EXOTIC BIRDING NEWSLETTER
May 2015 - Thailand Scouting Trip - One of us just completed a 6-week scouting trip to Thailand with 630 species recorded, substantially more than typical group tours especially considering many Palearctic migrants picked up earlier in the season by most tour groups were already gone. We plan on offering tours to Thailand in the near future. Our trip covered the entire country including many places not visited on typical itineraries, and we used an in-country guide plugged in to the Thai birding commity and constantly informed of rare sightings. Special highlights included the vagrant and endangered Black-faced Spoonbill, several rather rare Chinese Egrets, the rare and much sought-after Nordmann's Greenshank, and the uncommon and highly endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Pak Thale/Laem Pak Bia, two accidentals in one day (Wallcreeper - second Thailand record and Firethroat - first Thailand record) at Chaing Saen followed by a rare Brown-Cheeked Rail and, the next day, a very rare Common Shelduck on the lake, about 50 sporadically seen Nepal House-Martins at Phu Hin Ran Kla, only place where this species occurs in Thailand, followed by the rare and very local Jerdon's Bushchat at the same locale, an endangered and secretive White-winged Duck, the rare and elusive Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo, and the difficult and local Brown Hornbill at Phu Keio Wildlife Sanctuary, the very local Great Thick-knee, River Lapwing, and Mekong Wagtail along the Mekong River near Ratchathani, the very local Limestone Wren-Babbler near Saraburi, a Narcissus Flycatcher (first Thailand record in 2 years), a rare Gray-tailed Tattler, and a very rare Yellow-vented Green-Pigeon on Man Nai Island, the tough Rusty-cheeked Hornbill at Kaeng Krachan, a pair of rare Brown-breasted Flycatchers at Doi Inthanon, a very local Mangrove Blue Flycatcher at Yaring Mangroves, a very local Malayan Blue Flycatcher at Princess Sirindhorn Peatswamp Reserve, and a displaying male Great Argus at Sri Phang Nga. Notably, we saw 5 species of partridges, 6 pheasants, 21 raptors, 20 cuckoos, 8 owls, 12 kingfishers, 6 bee-eaters, 7 hornbills, 11 barbets, 26 woodpeckers, 7 broadbills, 5 pittas, 10 cuckooshrikes, 7 drongos, 10 corvids, 32 bulbuls, 22 leaf-warblers, 4 parrotbills, 35 babblers and fulvettas, 6 laughing thrushes, 53 Muscicapid flycatchers, 12 mynas/starlings, 7 flowerpeckers, 10 sunbirds, 8 spiderhunters, and much more. For full details please see our trip report reached from the GENERAL menu above.
November 2014 - New Photography Article - We've added a new article about photography to our website. The article is about the usage of sequences of stills to capture interesting snippets of animal behavior that are occasionally observed on tour. It can be accessed from the ARTICLES menu above.
October 2014 - Tanzania Photos - We've added a gallery of photos from our 2014 Tanzania scouting trip to the GALLERIES menu and also to the 2014 Tanzania trip report pages found under the GENERAL menu Trip Reports option above. We've also added photos to our Tanzania country page, reached from the AFRICA menu above.
August 2014 - Peru Birding Tour - Our July 2014 tour to Peru was a big success with 539 bird species recorded despite the absence of boreal migrants. The tour covered some coastal areas south of Lima, Aguas Calients, Machu Picchu, Abra Malaga and other highland sites, the Manu Road, and several lodges in the lowlands along the Rio Madre de Dios. Of special note were excellent views and sometimes photos of several rarities that included Brazilian Teal, two Blue-footed Boobies perched on a piling in Pucusana harbor, soaring Crested Eagle, a perched juvenile Black-and-chestnut Eagle, a perched Solitary Eagle, Amazonian Swift, Subtropical Doradito, Slaty Elaenia, Andean Tyrant, White-rumped Swallow, White-eared Solitaire, Reichenow's Seedeater, Gray-browed Brush-Finch, and Pale-eyed Blackbird.
