird. Productive birding up in the Siberia included seeing Trilling and Diademed Tapaculos but most amazing was a Hooded Mountain-Toucan in a small patch of cloud forest where we did not expect one, let alone to have one perch up so nicely.
Hooded Mountain-Toucan
On our way to Cochabamba we had the delightful conundrum of deciding whether to look at the two Andean Condors soaring at eye-level only a couple hundred yards away or at the stunning male Red-tailed Comet perched just 15 yards away. Fortunately both remained visible for several minutes and we got fabulous views.
Andean Condor
Red-tailed Comet
Our final days in the Cochabamba area were also delightful, and a five-canastero day up at Cerro Tunari, along with Short-tailed Finch and several other high-elevation specialties was especially fun.
It was wonderful to be in bird-filled Bolivia again, and I look forward to returning as soon as I can fit it into my schedule – look for a repeat of this itinerary in 2017, with perhaps an extension to some additional far-flung corner.
Mercado San Antonio
Picnic lunchs were brilliant thanks to Benita
September 28:
Jon Dunn on his just-concluded tour of Southern California
Our southern California tour experienced warmer temperatures than normal, especially at the Salton Sea where it approached 110 degrees but we did find nearly all of the mainly resident chaparral (or coastal sage) and oak woodland species, most of which are largely endemic to California. These include California Quail, Allen’s Hummingbird (including adult males), Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, California Gnatcatcher, California Thrasher, California Towhee, and Lawrence’s Goldfinch (some 25 birds noted at Green Valley Campground in the Cuyamaca Mountains).
Other highlights included all of the rocky shorebird species, numerous Yellow-footed Gulls at the south end of the Salton Sea and Le Conte’s Thrasher, numerous Bell’s Sparrows (canescens subspecies), and two Long-eared Owls in the Mojave Desert.
Le Conte's Thrasher
There were as always a few rarities: Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Painted Bunting (juvenile) at the Salton Sea, a Virginia’s Warbler in Orange County, two American Redstarts (Orange County and Galileo Hill), and an immature female Broad-billed Hummingbird at Chiraco Summit in the Colorado Desert.
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Perhaps our best day was the trip to Santa Cruz Island where we had great studies of the endemic Island Scrub-Jay and prolonged views of an Island Fox, but the big surprise came just before we arrived when a full adult Red-billed Tropicbird flushed in front of the boat. Fortunately it landed again and everyone on the boat, even the mostly non-birders, had fabulous views. Although this species is regular far offshore in late summer and early fall, it was unusual to see one in the Santa Barbara Channel only 3.5 miles off Scorpion Cove, Santa Cruz Island.
Island Scrub-Jay
Red-billed Tropicbird
September 21:
Gavin Bieber on his recently concluded tour to the Pribilof Islands, Alaska
These beautiful islands, so verdant in the fall, showed off to great effect this year, with many a picturesque rainbow, and a really rich green color pallet.
Although we were were largely under the influence of North and Northeast winds with frequent (and unseasonable) rain we were happy to see numbers of beautiful Sharp-tailed Sandpipers daily, with at least three Wood Sandpipers and a truly rare Solitary Sandpiper providing an excellent supporting cast.
Handsome juvenile Sharp-tailed Sanpipers
A Pribilofs rarity - Solitary Sandpiper
The cliffs were quiet compared to the full swing of summer, but provided good opportunities for Tufted (and Horned) Puffin photograph, and with a bit of luck, even a chance at Northern Fulmars in flight. The cute and globally very rare Red-legged Kittiwakes were still present in numbers, often with their rangier Black-legged cousins along for comparison.
The elegant Tufted Puffin
A Bering Sea specialty, Red-legged Kittiwakes
Although we failed to locate any asian passerines this trip - the winds were from exactly the wrong direction for much of our stay - a first for the Pribilof Islands (301st species here!) in the form of a Purple Finch provided some consolation, and the numbers of mainland North American migrants were impressive.
A Pribilofs first - Purple Finch
Any trip to the Pribs in fall also features mammalian subjects, and the hundreds of thousands of Northern Fur Seal pups playing in the shallow waters of sheltered bays never fails to impress. Can’t wait to see what next years trip brings in!
Young Northern Fur Seals at play