From the Field
December 4: Rich Hoyer on his scouting for Costa Rica: Snowcaps and Sea Turtles
I'm just back from visiting two new lodges that we're using on the
July Snowcaps & Sea Turtles tour – Celeste Mountain Lodge on the slopes
of Tenorio Volcano and Maquenque Ecolodge where the last foothills
meet the Caribbean lowlands near the Nicaraguan border. As luck would
have it, I arrived in Costa Rica as a low-pressure system stalled over
the country and made my travel a bit iffy. But the skies eventually
cleared, water levels receded, and I made it to both of them. Wow.
With less than 24 hours at each lodge I was thoroughly impressed --
and I'm certain the tour participants are going to love these places.
Both lodges are in excellent locations, have good trails through
awesome habitat next to the lodge, and of course great birds. The
rooms are splendid, comfortable, and the food at both terrific. One
thing that caught my attention and impressed me is that the owners are
directly involved in running the lodges and take great pride in
presenting the best that ecotourism has to offer.
At Celeste Mountain Lodge (opened three years ago) I did a quick run
through the trail loop on a dark, quiet, windy afternoon, not
expecting to see any birds – yet I still saw Tody Motmot, one of the
specialties from this region. I never did get a good fix on any of the
several quail-doves that flushed from the trail, but maybe they'll be
more cooperative in July when we have more time there. At the family-
run Maquenque Ecolodge (just two years old) this morning I saw both
Scarlet and Great Green Macaws – the only place in the country that
boasts both species. Cinnamon Woodpecker and Central American Pygmy-
Owl were other highlights from the trails yesterday afternoon, as were
the gardens this morning, planted lushly with heliconias and gingers
for the many Bronzy Hermits and Rufous-tailed and Scaly-breasted
Hummingbirds. I'm really looking forward to returning to both next July.
December 1: Rich Hoyer: Scouting Costa Rica
The long and bumpy ride to the port of Blanco yesterday was spiced up by several roadside Two-toed Sloth in the trees and Red-breasted Blackbirds in the fields, but the boat ride to Tortuguero was wonderful: smooth, quick, and scenic. I'm checking out Turtle Beach Lodge, one of very few lodges with beautiful beachfront property and a trail into the forest. In the late morning I walked out to the beach to see hundreds of Laughing Gulls streaming by, accompanied by four Brown Noddies, 20 Magnificent Frigatebirds, and, best of all, a Red-footed Booby. The property has White-collared and Red-capped Manakins in the garden, and there are plenty of North American birds, even some still migrating such as Chimney Swifts, Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, and Scarlet Tanager. Probably intending to stay the winter are the Baltimore Oriole, the many Northern Waterthrushes, Ovenbird, and Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, and Yellow Warblers.
November 30: Gavin Bieber: Panama continues to impress!
We've just finished four wonderful days in the mountains around El Valle, where we were treated to great views of some of Central America's true highlight species: Tody Motmot, White-tipped Sicklebill, Black-crowned Antpitta, Lance-tailed Manakin, and White Hawk. Viva Panama!
November 25: Rich Hoyer on his just completed Galapagos cruise
This past week's tour in the Galapagos seemed like a month's worth of
experiences: every day was full of fascinating and usually
ridiculously close encounters with nearly everything endemic. It's
hard to imagine that by the end we were getting used to walking past the
nests of boobies, frigatebirds, and albatrosses, most of them with large
fluffy chicks resembling nothing more than a Womble (am I the only one
who remembers what a Womble is?). But up to the last day, everyone had
to be continually reminded to watch their step to avoid walking into
the utterly fearless Marine Iguanas and Galapagos Sea Lions that were
often strewn over the trails. It's simply another world, one that has to be
seen to be believed. On our first day we became familiar with many of the
13 endemic finch species, including the Large Tree-Finch and
Woodpecker Finch. Over the next days we saw all of the mockingbirds (the
fourth one on the extension), and became best friends with many a
Yellow Warbler. A new bird for the list was Galapagos Martin--an
exciting moment when a pair of this difficult and unpredictable bird
suddenly appeared overhead! Add all the other interesting and endemic
plants and creatures we saw-- the scorpion, a snake, a
darkling beetle, an ermine moth, grasshoppers--the amazing
geology and climate (explained so thoroughly and expertly by our local
guide), and spectacular snorkeling, and we had a wonderful
all-around natural history experience. To have had that experience in the
luxurious comfort of the Integrity was a treat we won't forget,
and I hope to do it again next year.
November 24: From Gavin Bieber: Another great day in Panama
Today we headed over to the Gulf side of the Panama Canal and spent a fantastic early morning camped out under a massive fruiting fig tree with dozens of toucans and aracaris, 4 Spot-crowned Barbets, a cooperative (for a change) pair of White-headed Wrens, no less than 2 Blue Cotinga males, and gobs of tanagers and honeycreepers. As if a day could not get any better a quick trip to the Chagres River mouth turned up a completely unexpected pair of seabirds. A juvenile Red-footed Booby came in close to the fort and then veered back out to sea and a little later as we attempted to resight the Booby we encountered a 2nd year Pomarine Jaeger! We capped the day off with views of a pair of Western Night Monkeys peeking out of their roosting tree and a quiet ride on the world's shortest transcontinental railroad along the Panama Canal.
November 22: Gavin Bieber from Panama on Pipeline Road magic
A rewarding day on Pipeline Road with multiple antswarms and ridiculously close (3 feet) views of Ocellated, Bicolored, Spotted and Chestnut-backed Antbirds. However the star of the day was a prolonged experience with one of the holy grails of neotropical birding, the simply amazing Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, a life bird for everyone including me.
November 20: Gavin Bieber on his first morning in Panama
The fall WINGS tour to central Panama started today and on our first walk around the Amador Causeway adjacent to the Pacific terminus of the Canal we discovered a marked increase in the number of Saffron Finches present on the lawns. This beautiful species is a recent colonist to Panama from nearby Colombia and seems to be rapidly spreading westward through the country.
November 17: James Lidster on the just-completed Morocco tour
On my way home after a fantastic Morocco tour with 9 species of lark including 80 + Thick-billeds on one day plus Temminck's, Hoopoe, Desert and Bar-tailed. Also seen were Lanner and Barbary Falcons, Bonelli's Eagles, Long-legged Buzzards, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Fulvous Babblers, Tristram's Warblers, Trumpeter Finch, Moussier's Redstarts, Black-crowned Tchagra, Brown-throated Sand Martins, Scrub Warblers, etc etc . The pelagic revealed 4 jaegers-skuas, 5 shearwater species (if Scopoli's is split and my photos prove conclusive) and of course we saw Northern Bald Ibis, one of the rarest birds there is! Add to this the stunning scenery, Bryan's knowledge, great food and wonderful people; I wish I could co-lead this trip every year....although it's only a few months until my spring trip which last I heard was one place away from being full!!
November 15: More From Steve Rooke in Ethiopia
A great morning in the south. It started with superb views of Prince Ruspoli's Turaco, one of the most sought-after of the endemics, and we then went on to the Liben Plains where we saw Sidamo (or Liben) Lark, one of Africa's rarest birds with perhaps no more than 100 individuals left and focus of a major effort by Birdlife International to protect the grasslands where it breeds. A fine breakfast in the field rounded off the morning.
November 13: From Steve Rooke in Ethiopia
A wonderful day in Ethiopia. Marvelous scenery and the bizarre, endemic Stresemann's Bush Crow. Looking for the endemic White-tailed Swallow tomorrow.