We saw many other good birds such as Pale-winged Trumpeter, a family group of Gray-breasted Seedsnipe, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, a roosting Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Festive Coquette, Red-necked Woodpecker, Golden-headed Quetzal, Rusty-belted Tapaculo that came out briefly into the open on the trail, Rufous-capped Antthrush that posed briefly on a log, Red-billed Scythebill, a female Amazonian Umbrellabird, Wing-barred Piprites, Slaty Finch, and Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch. In addition, we saw 18 mammal species including a pair of Tapirs crashing through the forest at full tilt just 15 ft from us. A full trip report with photos can be reached from the Trip Reports option under the GENERAL menu above.
June 2014 - Tanzania Scouting Trip - We completed a 3-week scouting trip to the major game parks of Tanzania plus northeastern Tanzania including the Usambara Mountains. The tour was a great success. We saw all the major mammals including 3 Leopards, 6 Cheetahs, and many Lions plus 342 bird species on the main tour and 206 bird species on the extension (total 433 species), a good count considering that no Palearctic migrants are present during May-June. We saw some significant rarities including just the second record of Black-billed Barbet at Speke Bay. Our mammal count was 36 species on the main tour plus an unidentified fruit bat at Speke Bay and an unidentified mouse at Gibb's Farm along with 3 additional mammals during the extension (total=41 mammals). See our trip reports for details of this trip.
March 2014 - ANYTIME Tours - We've added many new tour choices as ANYTIME tours that allow guaranteed departure at your option with 2 participants at affordable prices similar to the price of many comparable group tours. Check the country of interest to you for available itineraries.
December 2013 - Southeast Asia - We plan on offering birding tours to southeast Asia in future. To that end we are currently researching the region and have posted initial birding data for selected countries in the Orient, including descriptions and checklists for selected birding locales in Thailand and Vietnam. We'll be adding information for more countries during coming months.
December 2013 - Kenya Birding Tour - Our November 2013 Kenya birding tour was undersubscribed. However, we happily converted it to a private tour at cost upon our client's request. The tour was highly successful with 631 bird species seen during 17 days covering the central plateau, western region, and Masai Mara.
September 2013 - New Gallery Photos - We've added many new photos to our Galapagos Photo Gallery taken on our successful June cruise. We've also added a few new photos to our Brazil Photo Gallery.
September 2013 - Website Update - We've re-designed our website with the goal of putting the extensive information we offer about birding and our bird tours more readily at the fingertips of our visitors.
May 2013 - Tanzania Birding TourOur new Tanzania birding tour is scheduled for late May, 2014 at the end of the long rains when birds will be in breeding plumage and game animals will be plentiful. The main 2-week tour visits all the major game parks of northern Tanzania while theone-week extension visits the Usambara Mountains, an ancient mountain range where many endemic plants and birds are found, and Pemba Island off the Tanzania coast. Pemba is best visited either before or after the rains of April-May, so we'll arrive there in early June.
January 2013 - Just completed Kenya Tour - We've just returned from a 3-week birding tour to Kenya with a private group. During the tour we recorded over 500 species of birds and nearly 40 species of mammals. Details can be found on our trip report of the tour. The tour was conducted during the last 3 weeks of December, a great time to go birding in Kenya since a preponderance of bird species are in breeding plumage following the short rains of November.
September 2012 - New Brazil & Peru Photos - We've added new gallery photos from our 2011 tour of SE Brazil. We've also added a new gallery of Jim's photos from his recent scouting trip to Peru.
September 2012 - Peru Scouting Trip - One of us (Jim) spent 3 weeks on a scouting trip to the central highlands of Peru, Manu Road, and the Tambopata region of the Peruvian lowlands. A total of 503 species were recorded including a second record of White-bellied Dacnis for south-central Peru along with 38 endemics & near endemics. The trip report can be reached from our GENERAL>Trip Reports menu above. We'll be offering a tour to Manu during July 2013.
February 2012 - We've added numerous new photos to the Costa Rica and Panama gallery and country pages. These were taken on recent tours to those countries.
