Birding the day away !!

Costa Rica ~ January 10th - 24th ~ '26

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:02:00 +0000

Costa Rica

January 10th -24th ~ 2026

I was invited to going Andy Lawson on a trip he was planning to Costa Rica for two weeks, it was the first visit to Costa Rica for us both and it was good, very good, We had a fantastic time birding dawn till dusk. Struck lucky a few times being guided and given info on other guides which then lead on to some fabulous birds that We just wouldn't have seen without the shared info ..

Costa Rica is a fantastic birding location and the photography wasn't bad either, plenty of feeder set ups at the hotels with a few more dedicated to the photographer ..

I won't bore you with how each day went like location, hotels and exactly what was seen mainly because at the speed it takes me to write a paragraph is ridiculous, these three have taken two hours, I've not got enough life left in me to make it to the end, with a word rate that bad I'd never complete it ..

Instead images and plenty of them will be either singularly or grouped to a location ..

The trip summarised at the end with Totals etc ..

Carara National Park - guided

Streak-chested Antpitta

Cerro Lodge

Rufous-backed Wren

Carara National Park

Velvety Manakin

Pale-billed Woodpecker

Great Tinamou

Dot-winged Antwren

Marbled Wood-Quail

Road out to grasslands from Cerro Lodge

Variable Seedeater

Common Pauraque

Tarcoles Boat tour

Green Kingfisher

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Great Blue Heron

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Calle La Barca, near the boat tour - Guided

Black-and-white Owl

Road out to the grasslands from Cerro Lodge - Guided

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Barred Antshrike

Spectacled Owl

Stripe-headed Sparrow

Pacific Screech-Owl

Carara National Park

Orange-collared Manakin

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Mistico Rice Fields

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

Grey-cowled Wood-Rail

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

Tawny-winged Woodcreeper

Mourning Warbler

Ecocentro Calathea - Guided

Northern Jacana

Buff-throated Saltator

Great Kiskadee

Great Kiskadee

Giant Cowbird

Clay-coloured Thrush

Calle La Gamba meadows

Red-breasted Meadowlark

Striped Owl

Common Pauraque

Wilson Botanical Gardens

Lesson's Motmot

Lesson's Motmot

Mistletoe Tyranulet

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Calle Olan dirt track

Eastern Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Caracara

Alto Salitre savanas - Guided by Leonardo

Ocellated Crake

Ocellated Crake

Peje - Volcan -- Guided by Leonardo

Rosy Thrush-Tanager

Rosy Thrush-Tanager

Talamanca Nature Reserve

Acorn Woodpecker

Tropical Mockingbird

Speckled Tanager

White-crested Coquette

White-crested Coquette

White-crested Coquette

White-crested Coquette

San Gerardo's Birds

Brown Violetear

Silver-throated Tanager

Acorn Woodpecker

Speckled Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager

Red-headed Barbet

Red-headed Barbet

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

Brown Violetear

Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Green Hermit

Buff-throated Saltator

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Green Honeycreeper

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Miriam's Restaurant - Savegre Valley

Lesser Violetear

Talamanca Hummingbird

Hotel Gema Del Bosque

Spotted Wood-Quail

Miriam's Restaurant - Savegre Valley

Lesser Violetear

Volcano Hummingbird

White-throated Mountain-gem

Talamanca Hummingbird

White-throated Mountain-gem

Talamanca Hummingbird

Lesser Violetear

Talamanca Hummingbird

Savegre Hotel

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Black-cheeked Warbler

Yellow-olive Flatbill

Miriam's Restaurant - Savegre Valley

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

White-throated Mountain-gem

Sooty Thrush

Talamanca Hummingbird

Flame-coloured Tanager

Talamanca Hummingbird

White-throated Mountain-gem

Talamanca Hummingbird

Lesser Violetear

Talamanca Hummingbird

Talamanca Hummingbird

Talamanca Hummingbird

Savegre Hotel

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Stripe-tailed Hummingbird

Lago de Cachi Dam

Cabanis's Wren

Rancho Naturalista

Short-billed Pigeon

Green Thorntail

Gartered Violaceous Trogon

Stripe-throated Hermit

Violet-headed Hummingbird

From the bridge near the Mill

Sunbittern

Alrededores Cementerio Tayutic

Black-headed Saltator

The Lodge y Eco Refugio - Guided

Lattice-tailed Trogon

Grey-headed Piprites

Snowcap

Snowcap

Dull-mantled Antbird

Tranki Gardens

Black-striped Sparrow

White-throated Crake

Green-breasted Mango

Green-breasted Mango

White-necked Jacobin

Green-breasted Mango

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Green-breasted Mango

Green-breasted Mango

Green-breasted Mango

Green-breasted Mango

White-necked Jacobin

You all know Costa Rica is fantastic for birds and in two weeks my total bird species was at 436 !!
With a lifer tally of 234 .. !!

