From the Field
December 3:
Gavin Bieber on his just-concluded tour to Panama.
I’ve just returned from a fantastic 12-day tour to Panama's central canal-zone based for a week in the famous Canopy Tower and four nights in the Canopy Lodge. As always this November tour was packed with birds (this year 382 species) and several charismatic mammal species.
Night Monkeys peering at us from their daytime roost
From atop the Canopy tower we found a very close female Blue Cotinga (as well as several stunning males), and a cooperative Brown-hooded Parrot parrot that flew in and spent some time preening in the early morning sun.
An accommodating female Blue Cotinga
Pipeline Road produced wonderful views of Ocellated Antbirds attending a large antswarm, and in the forests just around the tower we located perched White-whiskered Puffbirds and even a hunting American Pygmy-Kingfisher.
White-whiskered Puffbird
A forest sprite, the American Pygmy Kingfisher
The lodge provided a great contrast to the tower, with about 100 additional species of birds including both Blue-throated and Yellow-eared Toucanets, and two of the truly snazzy birds in Panama – Tody Motmot and Black-crowned Antpitta.
Blue-throated Toucanet
Yellow-eard Toucanet
This tour continues to impress me; the diversity and richness of the region, paired with ease of access and the comforts of the lodges, make for a truly wonderful experience.
November 28:
Fabrice Schmitt and David Fisher on their recently concluded tour to Chile
Above Santiago we experienced the wonderful sceneries of the Andes while looking for (and finding!) Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, Greater Yellow-Finch and other mountain specialists. One of the most amazing encounters was the group of 20 condors coming to roost on the roof of the Valle Nevado Ski resort, giving us an extraordinary show and very close views of these giants.
Birding the mountains above Santiago
An Andean Condor coming to roost at Valle Nevado
Other giants were these Northern Royal Albatross following our boat during our pelagic trip off Quintero, together with Peruvian Pelicans, White-chinned Petrels, the elegant Inca Terns and many others.
A splendid Northern Royal Albatross following our boat
The unique Inca Tern seen during our pelagic trip off Quintero
And after spending a few days in Central Chile, we finished our trip in Lauca National Park at the Northern tip of the country. The weather was fantastic as were the views of snowcapped volcanoes, high altitude lakes covered with birds, three species of Flamingoes feeding together with Andean Avocet and very close looks at Mountain Viscachas (a kind of cute hybrid between rabbit and kangaroo!).
Our group posing in front of the superb Parinacota Volcano
The Mountain Viscacha, a particular rodent of the Andes
November 26:
Paul Holt on the conclusion of his tour to Goa, India
Highlights of this year’s Goa tour, our 15th to this balmy and hugely birdy South Indian paradise, were many and varied
Barefoot birding...balmy indeed
and included regional specialities such as a fabulously obliging Indian Pitta (voted ‘Bird of the Tour’), Sri Lanka Frogmouth and Crested Hawk-eagle;
Indian Pitta
a large number of gorgeous south Asian species such as Indian Roller, Green Bee-eater and Black-capped Kingfisher and even a few local rarities such as Grey-headed Lapwing and Long-toed Stint.
Black-capped Kingfisher
Green Bee-eater
We advertise our Goa tour as a relatively relaxed, comfortable introduction to India…and it can be exactly that. With a remarkable 14 consecutive nights in the same hotel it’s pretty stress free. (I’ve often wondered how many bird tours stay in the same hotel for this length of time – surely very, very few?) With the comfortable, well-appointed rooms, the immaculately clean swimming pool, the great food and superbly friendly, attentive service it was all the more remarkable that we did as much birding as we did!
A lovely possibility at day's end
Combining this with Goa’s gorgeous weather, delicious and, yes varied, food, some exciting shopping opportunities and birds galore once again made for a fabulously successful tour.
A morning birding scene in Goa
November 19:
Jon Feenstra from his on-going tour to Southern Ecuador
We're five days into 15 days of birding all across southern Ecuador. We began in the high country of El Cajas National Park,
Part of the group in El Cajas National Park
enjoying the cool, thin air above treeline and seeing some of the signature species like Violet-throated Metaltail and Tit-like Dacnis. After a stop at Reserva Yunguilla, nearly the only place on earth to see Pale-headed Brush-Finch,
Pale-headed Brush Finch, almost unknown away from Reserva Yunguilla
we traveled south to Zamora, gateway to the lower reaches of the vast expanse of Podocarpus National Park. We spent a couple of days walking in the park with bird highlights of Foothill Elaenia, Lanceolated Monklet and Blackish Nighjar.
Lanceolated Monklet
To top that off, Copalinga Lodge now has a tinamou feeding station and we had killer views of a Gray Tinamou, a bird that often otherwise only exists in legend.
As for now, we just left the low foothills of the Cordillera del Condor in far southeastern Ecuador where we spent the last two days. It's only recently accessible, a true birding frontier, and we've seen some great stuff like the local specialty Orange-throated Tanager, as well as some other goodies like Blackish Pewee and Napo Sabrewing. To add to the "local specialtie", Cabanas Yankuam lodge served frog legs for dinner last night - a noted delicacy of the province of Zamora-Chincipe. Next it's back into the high country, this time in southern Loja, home of the Jocotoco Antpitta and continued good birding.
