From the Field
April 22: Gavin Bieber on his just completed tour of South Texas
South Texas was a blast. The valley specialties like Plain Chachalaca and White-tipped Dove were all present, and many were in full song or seen busily constructing nests. The rarer species like White-collared Seedeater, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Red-billed Pigeon and Aplomado Falcon all cooperated as well. Each trip to the coast yielded a few more northward bound migrants. Crippling views of Summer Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo and Painted Bunting and several warblers definitely added to the overall excitement of the tour and offered fantastic photographic opportunities. Our lengthy study of a foraging Swainson's Warbler on day 1, and the vagrant male Townsend's Warbler at South Padre Island deserve special mention. We tallied an impressive 238 species this year, and also spent time identifying a host of butterflies, odonates, reptiles and even a few fish!
Plain Chachalaca
White-tipped Dove
White-collared Seedeater
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
April 15: Steve Howell from the recently completed Polynesian Odyssey
Starting with Little Penguin and ending today with Golden Dove, this remarkable trip visited New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands and the Kingdom of Tonga before ending here in Fiji. Besides gentle seas, idyllic tropical islands (below) and ‘routine’ amazing cloudscapes and sunsets (below), avian highlights included some 31 species of tubenoses (such as the recently rediscovered Kermadec [White-faced] Storm-Petrel and numerous Collared Petrels), the endangered and extremely localized Tongan Megapode (below), the handsome Tongan Whistler (male, below), confiding Spotless Crakes on the Kermadecs, and the stunning Blue-crowned Lorikeet (below). Being around colonies numbering tens of thousands of day-flying Black-winged and White-necked Petrels, and thousands of cacophonous Kermadec Petrels (below) was incredible, as were the great flyingfish and reef fish (Freckled Pinkwing and Lemonpeel Angelfish, below). Now continuing on with the Melanesian Odyssey…
Maninita, central Tonga
Raoul Island, Kermadecs
Tongan Megapode
Tongan Whistler
Blue-crowned Lorikeet
Kermadec Petrels
Freckled Pinkwing
Lemonpeel Angelfish
April 12: Paul Holt from his on-going tour of Bhutan
Great weather, a fabulous ground crew, some superb scenery and fascinating cultural insights into this tiny Himalayan Kingdom. To these add a generous dose of outstanding birds such as Satyr Tragopan (we've already seen five), Himalayan Monal (we've enjoyed stupendous looks at no less than seven individuals), Black-tailed Crake, Ibisbill, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler, Long-billed Wren-babbler, four different Wallcreepers, and no fewer than 11 Bloodpheasants (an early candidate for bird of the trip; see below for three of them). The list goes on, and on, and on...and we're only just over half way through...
April 4: James Lidster from his on-going tour of Morocco
We have reached the coast now with an impressive species list. Today we saw 30+ Northern Bald Ibis (below), Audouin's Gulls, singing Rufous Bush Robins, dog-fighting Bonelli's & Golden Eagles (below), more Moussier's Redstarts, Black-crowned Tchagras, Barbary Partridge, Maghreb Magpie (below), Moroccan Wagtail and Western Olivaceous Warbler, either side of a delicious seafood lunch on the beach (below!). Yesterday we saw 2 Black-winged Kites, Collared Pratincole, Pallid (below) & Little Swifts and a lot of rain! The last day tomorrow as we head to the Oued Massa.
Northern Bald Ibis
Bonelli's & Golden Eagles
Bonelli's & Golden Eagles
Maghreb Magpie
seafood lunch
Pallid Swift
March 27: Paul French from his on-going tour of Israel
We've started well, with displaying McQueen’s Bustards and up to 18 Cream-colored Coursers in the Negev Desert, plus a flock of Crowned Sandgrouse that showed very well for everyone. Migration is a bit thin so far, but we have found Collared and Semi-collared Flycatchers, Oriental Skylark and Bimaculated Lark, along with views of a Wolf at a vulture feeding station. We have one full day left around Eilat, then we’re moving north to the Dead Sea and Hula Valley, and a totally different mix of species.