September 2011 - SE Brazil Tour - We just completed a very successful birding tour to the SE Atlantic Forest region of Brazil. We recorded 486 species including some of the most prized target birds such as Black-fronted Piping-Guan, Snowy-crowned Tern, Giant Snipe, Long-trained Nightjar, Hyacinth Visorbearer, Helmeted Woodpecker, Black-billed Scythebill, Salvadori's Antwren, Southern Antpipit, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Gray-winged Cotinga, Bare-throated Bellbird, Wing-barred Piprites, Black-capped Piprites, nearly every possible antshrike, antwren, antbird, and antvireo, 4 antthrushes, both possible gnateaters, 5 tapaculos, and much more. We also saw 2 Maned Wolves at Caraca Natural Reserve, a Black-eared Opossum at Guapi Assu, a family of Common Marmosets, Brown Capuchin monkeys, and a Masked Titi Monkey. Click here to view trip report.
May 2011 - Neotropical Endemics List - We've added a list of all endemic and near-endemic species in the Neotropics excluding Caribbean islands. It can be accessed from the About Menu under Neotropical Birding. An interesting thing to note is that slightly more than ¼ of all neotropical species are endemic or near endemic, in part because of habitat destruction that has reduced the range of many species and driven them extinct locally and in part because of the extraordinary speciation that took place in the neotropics.
March 2011 - Panama Hotspots Tour - We had a very successful spring tour to Panama. Aside from the usual specialty birds such as Blue Cotinga and Resplendent Quetzal, we picked up a number of very good species. One person and the guide had quick looks at the rare and local Black-breasted Wood-Quail in the lakes area of Chiriqui. Also seen in Chiriqui was the secretive Wrenthrush (Zeledonia) in the cabins area above Los Quetzales Lodge. Everyone had very good, close-up looks of the secretive Pheasant Cuckoo near Achiote Road. Finally, most people saw Rosy Thrush-Tanager in Metropolitan Park.
February 2011 - Colombia Fam Trip - We spent a week in Colombia at a trade fair sponsored by ProExport and Colombia Tourism ministry. As part of the visit, we spent 6 days birding the Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve near Jardin, the Rio Blanco Reserve and Los Nevados National Park near Manizales, and Chingaza National Park near Bogota. Highlights are almost too many to mention, but here's a few of the special birds we saw. La Florida Park: Bogota Rail, Spot-flanked Gallinule, Yellow-hooded Blackbird. Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve: Yellow-eared Parrot, Ocellated Tapaculo, Golden-fronted Redstart, Scrub Tanager, Tanager Finch. Road between Jardin and Manizales: Moustached Puffbird, Grayish Piculet, Bar-crested Antshrike, Apical Flycatcher. Rio Blanco Reserve: Chestnut Wood-Quail, Rusty-faced Parrot, Longuemare's Sunangel, Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Brown-banded Antpitta, Dusky Piha, Black-collared Jay, Sharpe's Wren, Golden-fronted Redstart, Gray-hooded Bush Tanager, Plushcap, Red-hooded Tanager. Los Nevados National Park: Andean Condor, Rufous-fronted Parakeet, Purple-backed Thornbill, Bearded Helmetcrest, Golden-breasted Puffleg, Golden-crowned Tanager. Chingaza National Park and Mundo Nuevo: Solitary Eagle, Andean Snipe, Brown-breasted Parakeet, Longuemare's Sunangel, Bronze-tailed Thornbill, Rufous-browed Conebill. Details of our exciting week of birding in Colombia can be found on our trip report.
October 2010 - Tour Maps - We've added tour maps for every tour we offer. These maps can be accessed from any tour webpage on our site by clicking the 'Map' tab. These maps will give participants a clearer picture of where each tour goes.