November 14:
Fabrice Schmitt and David Fisher on their visit to a Markham's Storm-Petrel breeding colony
The breeding grounds of Markham’s Storm-Petrel has been a well-kept mystery until very recently. Only one colony had been found, near Paracas in Peru, even though large numbers of flying young are found each year off the Chilean coast. Local seabird experts knew that other breeding sites had to exist.
Markham's Storm-Petrel at sea
Last year, a team of Chilean birders including Fabrice, finally discovered several Markham’s Storm-Petrel breeding colonies of in the north of Chile, and we decided to include a tour visit to one of these, located in the middle of the Atacama Desert 10 kilometers from the coast.
A Markham's Storm-Petrel breeding colony (no joke...)
We had the very same morning seen two adult Markham’s Storm-Petrels at sea during our pelagic trip off Arica and our group, in the dark about our objective and understandably wondering where we were going given the desolate surrounndings, was absolutely amazed to see a well-grown chick in its nesting cavity in so inhospitable a place.Whether the chick was astounded at being the first of its species to see a tour group is unknown.
Entrance to a Markham's burrow
The WINGS group looking at a Markham's chick looking back at them
A Markham's chick in its burrow photographed with an endoscope camera - Image Ronny Peredo
An adult Markham's in its burrow photographeed with an endescope camera - Image Ronny Peredo
Fabrice and his Chilean friends from the Chilean Birding Network are undertaking their investigation into the breeding seabirds of Chile thanks to funding from the WAN foundation, and hope next to discover the totally unknown breeding ground of Ringed Storm-Petrel!
November 6:
Yann Kolbeinsson on his mid-summer Iceland tour
Our 8th modern-day tour here was by far the wettest and grayest we’ve experienced but despite the fact that we saw rain in all imaginable ways, we somehow managed to get bits of dry weather every time we really needed it.
The “bird of the trip” award went to the massive Gyrfalcon which this year gave good views on several occasions,
A magnificent Gyrfalcon
and a very tame pair of Barrow’s Goldeneyes by the river Laxá proved popular and the pair made it into 2nd place!
Barrow's Goldeneye
And it wasn't just birds made it into the top 5 list for this tour; the Látrabjarg cliff (Europe’s westernmost point, excluding the Acores), with its thousands upon thousands of seabirds and the smell and sounds that comes with it, made it onto the list this time and no wonder, as the weather was on our side during that particularly calm and mild evening we spent on the cliff’s edge.
The Látrabjarg Cliffs
We managed to find a pod of Orcas at the Snæfellsnes peninsula, and the usual seals were seen including a Common that entertained us in a glacial river, with Great Skuas watching us from above, while we were waiting for our bus to get towed out of sand... Our stop-over on Flatey island was memorable and not only because the weather once again was decent to us. As usual the Red (Grey) Phalarope was the highlight and they did put on a show for us. While searching for them, other birds such as the Black Guillemots, Atlantic Puffins, Snow Buntings and Red-necked Phalaropes kept us entertained. Picking out the most memorable bits of a tour like this is always tricky. The abundance of spectacular birds never ceases to impress visitors, with Black-tailed Godwits, Whimbrels, Common Redshanks and Arctic Terns being omnipresent, and Red-necked Phalaropes daily sights as they spin around on the water.
Black-tailed Godwit
It can also be hard to get used to seeing Arctic Skuas flying across the roads and heathlands instead of a more familiar sight of seeing them distantly during seawatching in more southern latitudes.
Geology and landscapes also played an important role on this journey, although due to the rainy weather we did have limited views of the mountains of northern Iceland. We saw waterfalls in all sizes and shapes, including the very popular Goðafoss and Dettifoss of the north-east,
The great Goðafoss waterfall>
and slphur pools, geysers and geological formations made by the mid-Atlantic rift (including Þingvellir National Park where the Nearctic and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart).
The Strokkur geyser
Last but not least, the group was, simply put, fantastic and that, combined with the ever-changing landscape, varied food and of course, lots of birds made this trip unforgettable.
November 5:
Brian Finch on the completion of his tour to Madagascar
Travel in Madagascar can be frustrating. They have for example the most capricious of airlines that changes flight times at a whim...but somehow things have a strange way of working out, and once our destination is reached, all the hassles are forgottten when confronted with the wonders of Madagascar's endemic bird families, The strange Mesites, for example, with no obvious immediate relative,
A Sub-Desert Mesite waits for us to go away
the colorful (and some not so colorful) Ground-Rollers,
A not so colorful Short-legged Ground-Roller
the monotypic Cuckoo-Roller tumbling in the sky as it noisily traces the limits of its territory, glowing Asities sandwiched somewhere in between Broadbills and Pittas, but like neither,
Schelgel's Asity whose built-in fluorescence makes hiding difficult
and the Vangas who have evolved so bizarrely as to resemble different groups covering scythebills, treehunters, hornbills, shrikes, butcherbirds, nuthatches, babblers, flycatchers and warblers, It is like the world of bird diversity rolled into one extended family, and impossible to see the “family resemblance,” between it's members.