Semi-collared Flycatcher
Oriental Skylark
Bimaculated Lark
March 24: Gavin Bieber on his recently completed tour of Puerto Rico
Although islands in the Greater Antilles don’t hold the same diversity of species as mainland sites in the tropics, they have a higher rate of endemism and hold many regional specialties that combine for exciting birding. This year we encountered 17 of the 18 endemics (all except the Puerto Rican Parrot, which is virtually impossible to see during the breeding season), and 116 species overall (a new trip record). As is the norm for this trip the jewel-like and highly charismatic Puerto Rican Tody won bird of the trip with honorable mention going to the inquisitive Puerto Rican Pewees, blushing American Flamingo, striking Puerto Rican Woodpecker, and with a special award to Puerto Rico's beautiful coastline and forested mountains.
Puerto Rican Tody
Puerto Rican Pewee
American Flamingo
Puerto Rican Woodpecker
The fabulous northeast coast
March 20: Gavin Bieber on his just-completed tour of the Dominican Republic
Travel in the Caribbean conjures up images of white sand beaches, palm trees and perhaps mai tais. The Dominican Republic has all those in spades, but surprisingly also offers large saline and freshwater lakes, cactus thorn scrub, humid montane forests and pine forests laden with huge agaves and lichens. Our trip this year took in all 31 of the DR's endemic birds (although two were heard only). Palmchats, the sole member of the family Dulidae, were common throughout the trip, building their giant communal stick nests, and todies, dressed in their emerald and pink finery were daily companions. We had especially good views of the critically endangered Ridgway's Hawk and the globally rare West Indian Whistling-Duck and a day roosting Northern Potoo was noteworthy as well. We capped the trip with a brief but interesting visit to caves in Los Haitises, where the views of the forest outside were other-worldly.
Palmchat
Broad-billed Tody
Ridgeay's Hawk
West Indian Whistling Ducks
Northern Potoo
Inside the caves at Los Haitises
March 17: Steve Howell from his just-concluded Colima tour in west Mexico
Warm sunny weather, colorful birds (with some 38 Mexican endemics), great food, friendly people, and amazing scenery made for a wonderful trip. A few highlights: While Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo looks boldly marked in the book, it can be almost cryptic amid oak foliage (below). Other notables included the handsome Black-chested Sparrow; migrant flocks of Elegant Terns; and the tiny, endearing Colima Pygmy-Owl (all below). As well as birds, the puffing Volcán de Fuego (below) was always good for photos, too.
Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo
Black-chested Sparrow
Elegant Terns
Colima Pygmy-Owl
Volcán de Fuego
March 13: Fabrice Schmitt on his just-concluded cruise around southern South America
It was a superb trip, both sea and land. Everyone loved it and some hope to do it again soon! We had wonderful, stable at-sea birding -10 species of albatrosses, 4 penguins, 36 tubenoses, 3 diving-petrels, and some amazing species
Wandering Albatross
Stejneger's Petrel (thousands), the recently described Pincoya Storm-Petrel (hundreds) and a Spectacled Petrel.
Pincoya Storm-Petrel
Ou day land excursions went well too, and we recorded species like King Penguin, Chucao Tapaculo, Magellanic Plover, Snowy Sheathbill and Striped Owl.
King Penguins
More on our next cruise soon...
March 12: Steve Howell from his on-going tour to Colima, Mexico
"Staring into the eyes of the devil” (below, and look how the Stygian Owl breast plumage matches the mossy bark!) tied as top honors today along with prolonged scope views of several Aztec Thrushes, while Colima Warbler and Red Warbler came in as “also-rans” along with a mountain meadow alive with hundreds of hummingbirds and trees dripping with warblers. Just another bird-filled day in Mexico, followed by a great dinner and a fine tequila. Tomorrow? Birds and warm sunshine again!
Stygian Owl