What a brilliant fortnight of birding .....

Click the link for the full trip checklists
Ebird Trip Report

Vietnam ~ Cat Tien, Di Linh & DaLat ~ 21st Dec '25 -- 2nd Jan '26

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:39:00 +0000

~ Vietnam ~

Cat Tien, Di Linh & DaLat

21st Dec - '25 / 2nd Jan - '26

I spent 6 days in Cat Tien, staying in the national park at Forest Floor Lodge before moving to a better cheaper room by the park headquarters I did a morning in the Pitta Hide and an afternoon in the Pheasant Hide also spent a night at Crocodile Lake, the birding in the park is great but definitely needed the hides for some of the species as I didn't see them except in the hides ..

Both hides were arranged the day before going and were only 1 million Dong per session that's only £28 excellent value, well set-up with natural looking perches as well as rocks and logs and best of all I was on my own ..

Best value hides I've ever paid for and it makes seeing the Pittas, Fireback and Pheasants easy ..

Stripe-throated Bulbul

Once inside the national park that is where I did all my birding going to ...

HQ track to Ben Cu rapids, Tai Lai track and grasslands, HQ and Tung Tree area, Crocodile Lake, Radio Mast ponds and Swamp Tower platform at the grassland ..

The following images are all from hides ..

Blue-rumped Pitta

Abbott's Babbler

Siberian Blue Robin

Bar-bellied Pitta

Indochinese Blue Flycatcher

Bar-bellied Pitta

Siamese Fireback

Slaty-legged Crake

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Then 2 days in Di Linh doing two different hides with different species coming to each hide here I stayed at Ivory Falls Villa and the birding around the Villa was also fantastic ..

These hides were booked with Vietbirds which is priced per day so both hides, morning hide then an afternoon hide, picked up & dropped back by a driver plus a brilliant guide that maintains the hide and had thought about the set-up with photography in mind ..

Now these hides are $250 per day ..

Let me explain what you get for your money !!

Quality birds, up close and not seen elsewhere.. The guide stays with you and keeps putting out the mealworms when they are gone, and they need topping up quite often. Hearing birds which you didn't hear and calling them in and if your busy photographing one bird and another good one is coming in you get told the info ..

So you do get a lot for your money ..

Burmese Shrike

Blue Pitta

White-throated Rock Thrush

Indochinese Green-Magpie

Silver-breasted Broadbill

Scaly Thrush

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Orange-headed Thrush

Scaly Thrush

Silver-breasted Broadbill

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Siberian Blue Flycatcher

Mugimaki Flycatcher

White-throated Rock Thrush

Orange-headed Thrush

Blue Pitta

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Ashy Bulbul

Verditer Flycatcher

Little Pied Flycatcher

Siberian Thrush

Scaly Thrush

Siberian Blue Rock

Hainan Blue Flycatcher

White-browed Scimitar Babbler

Barred Cuckoo-Dove

Dark-sided Thrush

Streaked Wren-Babbler

Asian Stubtail

White-throated Rock Thrush

Then 5 days in DaLat ..

I stayed at the Du Park Hotel, DaLat using Grab taxi for transport when on my own to get to locations and was picked up by Vietbirds for the days I had a guide for hides and a days birding for remaining targets.

Some good sites I reached with the Grab were ..

Datanla Waterfall the car park area and restaurant overlooking the gardens with flowering trees.

Tuyen Lam Lake around the dam and the forest and trails.

Tuyen Lam Lake--western shore and trails.

Tuyen Lam Lake--forested ravine and trails.

DaLat Flower Garden around the flowering trees and pools.

I arranged two days with Vietbirds for hide photography using three different hides in the Bidoup Nui Ba NP, with target birds from each hide and not seen elsewhere.

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

Grey Bushchat

Large Niltava

Large Niltava

Grey-throated Babbler

Grey-bellied Tesia

Black-headed Sibia

Mountain Fulvetta

Rufous-throated Partridge

White-cheeked Laughingthrush

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Dalat shrike-babbler

Alström's Warbler

Yellow-billed Nuthatch

Yellow-billed Nuthatch

Dalat shrike-babbler .. (f)

Dalat shrike-babbler

Rufous-browed Flycatcher

Lesser Shortwing

Little Pied Flycatcher

Rusty-naped Pitta

Mountain Fulvetta

Large Niltava

Rufous-backed Sibia

I arranged a days birding again via Vietbirds with the remaining target birds as the main focus, local knowledge and call id makes such a difference even though this was another $250 for a full day it was worth it, a great guide plus driver and car.
Visited the following sites ...
Datanla Waterfall, Ta Nung Valley, Strawberry Farm Trail and a site on the way back to the hotel for Oriental Scops Owl seeing 3 birds ..

