RECENT ADVENTURES
We just returned from two glorious weeks in Costa Rica, visiting areas that included high mountain terrain, middle elevations, lowlands on the Nicaraguan border and the Pacific Coast, and impressive Arenal Volcano. Among the nearly 400 species that we found during our stay were Resplendent Quetzals in all of their regal splendor, the diminutive Snowcap (a very striking hummingbird), Baird's Trogon, a male Yellow-billed Cotinga, three different Motmots, and large numbers of Scarlet Macaws and other parrots and parakeets. Two of my particular favorites were a pair of Yellow-eared Toucanets and the rather rare and local Striped Owl. We found seven different owls during the tour.
We return to Costa Rica in early August for a week at Rancho Naturalista Lodge and additional habitats at higher and lower elevations. Our leader will be Kevin Easley, a true expert in the country. Last year's summer tour was very popular and productive. Please read on for more details.
TOURS GUARANTEED TO GO
The following tours have at least the minimum number of participants needed for the tour to go, but still have one or more openings available. Simply click on the web site address to view the detailed itinerary. Additional information concerning all of our tours is available by going to http://www.birdtreks.com/schedules/sched.html. This includes a short description of each tour, plus highlights, photos, and favorite species from previous adventures.
These tours are GUARANTEED TO GO:The following destinations need just one or two additional participants in order for the tour to go. So they are not yet guaranteed, but they are close! Please join us.
Day-by-day itineraries and additional information are on our web site at www.birdtreks.com. Please contact the BIRD TREKS office if you need help accessing our web site or if you would rather have information mailed to your postal address. Many of our other scheduled tours are likely to go, but they cannot be guaranteed at this time. Please contact BIRD TREKS for more information or to register for the tour of your choice.
MORE TOUR INFORMATION
All of our May and June 2006 Alaska Tours are now guaranteed to go, and there is room for more participants on all of them. This includes three separate weeks on Adak Island, five days on St. Paul in the Pribilofs, and ten days in Anchorage, the Denali Highway, and the Kenai Peninsula. John Puschock is the primary leader for all of the tours, and Bob Schutsky will be the second leader for the first two weeks on Adak. Dan Heathcote will help John lead the final segment to the Denali Highway and the Kenai Peninsula--the more eyes, the better. There is a discount for joining two or more consecutive tours. We sincerely hope that you will join us in Alaska.
This year's KENYA TOUR is scheduled for 1-16 November 2006. It will be a return to our original classic tour that we first conducted in 2001. We limit the number of participants to six people per safari van, so that everyone gets a window seat. And we take two vans. So, if you are interested, I would love to hear from you soon, as the first van needs just one more person and we will soon begin filling the second van.
A brand new tour to Southern California is being developed and will be led by John Puschock who lives in San Diego. The early December itinerary will be ready for your perusal within the next several weeks. Please contact BIRD TREKS if you are interested in the specialties of this region.
OAXACA, MEXICO, 15-25 January 2007 and 25 January - 4 February 2007. Both tours will be led by Mark Pretti and are limited to eight participants per tour. The itinerary and full tour details are available at http://www.birdtreks.com/itin/mxoa07.html. Oaxaca has the reputation as the birdiest location in all of Mexico.
We're planning a new tour to NORTHERN PERU in January 2007. A group of birders is already assembling for a tour to Iquitos in northern Peru. We'll provide more details as they become available.
RECENT TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
CHINCOTEAGUE & DELMARVA PENINSULA TOUR
27-31 December 2005
Trip Report by John Puschock, Tour Leader
Here are some segments from each day of the tour. To read John's full trip report and see the Top 10 list, go to http://www.birdtreks.com/highlites/chindec.html.
27 DecThe first scheduled stop of the 2005 Delmarva Peninsula tour was Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, located along the western shore of Delaware Bay. As we arrived mid-morning, large flocks of Snow Geese were feeding in the fields along the entrance road. We also had our first Boat-tailed Grackles, a species restricted to coastal areas throughout most of its range.
We made two more stops in the afternoon, both in Delaware. Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach held a large flock of ducks close to shore. Most were Canvasbacks, but there were also good numbers of Northern Pintail and a few Lesser Scaup were also mixed in. Our final birding destination for the day was Indian River Inlet. Located on the Atlantic Coast, the inlet is lined by rock jetties. This was our first exposure to rocky shoreline habitat, and it brought a number of new species for us. A flock of Common Eider including a nice adult male was the big attraction here. Identifying eiders can sometimes be a problem: females and some immature Common and King Eiders are very similar, so it was nice to have at least one bird here that didn't require a seminar to explain its identification. We also added Red-throated Loon, Great Cormorant, Long-tailed Duck, Black and Surf Scoters, and Purple Sandpiper to the trip list.