June 2010 - Southern Ecuador Tour - We completed a successful birding tour of Southern Ecuador with over 500 species recorded in 15 days. We saw some amazing birds, including the rare Orange-breasted Tanager in the Cordillera del Condor, Black-billed Mountain-Toucan and Jocotoco Antpitta at Tapichalaca, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan in the Cajanuma section of Podocarpus National Park, Subtropical Doradito in the central highlands, a male Long-wattled Umbrellabird booming on a lek plus a female feeding a chick in the nest at Buenaventura Reserve, Amazonian Umbrellabird in the Cordillera del Condor, several Masked Tanagers in the Cordillera del Condor, and a first record of Yellow-cheeked Becard at Jorupe Reserve. We also conducted an 8 day extension of areas around Macas in the east-central foothills followed by several days in the northwest. During the extension we saw several Esmeraldas specialties, notably Rose-faced Parrot, Barred Puffbird, Moustached Antwren, Black-headed Antthrush, Snowy-throated Kingbird, Scarlet-browed Tanager, Rufous-winged Tanager, and Scarlet-breasted Dacnis. We also had stunning looks at the normally secretive Barred Forest-Falcon perched on an open branch in a tree along the road. We added 60 species during the extension that were not seen on our southern tour. For full trip reports click on the highlighted links.
April 2010 - Species Abundance Data - We're gradually adding species abundance data to our bird checklists. Data are not available for all sites. We have added abundance (common-ness) codes for many birding locales in Costa Rica and Ecuador. These data are then consolidated on our birding tour checklists for those countries to indicate the locales where each species is most likely to occur. We hope this information will help serious birders when making their birding travel plans. We'll be adding data for other countries if available over coming months.
February 2010 - More Informative Color-coded Checklists - We've color-coded all the checklists on our website to indicate species status (critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near-globally threatened) according to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). We've also added codes on every checklist to indicate whether a species is migratory, very rare, vagrant, or accidental in each country. We've been constantly frustrated by vanilla checklists that don't provide that information, as such lists inflate expectations or mislead people on what species they might actually be able to see in a given country.
We've also worked to improve the accuracy of our checklists. During the course of this effort, we've become extremely aware of the gross inaccuracies found in many species lists on the internet. We have done our best to remove the numerous inaccuracies that had crept into our previous lists. We're constantly striving to improve our accuracy, so please let us know of any errors you may find.
December 2009 - New On-Line Magazine Article - We've published a new article in our on-line magazine about the techniques Laura uses to capture the images shown on our website. We hope the article is useful for bird nature photographers.
October 2009 - Expanded Target Bird lists - We've added lists of target birds for various birding locales in Ecuador. We've also added consolidated target lists for all birding tour pages we offer to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, and Panama as well as for each of those countries. They can be accessed from the tabs on the country pages or birding tour pages. These target lists are intended to help participants focus on which species they should especially try to see at each location they visit while on tour as well as help them decide which tour would be most suitable for them.
August 2009 - Target Bird Lists - We've started creating lists of target bird species for the locations we visit while on tour and selected other sites within our destination countries. These target bird lists are reached from our country pages or tour pages from the left sidebar links under BIRDING LOCALES. The first country we're covering is Costa Rica. We'll be adding similar lists for other countries during the next few weeks. Our target species lists are intended to be an aid for birders visiting each area. Our tour participants will hopefully find these lists useful while on tour as they provide a basis for asking our guide questions about seeing target species. Each list indicates likelihood of seeing every target species. We would appreciate any feedback or corrections our visitors care to provide.
August 2009 - New On-line Magazine - We are now publishing occasional articles about bird photography on our website for those wanting more in-depth treatment of various subjects pertaining to style and techniques. Our first articles are about Laura's vision of capturing birds as they go about their lives in the natural world. Later articles will discuss techniques that Laura uses to capture the beautiful images she has displayed on our website.
Nov 2008 - Guyana Scouting Trip - We spent Nov 10-22, 2008 scouting the prime birding locales in Guyana, all the way from the savannas of Dadanawa Ranch in the south to the rainforests of Iwokrama Forest Reserve in the country center to coastal areas in the north. It was a very productive trip, and we are now fully prepared to do a Guyana tour right. We'll be adding images from this trip to our website in future and have begun making plans for a March 2010 tour. We feel March is a better time of year to visit than November based on our first-hand experience for several reasons. One is that Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock is in full breeding plumage in spring but not in November. Another is that the best part of the Mori Scrub trail at Iwokrama was still underwater in November but is dry by April. A third reason is that we found bird activity to be somewhat better in April, though that was only our own personal impression.