Vietnamese Cutia

Streaked Spiderhunter

Rufous-tailed Robin

Siberian Rubythroat

Oriental Scops Owl

Last full day birding and a Grab Taxi to Tuyen Lam Lake--western shore, then the forested ravine walking using google maps but ended up in a military zone and they wasn't happy when I came walking down the hill, from here I got a Grab to DaLat Flower Garden for the final last few species to make the numbers up ..

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch

Common Crossbill

The morning of January 2nd was all about going home starting with a Grab to DaLat airport for a flight to HCMC then back to Gatwick via Dubai ..

The trip total ended at 248 species for Vietnam with 98 lifers ..
Plus 1 lifer in Dubai ..

Click the link for the full checklists
Ebird Trip Report

Thailand ~ Kaeng Krachan NP ~ November 4th - 9th .. '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:05:00 +0000

Thailand

November 4th - 9th

The usual dawn till dusk birding with Jono at Kaeng Krachan NP with a visit to Pak Thale for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper which did show, and a few other sites to and from the airport. The flight was via Doha which we managed a few hours birding on the outbound flight ..

We stayed at Baan Maka Nature Lodge for a few days, then had a night near Phetchaburi before returning back to Baan Maka ..

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Banded Kingfisher

Banded Broadbill

Black-and-red Broadbill

Orange-breasted Trogon

Lineated Barbet

Black-browed Reed Warbler

Malaysian Pied Fantail

Asian Golden Weaver

White-throated Kingfisher

Yellow-bellied Prinia

Black-capped Kingfisher

Richard's Pipit

White-nest Swiftlet

Gull-billed Tern

Black-winged Stilt

Common Flameback

Ferruginous Partridge

Racket-tailed Treepie

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Greater Yellownape

Taiga Flycatcher

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush

Grey Peacock Pheasant

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Kalij Pheasant

White-crested Laughingthrush

Ferruginous Partridge

Greater Flameback

Puff-throated Babbler

Kalij Pheasant

Asian Emerald Dove

Sakhalin Leaf Warbler

Bar-backed Partridge

Freckle-breasted Woodpecker

Vancouver ~ Canada ~ September 10th - 16th

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:09:00 +0000

Vancouver ~ Canada

September 10th - 16th

Sites & areas visited were Manning Park, Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Horseshoe Bay, Pacific Rim NP, Tofino, Ucluelet, Nanaimo, Stanley Park & Burnaby Lake ..

Sooty Grouse

Spruce Grouse

Steller's Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

California Scrub Jay

Fox Sparrow

Barred Owl

Eurasian Eagle Owl Photography ~ Photo-logistics Hide ~ Spain ~ 17th-19th Oct '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 10:47:00 +0000

Eurasian Eagle Owl Photography

I received an email about an Eagle Owl Hide in Spain with some photos that grabbed my interest so I booked two sessions the Friday & Saturday nights of the 17th & 18th of October with Photo-logistics and booked a flight & car deal with British Airways to Barcelona, Spain which flew out of Heathrow early on the 17th and back to London early on the 19th ..

My hotel was 15 minutes from the meet point then the guide drove me another 10 minutes to the hide, which to get to the hide involved a short walk over steep terrain and if your unsteady on your feet this is definitely not for you ..

I also got sent info on camera settings in Manual Mode and had these pre set before I even got on the flight ..

ISO: 4000

F: 8

Shutter Speed: 1/125

Mechanical Shutter

There is a small light near the owl to help with focusing. It's best to have back-button focus enabled as the camera cannot see the owl in the dark, an infrared monitor screen shows when the owl appears and also when the head turns facing correctly for a photo.

Silent mode, single-point autofocus and a Cable release trigger worked well ..

There are two gimbal heads in the hide for support so you don't need to bring your own.

There are three Godox flash guns set-up and the guide has all remote hotshoe triggers for which brand of camera you use.

Once the owl came in I changed my settings using ISO 3200, F8 & F10 and a shutter speed of either 1/250 or 1/320 ..

A magnificent bird to watch and photograph..

