ONTARIO & QUEBEC ~ Feb 2007

We managed to see 3 owl species on Amherst before the snow set in, with extraordinary looks at Long-ear’s and a Saw-whet along with a calling Great Horned at mid day! Large mixed rafts of waterfowl included both scaups, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, Redhead and Common Merganser along with a few Tundra Swans were seen on what small bodies of open water remained on Lake Ontario. Other highlights on the island included a flock of Snow Buntings and a group of 5 Rough-legged Hawks, including both morphs, interacting with each other in flight; a pair of Bald Eagles and 2 male Northern Harriers flying together.

The owl show continued on the middle day with a perched Snowy and a very active Northern Hawk Owl that we saw catch and devour a vole. From here it was onto Algonquin Provincial Park where Pine Siskins, Red and White-winged Crossbills were a common sight in particular along the main road. The visitor center feeders held a large group of Evening Grosbeaks and we did manage to find a Black-backed Woodpecker along with confiding Gray Jays. It would not really be a birding trip without a stop to a rubbish dump, and indeed we did manage to pick through the trash (birds) and find a Glaucous and an Iceland Gull.

No. Hawk-Owl © A&J Binns

See Trip Report

SOUTH AFRICA ~ Jan 2007

South Africa is a big country, and we spent a quick week in the Western Cape Province, which is the greatest endemic hotspot for birds on the entire African continent. We started by birding Cape Town and other parts of the Cape Peninsula with its endemic fynbos birds, its phenomenal flower diversity, and rugged scenery. We also joined a pelagic trip, which as usual generated 4 albatross species and tons of other seabirds, before heading up the West Coast for more endemic birds and loads of shorebirds. Then we headed over Cape Fold Mountains into the Karoo, a semi-desert once again crawling with unique endemics. Eventually, we headed to the Agulhas Plains near the southern-most tip of the African continent, and back to Cape Town. The Fairest Cape proved as rewarding as ever, as discussed in detail in the trip report.

The second leg of the trip began in Durban, with 2 weeks in the staggeringly diverse subtropical north-eastern region. From here, we were well poised to ascend to the Natal midlands, and then even further up to another spectacular hotspot for endemics, the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains, before heading north to the extremely bird-rich northern Zululand region. While in Kwazulu/Natal Province, we visited varied forests at a range of different altitudes, lush grasslands, savannahs, bushveld, wetlands and other habitats.

Orange-breasted Sunbird © A&J Binns

After a week in this province, we eventually headed to the rolling green hills of Wakkerstroom, where some very localized birds lurk, before heading to the famed Kruger National Park – the highlight for most participants on this tour. Here, we found big numbers of spectacular new birds, from raptors to colourful rollers and bee-eaters, to storks, to name but a couple of the groups, while also encountering Leopard, Lion, Cape Hunting Dog, Spotted Hyena, Elephant, White Rhino, Hippo, Giraffe and a plethora of other mammals. We sampled other parts of the Drakensberg Escarpment (finding birds such as the spectacularly rare Taita Falcon), as well as an area with a distinctly Kalahari avifauna. All in all, this was a splendid, highly varied trip that generated over 500 bird species including 14 South African endemics along with 58 Southern African endemics and about 60 mammals.

See Trip Report

BIRDING by IMPRESSION TOURS:
A Simpler Method of Field Identification

Following the tremendous success of the critically acclaimed " The Shorebird Guide" by Michael O’Brien, Richard Crossley & Kevin Karlson, we are offering a new series of one week educational field trips / workshops / seminars where the focus will be on this new and exciting impression based approach to bird identification and appreciation that is the basis for this book. These tours will visit birding hotspots around the US, with the purpose of enjoying everything that we see, but incorporating this new approach to field ID. To learn more about this approach, visit Kevin Karlson’s website and then click on articles . Find the article from Living Bird Magazine, Summer 2006, entitled ‘ Birding by Impression: A Simpler Approach to Field Identification’. Itineraries will be posted shortly.

2004 Newsletter
2005 Newsletter
2006 Newsletter