Apr 2008 - Guyana Scouting Trip One of us (Jim Wittenberger) visited Guyana on a familiarization tour in April 2008 at the invitation of the Guianan Tourism Ministry and funded in part by USAID with a group of other tour operators from Europe and the US. He was enthralled with the birding opportunities in this as yet little known birding destination. The group saw or heard 319 species during 9 days, including specialty birds and endemics such as Black Curassow, Harpy Eagle, Little Chachalaca, Gray-winged Trumpeter, Black-headed Parrot, Caica Parrots, Tepui Swift, Crimson Topaz, Guianan Puffbird, Guianan Toucanet, Blood-colored Woodpecker, Rufous-bellied Antwren, Todd's Antwren, Yellow-throated Flycatcher, Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Capuchinbird, Tiny Tyrant-Manakin, Cayenne Jay, Finsch's Euphonia, and Red Siskin.
May 2008 - Spring Photo Tours - We began offering bird and nature photo tours to some of our favorite destinations in spring 2008. On our Costa Rica tour we made numerous excellent photographs of forest birds including Resplendent Quetzals and hummingbirds at famed Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, water birds including Jabirus during a boat trip through Palo Verde National Park, and various lowland tropical birds at Carara National Park. On our Panama tour we made photographs of numerous tropical birds along famed Pipeline Road, on the Caribbean side of the Canal Zone, and in the western highlands of Chiriqui Province. Some of the notable birds we photographed were Harpy Eagle, Mealy Amazon, Spectacled Owl, Black-throated and Western White-tailed Trogons, Ocellated Antbird, White-whiskered Puffbird, and several species of hummingbirds.
November 2024 - 2024 Clements Update - The latest update to Clements checklist was recently published and our database has been updated accordingly. An overview including new species and species splits can be found here.
April 2024 - Bhutan Birding Tour - We had a very successful 3-week birding tour to Bhutan with over 300 species seen. In addition to seeing the critically endangered White-bellied Heron, we had great success seeing Satyr Tragopan, Ward's Trogon, and many other specials. We also greatly enjoyed the cultural aspects of the tour, and at a better price than virtually all other birding tours to Bhutan. See our trip report from the General->Trip Reports menu for more details.
December 2023 - India and Sri Lanka Birding Tours - We've added tours to India, an exciting destination that we can offer at very good prices. One tour covers the north including several tiger reserves. Another covers the endemic-rich Western Ghats Mountains. A third covers both the Western Ghats and the remote Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. In addition, we've added a tour to Sri Lanka with optional whale watching, which can be combined with our Western Ghats tour.
December 2023 - Bolivia Birding Tours - We've added three birding tours to Bolivia. Our standard tour covers the usual birding sites between Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz. Our extended tour also visits the less traveled area of Apolo north of La Paz. Our month-long mega tour covers Apolo and the pampas and Amazon lowlands of the Beni region as well.
December 2023 - Bhutan Birding Tours - We've added two birding tours to Bhutan to take advantage of the temporary reduction in the sustainable development tax assessed on all visitors to this incredible country. We can offer this tour at a really good price by using an expert Bhutanese birding guide rather than a foreign national to guide the tours.
November 2023 - West Indies - We've added checklist data for the West Indies.
September 2023 - Central Peru Trip Report - We've added two tours to central Peru and also a trip report of our recent birding tour conducted there in August. Central Peru offers many endemics not possible elsewhere in Peru. It's a superb destination but a bit more challenging due to lack of infrastructure devoted to birders. It's necessary to stay in local moderately priced hotels and sometimes rustic lodges.
April 2023 - Argentina Birding Tours - We're now offering birding tours to Argentina. Our Southern Argentina tour covers the pampas south of Buenos Aires and Patagonia all the way south to Tierra del Fuego. Our Northwest Argentina Tour covers the endemic rich cloud forests, highlands, and chaco of northwestern Argentina all the way to the border with Bolivia.
February 2023 - New Birding Locale Maps Update - We have updated our maps of birding locales for both country pages and tour pages using Google maps.
February 2023 - Target Bird Lists Update - We have updated our lists of target birds with a more restrictive definition. For more information see our ABOUT Checklists page. We have also added species counts for presence, status, distribution, and likelihood of targets being seen code tables on our checklist pages.
