From the Field
March 25: Gavin Bieber on his just-completed tour of Eastern Venezuela
Just wrapped up a wonderful (if unseasonably wet) tour to Eastern Venezuela. Among the myriad highlights were the amazing diversity of cotingas. Where else could one see lekking Capuchinbird, Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Pompadour Cotinga, and White and Bearded Bellbirds? As if the regular cotinga complement of the tour were not enough we connected with another species which is very rare in Venezuela, the beautiful Guianan Red-Cotinga. A host of range-restricted Tepui species also provided great excitement, with repeated views of Rose-collared Piha, a stunning Red-banded Fruiteater, point-blank views of a calling Tepui Antpitta, and the impressive Rufous-breasted Sabrewing! And who could forget the amazing experience with an 18 month old Harpy Eagle (see below) that we eventually walked away from!
March 18: Steve Howell on his recently completed tour to Colima, Mexico
Is there a birdier part of the world than Colima and Jalisco in late “winter”? Our March tour to this jewel in western Mexico was full of rich memories: from a mountain meadow coming alive at dawn with the sound of countless hummingbirds, to a field filled with eye-burning bright Orange-breasted Buntings (see below); from a Lesser Roadrunner flashing his violet-blue face patches to a tiny male Golden-crowned Emerald flashing his crown; from a size-by-side “textbook” comparison of Golden Vireo and Wilson’s Warbler to “Christmas trees” packed with male Yellow-headed Blackbirds; from San Blas Jays to Aztec Thrushes haunting the trees; from Red Warbler in highland fir forest to Mangrove Warbler in coastal, well, mangroves; and from great guacamole picnic lunches to an “endemic” chocolate shop and friendly people everywhere. It was hard to leave, and I’m already ready to return!
March 16: Steve Rooke from his Tanzania tour
Our last full day in the Serengeti showed to perfection just how fantastic a Tanzanian safari can be - two leopards, four cheetah and a bunch of lions including some small cubs. Previously we had found ourselves amidst tens of thousands of zebra and wildebeest migrating back into the Serengeti from the Masai Mara. The birding has been superb as well with just over 400 species for the trip, many, such as the Steel-blue Whydahs, in full breediing plumage in anticipation of the coming rains.
The image below shows us looking over the Serengeti from Mbuzi Mawe lodge grounds
March 14: Rich Hoyer on his just completed Hawaii tour
The birding on Kauai and the Big Island was fascinating. For some, the
highlight of the tour was seeing nine of the endemic drepanidine
finches, from the rare (and truly finchlike) Palila, to the very
common Apapane, a much more spritely, bright red inhabitant of the red
bottlebrush-like canopy blooms of the Ohi'a Lehua tree. Topping the
list of favorite birds was the larger and even more intensely colored
I`iwi, rare on Kauai but still common at Hakalau National Wildlife
Refuge on the Big Island. A Hawaii Creeper building a nest, the
charming little Elepaio, Red-tailed Tropicbird, a rare Gray-tailed
Tattler, breeding Laysan Albatrosses, cheerful Saffron Finches and the
orange Akepa were other especially memorable birds. Hawaii revealed
itself not only as a tropical birding paradise with a moderate climate
but also as a living, breathing outdoor laboratory and classroom.
While hunting down as many of the endemic species that we could find,
we learned about the geologic history, human history, local lore and
ancient mythologies, and all the incredible plants, both native and
introduced. It was an enriching trip for all.
March 8: Steve Howell from his Colima, Mexico Tour
Mid-morning on the Colima Volcanoes, the crystal clear, cloudless blue sky
resonated with the sounds of Aztec Thrushes, Brown-backed Solitaires, and
Gray Silkies all flying back and forth to fruiting trees over our heads
after having been spooked by a red morph Mountain Pygmy-Owl. The clamor made
it a little difficult to hear and pinpoint the male Bumblebee Hummingbird
that ended up feeding "in our face" at roadside flowers, and this was after
the early morning hours in a stunning mountain meadow with Red Warblers,
Crested Guan, side-by-side Pine and Hammond's Flycatchers, and huge banks of
flowers loaded with literally hundreds of hummingbirds and a goodly number
of Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercers. After our picnic lunch we enjoyed scope
views of the stunning Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo, before dragging ourselves
away from an alley of flowering trees filled with 5 species of orioles including Black-vented (image below) - we
really had to get back to town for a fine dinner and some sleep. The sheer
number of birds in this part of Mexico is almost paralyzing! We also found a
great new restaurant and a local chocolatier with some fine "endemic"
Mexican chocolates.