28 DecChincoteague is one of the best birding destinations on the Delmarva Peninsula. We saw all the expected species of puddle ducks, but numbers were low and we still weren't finding a Eurasian Wigeon. Waders also seemed to be down, but we did find an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron perched along a roadside ditch several times throughout the day. A highlight of the trip was finding a mixed-species flock in the refuge's pinewoods. The flock contained many Yellow-rumped Warblers and a few Carolina Chickadees, but the stars of the flock were the Brown-headed Nuthatches. Several of them were foraging at the ends of pine branches only six feet above our heads. This is some of the best looks that I've ever had of this species.
We also saw some Delmarva Fox Squirrels in these pinewoods. The squirrel is an endangered species that has been reintroduced to the refuge to establish another population. A couple of other non-native mammals are found on the refuge, and we saw both of them: Sika Deer, and the refuge's most famous inhabitants, Wild Ponies.
29 DecThe weather wasn't looking great today. It had rained overnight, and the clouds still looked threatening at dawn. We made several stops as we made our way to the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. Marbled Godwit was added to the trip list when a flock flew by us at Willis Wharf, and we picked up American Oystercatcher at, appropriately, the village of Oyster. One of the participants, Rich, spotted a flock of Wild Turkeys in a field as we were driving south. This was a new species never before seen on this tour.
The rain started coming down again, so we decided to head to the Sterling Bed and Breakfast in Cape Charles. Besides having a porch with a roof to keep us dry, an Allen's Hummingbird had been visiting a feeder there for about a month. We watched for an hour without catching a glimpse of the hummer, but we did get Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, and Hermit Thrush during the stakeout.
After the rain ended, we continued on to Kiptopeke State Spark, where we had great looks at Common Loon and Surf Scoter just offshore. We also saw Horned Grebe and Brown Pelican, though these birds weren't as close. We also took a hike through the woods and saw some more Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, and American Goldfinch, among others. I also heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch, but I couldn't coax it out of the canopy and it remained unseen.
30 DecOur day started early, about an hour before sunrise. Our first target was American Woodcock at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR. As the sky started to brighten, we could see their silhouettes as they flew from the brushy fields where they were foraging back into the woodland. They were also flushing from the edge of the road. We were able to spotlight a number of them and had awesome looks at several very close to our vehicle.
We then moved on to the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I was expecting cold and windy weather out there based on the previous day's weather. However, we had quite the opposite. It turned out to be quite warm. We first stopped at Island 4. There were several hundred gulls here, but the diversity was low and we didn't get either of the white-winged gulls, Glaucous or Iceland. We did, however, get good scope views of Purple Sandpiper and Harlequin Duck. Several Northern Gannets also flew by. At Island 3, we saw Greater Scaup along with Lessers, and we had all three scoter species in the scope at once. A Harbor Seal popped its head out of the water while we were watching these ducks. We finished birding on the Bridge-Tunnel at Island 1, where we added Laughing Gull.
31 DecToday was the final day of the tour, so we had to return to Pennsylvania by late afternoon, but we still had time for a few more stops. We checked out Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR one final time before heading north. Here we finally had another Red-shouldered Hawk, our first since having one fly in front of us as we were driving to Bombay Hook on the first day of the tour. We also added Marsh Wren and American Pipit to the trip list.
Our final three birding locations were in Maryland. As we were making our way to Ocean City, we encountered a huge blackbird flock feeding in a field. Most of the birds were Common Grackles, an addition to the trip list. Then we went to a golf course on the outskirts of Ocean City where we finally caught up with a drake Eurasian Wigeon. In fact, we saw two males there. Afterward we stopped at Ocean City Inlet. Here we had American Oystercatchers and Purple Sandpipers practically at our feet.
Time was running out, so we had to call it a day to make sure we got back in time. But on our way back through Delaware, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew across the road just ahead of us, the final new bird of our tour. We hope that you will join us for our next New Year's adventure.
THAILAND
30 January to 17 February 2006
Trip Report by Mike Haldeman, Tour Leader
After leaving Bangkok we stopped at a local wetland for a lesson in telling Chinese from Javan Pond-Herons and picking up Asian Openbills and a couple of prinias, then we were on our way to Khao Yai National Park. By noon we were already on a quiet forest trail where we found Large Scimitar-Babbler and a pair of Purple-throated Sunbirds and had our first good looks at beautiful birds like Green-billed Malkoha and Chestnut-headed Bee-eater.