January 2023 - Checklist Update - We've updated many of our checklists with more complete data. We've also added new lists of species in accessible locations and also species only likely to be seen by visiting remote areas.
January 2023 - Laura Fellows - The memorial website for my late beloved wife's life was on a website that no longer functions, so it has been added to her biography page under our ABOUT menu.
January 2023 - Bhutan and India - We've added information about birding in Bhutan. We'll be birding Bhutan in April 2024 and may add a tour to this fascinating, out-of-the-way destination thereafter. We've also added information about birding in northern India and will be birding there in March 2025 as well.
November 2022 - IUCN Redlist Update - We've updated our database to indicate more accurately current red list status of species indicating whether they are critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, or near-threatened based on the International Union of Conservation of Nature website.
November 2022 - Bolivia Birding - We intend to offer birding tours to Bolivia shortly. Meanwhile, information about birding in Bolivia has been added to the website.
July 2022 - Mongolia - We've added information about birding in Mongolia. We'll be birding Mongolia in May 2023 and expect to add a tour to this fascinating, out-of-the-way destination thereafter.
July 2022 - Colombia Birding Tours - We are now offering birding tours to Colombia led by arguably the best birding guide in Colombia. Pricing for private tours of 2 persons are not much more than group pricing of other companies, while pricing for groups of 3+ persons are better than other companies.
June 2022 - Central Peru Tour - We have added a new itinerary to our Peru birding tour offerings. This tour covers the Cordillera Blanca and foothills between Lima and Yungay in central Peru. The tour features many endemics not possible on other itineraries including the rare Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager among many other species.
September 2021 - World Checklist - We've added a checklist of the birds of the world along with a partial list of endemic birds of the world to our top line menu.
May 2021 - Post Covid-19 Tours - Travel remains problematical due to Covid-19 but vaccinations will hopefully make travel safer and more feasible in the coming months. Even so, our destination countries are lagging behind with vaccinations and the virus remains an issue. Many countries continue to restrict entry, typically by requiring PCR tests prior to entry, and return flights to the US currently also require negative tests prior to departure. The situation is fluid and will hopefully improve in coming months. We hope that tours will again be feasible by 2022 at the latest.
September 2020 - Post Covid-19 Tours - 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, especially guides, drivers, and birding lodges in our destination countries. Most tours have been canceled due to Covid-19 since March of this year. As a result, there will be pent-up demand for tours in 2021. For this reason anyone wanting to do a tour in 2021 should book early to ensure guide and accommodation availability. This is especially true for departures beginning in August or later.
November 2019 - Website Changes - In light of our customer preferences we have decided to specialize on tours to Central America and South America. We have traveled to those destinations frequently and can offer competitive prices for our custom tours to those countries.
May 2019 - Northern Colombia Scouting Trip - A report of our April 2019 scouting trip to northern Colombia is now on our website. We are now offering tours to this region.
March 2019 - Ethiopia Birding & Photos - Information about birding in Ethiopia is now included on our website, along with a photo gallery of photos taken during Jim's recent birding tour of Ethiopia. We're now offering a tour that covers most of the main birding hotspots in the country.
January 2019 - Ethiopia Scouting Trip - Jim spent 3 weeks scouting birding hotspots in Ethiopia with the idea of offering tours there in future. A report of this trip can be reached from the GENERAL Menu.
March 2018 - NE Brazil Photos & Trip Report - We've added new photos to our Brazil photo gallery pages and to our Brazil country page. These photos were taken during a November scouting trip to NE Brazil. A full report can be found under our Trip Reports menu option above.
October 2017 - Colombia Photos - We've added a new photo gallery page for Colombia along with photos to our Colombia country page featuring photos taken during a familiarization trip to the Cauca Valley of Colombia sponsored by a Colombian tour operator last March.
July 2017 - Sulawesi/Halmahera Birding Tour - We're now offering a birding tour to the extraordinary islands of Sulawesi and Halmahera in Indonesia. These endemic-rich islands are on opposite sides of a deep oceanic trench and feature very different avifauna. It's a tour not to be missed by the more adventurous and physically fit birders seeking to explore this amazing part of the world.
