From the Field
April 25: Derek Lovitch from his tour to Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Spruce Grouse displaying at dawn with Sandhill Cranes bugling in the background, a Northern Goshawk dive-bombing a Rough-legged Hawk, and Common Redpolls, Fox Sparrows, and Rusty Blackbirds all side-by-side at the feeders: all in a day's work at Whitefish Point in Michigan's Upper Peninsula! Then, as night fell, hands-on experience with Northern Saw-whet Owls! The image below was not taken on the tour but shows a not infrequent scene while night banding Saw-whets - thanks Greg Greene.
April 25: Gavin Bieber on his just concluded Colorado Grouse tour
Just wrapped up a bird rich and fun tour around Colorado. The leks of Greater and Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chicken, and Sharp-tailed Grouse were, as always, the highlights of the tour. The Greater lek was especially good this year, with almost thirty birds strutting and calling within just a few yards of the from of the blind! The prairies were unusally well on their way into springtime, with partly leafed-out trees and many species that we only rarely see on the tour but we managed as well to locate rosy-finches on three separate occasions, with a large flock in Crested Butte containing all three species! We even tracked down a staked-out Black-chinned Sparrow (the fourth record for Colorado). Where else in North America can one be watching the spectacle of dozens of male Greater Prairie-Chickens surrounding you at dawn only to drive a few hours west and stand in a sunlit snowbank at 12000ft surrounded by a ring of snow-covered peaks seeking a calling White-tailed Ptarmigan. Truly, Colorado has a lot to offer!
April 24: James Lidster from Morocco
Todays target was to see Northern Bald Ibis.....and we saw over 40 (maybe over 20% of the world population), with birds seen feeding next to the road as well as flying right past us!
April 24: James Lidster from Morocco
We have now seen 3 Egyptian Nightjars (including 1 in daylight, below), Pharaoh Eagle Owl, 500+ Brown-necked Raven, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Collared pratincoles, Marbled Ducks, Lanner Falcons, Desert Sparrows, African Desert Warbler, lots of Rufous Bush Chats, Western Orphean Warblers, Moroccan Wagtail, Scrub Warbler, more Thick-billed Larks & all during some fairly intense sandstorms. We are now in Agadir, and even today (a travelling day) we recorded 95 species! Tomorrow is Bald Ibis day...
April 22: Derek Lovitch from his tour to Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Great first day! Dancing Sharp-tailed Grouse at dawn to displaying American Woodocks at dusk. In
between: 18 spp. of waterfowl, 100's of Sandhill Cranes, a Great Black-backed Gull, and Rough-legged Hawks!
April 20: James Lidster on Day 4, Morocco in Spring
All day on the Tagdilt track today with Cream-coloured Coursers, Crowned Sandgrouse, Long-legged Buzzards (below), Thick-billed, Temminck's, Bar-tailed, Thekla and both Greater and Lesser Short-toed Larks, Red-rumped and Desert Wheatears, Melodious Warbler, Common Redstart, Yellow Wagtail and 100's of Trumpeter Finches. Tomorrow we head to the Sahara....
April 19: Jon Dunn on his ongoing Upper Texas Coast tour
In the middle of the Upper Texas Coast tour which is on pace to record 28 species of warbler including in the last few days arms-length Cerulean and Swainson’s at our feet flipping leaves.. There have been as well Yellow Rail, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, lots of colorful orioles and buntings, a wide range of shorebirds, and at every turn herons, egrets and ibis. Tomorrow perhaps we’ll add Bachman’s Sparrow to the fold.
April 7: Gavin Bieber on his just completed tour of Puerto Rico
Just back from a wonderfully warm week in Puerto Rico. We managed to find 16 of 17 of the island endemics (the one holdout being Puerto Rican Parrot, which is basically inaccessible during the breeding season), as well as the endemic subspecies of Loggerhead Kingbird and Lesser Antillean Pewee (see below), both candidates for elevation to full species status. Especially great this year were our repeated and lengthy views of Elfin-Woods Warbler, a stationary Key West Quail-Dove, great close up views of a Puerto Rican Screech-Owl, and a flock of 17 West Indian Whistling-Ducks. The free afternoons in suites with private balconies overlooking the sparkling Caribbean Sea were hard to beat as well!
April 2: Rich Hoyer from his private tour in SE Arizona
This amazingly tame male Elegant Trogon was in upper Madera Canyon, while this Great Roadrunner carrying a gift for his mate was alongside the road near Green Valley, photographed through my binoculars from inside the car. We continued south to Pena Blanca Lake in the afternoon where Arizona's first state record of Sedge Wren continued, along with a pair of Least Grebes and recent arrivals of Gray Hawk and Dusky-capped Flycatcher.
March 28: Gavin Bieber on his just completed tour to Panama
Our spring trip to Panama just wrapped up to a wonderful conclusion. Watching the skies over the Canopy Tower provided us with astounding views of literally thousands of migrant Turkey Vultures, Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks, and Barn Swallows all coursing westwards towards their North American breeding grounds. Colorful birds abounded in the forests, with five species of trogons, three motmots, three toucans and a host of gaudy cotingas (see Purple-throated Fruitcrow, below), tanagers and honeycreepers reminding us of Panama's firm position in the tropics. We found as well almost 20 species of hummingbirds, (among the impressive 298 species for the week), the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, 16 species of mammals, a few rarities with a juvenile Agami Heron and adult Fasciated Tiger-Heron vying for the rarest sighting trophy, great local food and fruit juices and a truly unique lodge. What more could one want in a week's "winter" vacation?
The Extension to Burbayar Lodge, in eastern Panama, provided us views of two little-known antbirds: a very cooperative female Spiny-faced Antshrike stole the show, but the pair of Black Antshrikes came in a close second. And then there were moments like pair of the exquisite Golden-green Woodpeckers found near Lake Bayano just a few minutes after a Great Curassow walked across the trail in front of us! Panama is such a delight...