Blue Vanga - Image Bill Eden
Sickle-billed Vanga
Rufous-shouldered Vanga, one of the world's rarest birds
Then there are the Lemurs, and the most impressive herp (and other!) fauna on the planet.
Sportive Lemur - Image Bill Eden
Ring-tailed Lemur with young - Image Bill Eden
Oustalet's Chamelion - Image Bill Eden
Emblematic of Madagascar's wonders, A Giraffe Weevil - Image Bill Eden
It is always such a pleasure sharing this incredible fauna with an appreciative group, and especially one with such dedicated persistence,...and of course Madagascar's friendly people, comfortable accommodation and tasty food all contribute to making tours here so memorable.
November 5:
Fabrice Schmitt and David Fisher from their ongoing Chile tour.
We’ve just finished our first week in Chile, and have crossed so many wonderful landscapes and encountered so many stunning birds that it feels like we've been traveling for weeks. The weather was more chilly than usual, both in Patagonia and in the Lake District, and some recent snow falls painted white the summits of all the hills and mountains making the landscapes more beautiful than ever. Birding was wonderful in the southern part of the country and we were delighted to see the stars of this part of Chile tour, including a group of 51 King Penguins on a colony in Tierra del Fuego,
Some of the 51 King Penguins
a displaying pair of Magellanic Plovers on the shore of an emerald green lake, several Black-throated Finches together with 3 Tawny-throated Dotterels in the Patagonian steppe, and a group of two males and one female of the charismatic Magellanic Woodpeckers in the other-worldly Nothofagus forest in the Lake District.
The fabulous Magellanic Woodpecker, here a female - Image by Jake Mohlmann
The more common species are fantastic too, and included a pair of South American Snipe displaying just a few meters from us, the stunning Austral Negrito flycatching on the ground
The ground-loving Austral Negrito
and the elegant Upland Goose seen by the hundreds all over Patagonia.
Upland Geese: always a perfect portrait
We also experienced ‘Tapaculo hunting’ in the bamboo understory in Puyehue National Park, looking for Black-throated Huet-huet, and Chucao, Magellanic and Ochre-flanked Tapaculo. It was hard work, but most of the group succeeded in seeing three of these difficult birds, and one of us even managed see all four of them!! Well done, Daragh!
A successful tapaculo watch
November 1:
Gavin Bieber on the conclusion of his series of tours to Australia
We just finished up the last leg of the WINGS Australia tours for 2014. Our last few days were (as usual) just filled with amazing birds and sites. In Lamington National Park we had up close and very personal views of Regent Bowerbirds, surely one of the snazziest birds on the planet,
Regent Bowerbird
and birds like Eastern Whipbird which have lost their typical reserve and parade around in the open here.
Eastern Whipbird
Then we moved down to Sydney, and the adjacent Royal National Park (and its impressive Powerful Owls).
Powerful Owl
We closed with a sublimely calm pelagic trip which yielded 4 species of Albatrosses and 13 species of tubenoses, with highlights being Wandering Albatrosses just feet from our boat
Wandering Albatross
and a pod of sleeping Short-finned Pilot Whales.
Short-finned Pilot Whales
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.
October 23:
Fabrice Schmitt on his just-concluded scouting trip to the Iquitos, Peru area
Many people think of the Amazonian lowlands as a uniform green ocean of forest but they are anything but uniform, and the Iquitos region of Northern Peru is a wonderful area to discover the subtleties between varzea, floodplain, terra firme and white sand forest. It's possible to pass from one habitat to the other in just a few hours and given that birds and other creatures are extremely sensitive to these differences, many species will only be found in one specific kind of forest. For example, the Black-tailed Antbird is restricted to floodplain forest along large rivers, while the White-chested Puffbird is mostly restricted to terra firme.
Black-tailed Antbird, found only in seasonally flooded forest
White-chested Puffbird, mostly restricted to the terra firme
Scale-breasted Woodpecker, another terra firme denizen
The Iquitos area is particularly well known for its extensive white sand forest where no less than four new species to science have been discovered the last 15 years, including Allpahuayo, Ancient and Zimmer’s Antbirds, all of which I saw well during my trip.
Allpahuayo Antbird, a white sand specialist
Two major biogeographical barriers, the Amazon and the Napo rivers, also divide the Iquitos area and many species are only found south or north of these rivers, adding to the diversity of the area and explaining in large part why during my two weeks near Iquitos I recorded around 400 species of birds and no fewer than 10 species of monkey.
Pygmy Marmoset, the smallest true primate in the world
Red-mantled Saddle-back Tamarin, found only north of the Amazon and west of the Napo
I'm hoping to run a WINGS tour in this wonderful area in 2016.