July 2017 - Namibia Photos - We've added photos from our scouting trip to Namibia in January 2017. Photos can be found on our trip report of that trip, and on our Namibia and Botswana gallery webpages and country webpages. We've also add some links to our Stories with Stills article at the bottom for photo sequences taken on this trip.
Indonesia scouting trip to Sulawesi and Halmahera to our Galleries, Indonesia country page, and our 2016 trip report for that tour.
May 2017 - Sulawesi/Halmahera Photos - We've added photos from our Indonesia scouting trip to Sulawesi and Halmahera to our Galleries, Indonesia country page, and our 2016 trip report for that tour.
April 2017 - Costa Rica Itinerary Updates - In light of our recent scouting trip, we have completely updated our Costa Rica birding and bird photo tour itineraries. Notable additions include visits with local guides who have stakeouts of normally difficult species such as White-throated Crake, Uniform Crake, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, and half a dozen species of owls as well as a much better site for seeing and photographing Resplendent Quetzals. Please refer to our Costa Rica tour itineraries for details.
April 2017 - Costa Rica Scouting Trip - We've recently completed a 23-day scouting trip to Costa Rica with two goals: to visit new birding locales and to see a long list of target species. The trip was a big success, with sightings and photographs of many secretive and normally difficult species. Details can be seen on our trip report.
February 2017 - Colombia Bird Fair - One of us (Jim) attended the 3rd annual Colombia Bird Fair held in Cali, Colombia, as a guest of the Colombian Project.
February 2017 - Namibia Birding Tours - We're now offering 3 birding tour itineraries to Namibia. We'll be adding photos from our recent scouting trip to Namibia once they are processed.
January 2017 - Namibia Scouting Trip - One of us recently completed a 3-week scouting trip to Namibia. 407 species were recorded including 3 heard only and 15 endemics or near endemics. Areas covered included Windhoek, Spreetshoogte, Soususvlei, Walvia Bay, Swakopmund, Spitskoppe, the Erongo Mountains, Waterberg Plateau, Etosha National Park, Rundu, Bwabwata National Park, part of the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park in Botswana, and Livingstone Zambia. Over 400 species were recorded, the best ever achieved during a 3-week tour over the past 16 years by our expert guide. See our trip report reached from the GENERAL menu above for details. We'll be adding photos in future once they are processed.
December 2016 - Brazil Birding Tours - We've added birding tours to the SE Atlantic biome of Brazil plus a tour to the Pantanal and Southern Amazon to our tour offerings. These can be viewed from our BIRDING TOURS menu above.
December 2016 - West Papua Birding Tour & Trip Report - We've added a trip report of our recent scouting trip to West Papua Indonesia. We've also added a new tour to this destination.
December 2016 - Borneo Tour Photos - We've added photos from our scouting trip to Borneo. These can be found on the 2016 Borneo Trip Report page as well as on the Borneo country page.
October 2016- Papua Indonesia Scouting Trip - One of us joined 5 other persons on a tour of West Papua Indonesia. The tour was challenging but we are considering offering a similar tour in future. We encountered a lot of rain, which made birding difficult. Nevertheless, we had spectacular views of several birds of paradise not present in Papua New Guinea along with various other endemics of West Papua.
October 2016- Lesser Sundas Indonesia Scouting Trip - One of us spent a week birding parts of Bali and Sumba Island in the Lesser Sundas. We expect to add a trip report in the near future and intend to eventually offer a tour of the Lesser Sundas. A highlight was Bali Myna, a species previously extinct in the wild but re-introduced and now present in small numbers in West Bali National Park.
October 2016- Sulawesi/Halmahera Scouting Trip - One of us joined 5 other birders on a tour of Sulawesi and Halmahera Indonesia. We've added a trip report of the tour, accessed from the GENERAL>Trip Reports menu above. We'll be adding photos from the tour once they are processed. in the near future and intend to offer tours to these endemic-rich islands beginning next year.
August 2016 - Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain Birding Tour - During July one of us participated in a birding tour to Papua New Guinea conducted by Rockjumper Birding Tours. The tour was generally a success with 337 birds-of-paradise were seen, though a couple by only part of the group and some only at considerable distance or only in flight, recording including 307 seen. Details can be found on the trip reports page reached from the GENERAL menu above.