February 21: Steve Rooke on his just-completed tour to Kenya
Kenya was brlliant as always from the Star-spotted Nighjars at Lake Baringo
and the Chestnut and Jamieson's Wattleyes at Kakamega to the many Palearctic
migrants in Tsavo National Park and Sokoke Scops Owl in Sokoke Forest. We
encountered amost 700 species of birds and 60 mammals including the near
mythical Aardwolf. It's really almost too much to take in and even the most
prepared minds are by Day 4 asking, "Have we seen that?" The lodges were
confortable, at times even elegant, the landscapes dramatic, our local guides
superb, the group first-rate, and once again, in spite of all my resolve, I gained weight.
The photos below show part of the group watching waterbirds at Lake
Nakuru, a collection of elegant Gerenuks, and a mound full of Vulturine
Guineafowl with their other worldly purple glow.
February 18: Rich Hoyer on the next-to-last day of the Chiapas, Mexico: The Lacandon Rainforest and Maya Ruins Tour
I envisioned our morning at Palenque today as a mixed bag - the
pinnacle of beautiful Maya ruins, but only after having already spent
a few days in areas where there is much more contiguous habitat and a
better chance for the tropical specialties that make birding here so
fun. It was instead one of our best mornings of birding so far After
a surprise White-necked Jacobin and Violet Sabrewing (adding to an
already amazing list of hummers), we were wowed by a gorgeous White
Hawk, outdone moments later by an adult male Lovely Cotinga (photo
below)! We had one here two years ago, and I've heard of no other
reports from here since then. What a, well, lovely surprise!
February 17: Jon Feenstra on his and Steve Howell's Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour
Today we birded what's known as the Machpe Road below the small town of
Pacto Loma. We spent the morning walking downhill through several elevation
clines picking up feeding flocks of birds. One of the first species of the
day was an Indigo Flowerpiercer, only recently re-discovered in Ecuador.
Other northwest Ecuador specialties like Glistening-green Tanager and
Moss-backed Tanager were also around. The Moss-backed Tanager defied all
logic of a canopy bird and landed in road for scope views!
The icing on the cake came at our picnic lunch when an overhead kettle of
vultures was punctuated by a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle and a calling Ornate
Hawk-Eagle in display flight, while from the forest background emanated the
electric sounds of a Club-winged Manakin lek.
Photo below of a Choco Toucan taken yesterday.
February 15: Rich Hoyer from his Chiapas, Mexico: The Lacandon Rainforest and Maya Ruins Tour
Today was terrific. We had some fantastic birds amid beautiful
scenery as we spent the morning boating up the Rio Tzendales with a
local guide while staying Las Guacamayas Ecolodge. We tallied at least
nine Bat Falcons perched atop riverside trees, had several pairs of
Scarlet Macaws screaming over, lucked into three Sungrebes (see below), saw all
five possible kingfishers including an incredibly fearless American
Pygmy Kingfisher, pulled in a White-necked Puffbird at a spot our
local guide had once seen one, saw several singing Scaly-breasted
Hummingbirds (complete with mimicry, one doing fine Least Flycatcher
call notes), and scored the super-local Blue Seedeater almost
immediately. Blooming orchids, giant Bombax flowers, and several
sunning crocodiles were other highlights from the boat trip. Then in
the late afternoon we returned to the fields where Steve Howell and I
discovered Mexico's first Gray-breasted Crakes nearly a year ago, and
we heard at least three. Two of them were tantalizingly close, singing
in the grass practically at our feet (both the dry chatter and the
tinking), yet they remained invisible, not even betraying their
location by moving the grass. We had Ruddy Crakes in the same spots as
well, and despite not seeing the birds, it was a fascinating
experience. Tomorrow we walk the community's forest trail and hope for
some skulking woodcreepers, antbirds, antthrushes and tyrannulets.
February 14: James Lidster on his third Netherlands in Winter Tour
Well that's the 3rd tour just completed, and they seem to get better and
better? The highspot of this trip appears to have been finding the first
twitchable Corn Buntings in Flevoland since the Zuiderzee was reclaimed? On
top of that we had 28 Lesser White-fronted Geese, 2 Red-breasted Geese,
Black Brant, thousands of Tundra Bean Geese, lots of Smew, Goosander, 2
Red-crested Pochard, 3 White-tailed Eagle, 6 Rough-legged Buzzards, 9 Hen
Harriers, 4 Goshawk (and 3 more heard), Peregrine, 5 Common Cranes, 2 White
Stork, lots of Great Egrets, 11 Long-eared Owls, brief Lesser Spotted
Woodpecker, 10 Horned Lark, 9 Bohemian Waxwing, Great Grey Shrike, Hooded
Crow, Crested and Willow Tits, 30+ Hawfinch and 10 Snow Bunting.
To top all this I headed off to clean the minibus this morning, restock on
fruit and cookies and came home to find the attached 100 meters from my
house....Northern Goshawk is my favourite bird!