Just two hours north of Bangkok, Khao Yai's large expanses of wilderness are home to all of Southeast Asia's large mammals and some incredible birds. In all of this beautiful wilderness we made the obvious choice and headed for a small dump in the park behind one of the small park restaurants. As soon as we arrived behind the kitchen we found our target - the ordinarily skulking Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo was easily visible in an open patch beneath the brush with a wild Red Junglefowl and a Blue Whistling-Thrush. During our two full days at the park we had incredible views of Blue-bearded Bee-eater, the spectacular Long-tailed Broadbill, three species of hornbill and four barbets, Green Magpie, Slaty-backed Forktail, and Crimson Sunbird. At one point we were standing patiently on a quiet side road intent on catching a glimpse of a singing Red-headed Trogon. We heard some crashing in the brush just down the road but nothing could break our concentration - until someone yelled, “ELEPHANT.” The source of the crashing noises emerged from the brush as if in slow motion - a huge male Asian Elephant. When it was out on the road surface it stopped and faced us for one thrilling second before furtively melting into the brush on the other side of the road. Other outstanding mammals encountered in the park were Binturong and White-handed Gibbons, whose comical whoops are a constant background noise in Thailand's big parks. Our night ride gave us looks at Large-tailed and Great Eared-Nightjars, three species of civets, a Slow Loris, and another male elephant.
Our third and final mountain, Doi Inthanon, is Thailand's highest. This national park has a paved road all the way to the summit where there is a boardwalk through the damp moss-covered forest. There are many species common up here that we see no where else on the tour, such as Dark-sided Thrush, White-browed Shortwing, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, and Yellow-bellied Fantail. We also picked up some nice migrants since Chestnut and Gray-sided Thrushes were common on the summit this year and we had great looks at a Daurian Redstart at a local orchard. Farther down the mountain a Slaty-bellied Tesia came in and we were able to watch this skulking bird as it sang, opening it bill wide to expose the bright orange gape in the low-light levels of the forest understory. A Mountain Tailorbird came right out to the road edge and sang within three feet of us, and some nice bird waves along the main road gave us great looks at Yellow-cheeked Tit, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Spectacled Barwing, a Chestnut-crowned Warbler, and Gould's and Green-tailed Sunbirds. At a couple of the park's beautiful waterfalls we picked up both Plumbeous and White-capped Redstarts, the latter foraging by clinging to the cliff face right next to the waterfall. And at the bottom of the mountain in the dry dipterocarp forest we were able to add one new bird, a Collared Falconet, one of the smallest diurnal raptors in the world.
Kaeng Krachan is the largest national park in Thailand and it is much less developed than Khao Yai, with only one dirt road going into the park. The thirty-kilometer drive to the top offers different habitats and many scenic vistas. From one of these vistas we spent the first hour of light one morning watching Banded Languars, the rarer leaf-monkey that inhabits mid-elevations of the park, Thick-billed Pigeons, a Wreathed Hornbill, many Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, and a Spectacled Spiderhunter before a Crested Serpent-Eagle flew in and perched for us. At the campground at the top of the park Pin-tailed Parrotfinches were feeding in the bamboo and in a small fruiting tree right above us we watched several Great Barbets and a large Mountain Imperial-Pigeon picking off fruit. Also in the bamboo at the top was a group of Vernal Hanging-Parrots, one of which landed on a stalk at eye-level and, with the sun at our backs, this bird seemed to be glowing fluorescent green. It stayed there and dazzled us for several minutes earning it the distinction of number 1 bird of the tour. By walking down the empty dirt road from the campground we soon found one of the park's great specialties, a Ratchet-tailed Treepie. This isolated population was first found in Thailand in the early 1990s. And it was here in Kaeng Krachan that we finally started seeing woodpeckers - White-browed Piculet, Greater Flameback, Heart-spotted and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, and the rare chance to watch a Black-and-buff Woodpecker taking a bath in the fork of a tree. Other highlights of our time at Kaeng Krachan included excellent views of groups of both Dusky and Silver-breasted Broadbills, White-hooded Babblers, a Rufous-browed Flycatcher, an East Asian Porcupine on the road, and on our way out of the park one evening, a Black-thighed Falconet, the other of the world's smallest diurnal raptors.
Upon leaving Kaeng Krachan we made a brief stop for Vinous-breasted Starling and then headed back to Phetchburi for another shot at some shorebirds. By walking the dikes at the salt “farms” we finally found a single Spoonbill Sandpiper and we were all able to study this unique shorebird at length. We still had enough time for a short boat ride to a sand spit for Malaysian Plover, which we found easily along with Great Crested Tern and Pacific Reef-Heron. Then it was off to another excellent seafood lunch and a relaxing drive on the elevated expressway back through Bangkok to the Rama Gardens Hotel where the tour ended.
For Mike's full trip report, go to http://www.birdtreks.com/highlites/thai.html. Next year's tour will equally as exciting.
COMING SOON . . .
We hope that you have enjoyed learning about our upcoming trips. We have enjoyed sharing our news, updates, and information with you. Our next NEWS FLASH will contain birding tales of Neotropic migrants from our brand new tour to Dauphin Island, Alabama.
Please let us know if we can assist you with any additional information.
We'd love to help you with a regularly scheduled tour, or perhaps a
custom tour. In June we are taking eight friends to Churchill and
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Imagine the surprise and delight if you invited your
friends on a tour to the destination of their choice!
Sincerely,
BOB