July 2016 - Borneo Scouting Trip - One of us joined 5 British birders on an overview tour of 5 islands in the Borneo. The tour was conducted by an Asian-based company. Birding was rather slow and many target birds were missed as a result of that and some logistical/planning issues. Nevertheless, 103 endemics and 261 species overall were recorded during the tour. See the trip report reached from the GENERAL menu above for details.
May 2016 - Philippines Bird Photos - We've now added photos from our recent Philippines scouting trip to our website. These can be found on the Philippines country page, Philippines birding tour page, and Philippines trip report page.
April 2016 - Vietnam Bird Photos - We've now added photos from our recent Vietnam scouting trip to our website. These can be found on the Vietnam country page, Vietnam birding tour page, and Vietnam trip report page.
March 2016 - New Vietnam Birding Tour - We're now offering an ANYTIME birding tour to south and central Vietnam. The tour is organized by a reliable land agent in Vietnam and is led by one of the best birding guides in the country.
February 2016 - Philippines Scouting Trip - One of us joined 5 British birders on an overview tour of 5 islands in the Philippines. The tour was conducted by an Asian-based company. Birding was rather slow and many target birds were missed as a result of that and some logistical/planning issues. Nevertheless, 103 endemics and 261 species overall were recorded during the tour. See the trip report reached from the GENERAL menu above for details.
January 2016 - Vietnam Scouting Trip - One of us recently completed a 3-week scouting trip to Vietnam. Areas covered included the mountainous north, Yok Don National Park, Dalat Plateau, and Cat Tien National Park. Birding was unusually slow, as it was throughout much of southeast Asia, apparently due to the large El Niño effect in the Pacific. Some 300 species were recorded, about 10% below expected. See our trip report reached from the GENERAL menu above for details.
December 2015 - Sicily Birding & Heritage Tours - Sicily is a hidden gem that features interesting European birding plus wonderful archaeological and cultural sites plus cuisine to die for. We're now offering combination birding and heritage tours during peak spring migration. Highlights of the tour include birding numerous wetland and coastal migrant traps in eastern and southern Sicily, Lanner Falcon nesting cliffs of the interior, the slopes of Mt Etna, and highland sites overlooking the Strait of Messina, world famous for the raptor migration. Longer tours include a week in Tuscany prior to birding in Sicily, a week of exploring Rome, Napoli, and Pompeii after birding in Sicily, or both.
September 2015 - Sicily Birding Trip - We spent 11 days birding in Sicily with Andrea Corso, Sicily's foremost authority and expert on birds of the island. Birds in Sicily are quite wary due to unfettered hunting pressure, but the island offers extraordinary opportunities to see rare birds during spring and fall migration. It's also a good place to see breeding birds during June, along with several species that are likely future splits and endemic to Sicily (Sicilian Rock Partridge, Sicilian Long-tailed Tit, and Sicilian Red Crossbill). We had amazing success with rarities during our trip. We saw 3 accidentals, namely Greater Sand-Plover (2nd record), Thekla's Lark (1st record for Italy), and Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (2nd record). We saw two vagrants, Western Reef-Heron and Red-necked Phalarope, and several other rarities, Marbled Teal, Egyptian Vulture, Bonelli's Eagle, Red Kite, Terek Sandpiper, Audouin's Gull, and Lanner Falcon. Aside from the birding, we found Sicily to be a wonderful place to visit with friendly people, extraordinary history represented by Greek ruins, Roman amphitheaters, Norman castles, and medieval churches, plus fabulous food (especially the cannoli and gelato but also many other specialty dishes of the island). We plan on offering spring tours to Sicily beginning in 2016.
June 2015 - Thailand Birding Tours - We're now offering several birding tours to Thailand. Our tours are very favorably priced and utilize expert birding guides who reside in Thailand year round.
June 2015 - Thailand Photos - We've added numerous photos from our recent Thailand scouting trip to our Thailand country page, Thailand trip report, and a Thailand photo gallery.