Bearded Vulture Photography ~ Photo-logistics Hide ~ 10th Aug '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 10:15:00 +0000

Bearded Vulture Photography

Having spent 2 mornings in Belchite near Zaragoza, Spain photographing Sandgrouse it was then a 3 hour drive to Salsona where I stayed for the night of the 9th at Hotel Salsona Centre.

The morning of the 10th August and my meeting point was Cap Del Pla only a 15 minute drive from the hotel, from here I was taken to the hides roughly 10 minutes, down the mountain side and back up to a plateau which overlooks the valley to the opposite mountain which gave a nice photographic backdrop.

These hides are from Photo-Logistics ...

I set myself up in the hide closest to car this one seemed to give better backgrounds, both were side-lite ..

This hide has 3 Benro Gimbal heads, Office chairs, power banks, fans and a toilet, the whole hide complete with astroturf under foot. Whilst I was setting up the guide was baiting the plateau area, I sat back and watched ..

Before He had even got back to his car roughly 80 Griffon Vultures came in, it was absolute carnage to get to the food, so much going on at one time, mass fighting, birds landing on top of other birds and still more vultures were coming in, great to watch but not a chance to get an isolated photo.

The feeding mayhem literally lasted 30 seconds probably less, then it was more fighting before nearly all the Griffons went to sleep !! A couple of Egyptian Vulture kept coming in and one Bearded tried but was soon seen off by the Griffon Vultures.

It took about an hour before the Griffon started to disperse and as the numbers dropped away with fewer birds meant more space to get an isolated shot ...

And it wasn't long before the first Bearded Vulture came in ..

The magnificent Lammergeier ...

The name Lammergeier is a combination of two German words:

Lamm, the German word for "lamb"

Geier, the German word for "Vulture"

The name Lamb Vulture is based off the mistaken belief that the bird preyed on lambs ..

While Lammergeier is the German name, the other bird's names come from Latin & Greek ..

Ossifrage ... An old English name meaning "bone-breaker" referring to the habit of dropping bones from height to break them allowing access to the marrow ..

Gypaetus ... Ancient Greek, combining gup "vulture" and aetos "eagle"

barbatus ... Is Latin for "bearded"

Scientific name .... Gypaetus barbatus

I had from 07:30 till 15:00 in the hide and for my session photography didn't start till 09:00 once the numbers had dropped and was over 13:00 the last two hours with no birds in front of the hide ..

If you book for this hide the two most important things to have .!

Plenty of water ..

Zoom Lens ..

If you can cover 200mm to 800mm in focal length then all images should be possible ..

I've got the 150-400 which meant with the 4/3 body I had 300mm as my short end and on a few occasions wing clipped some good images unfortunately.

As the Gimbal Heads are provided you could shoot multiple lenses like 500/4 plus 1.4 on the gimbal and say a 200 handheld for flight shots if you don't have a zoom lens.

Over the time when I had birds to aim at the Bearded Vultures probably only gave 5 or 6 attempts especially at flight shots with a bit more time available when on the ground but once they had a bone in the bill they generally flew off ..

The session is normally till 16:00 but I had a flight to get straight from the hide so arranged a 15:00 to allow me the 2 hour drive to Barcelona Airport ..

Considering the amount of Griffon Vultures I had far fewer images just due to the sheer number of birds and not being able to get a clear shot of an isolated bird ..

I made the airport with time to spare, had a couple of beers and booked another two days for October in the hide for Owls ..

Photo-Logistics Eagle Owl

Sandgrouse Photography ~ Photo Logistics Hide ~ Belchite, Spain ~ 8th - 9th Aug '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 16:34:00 +0000

My wall calendar had a massive void with nothing booked for August, an email was sent and the reply was rapidly sent back confirming they had the dates available for me, 3 days in Belchite for Sandgrouse and 1 day in Solsona for Lammergeier.

Next was to see if I could get decent flights, booking with British Airways a Flight & Car deal, I had an early flight out of Heathrow on Thursday 7th and late evening return from Barcelona on Sunday the 10th ..

With the early flight from Heathrow I booked the Thistle Hotel at T5 as I normally do which is then only the 423 bus to the terminal couldn't be any easier.

I then confirmed my places in the hides with Photo_Logistics who booked Me in for two mornings Friday 8th & Saturday 9th in the Sandgrouse Hide and also another hide for the morning of the 10th but more about that later ..

Once I had landed at BCN Airport it took Me two hours before I would be driving off and on my way, passport control took over an hour with crazy queues for 'Other Passports' and the EU Passport scanning booths literally empty and then more waiting at Avis/Budget car hire with people in front just taking ages to be processed.

It was a little over three hours drive to El Planeron my afternoon recce site with the hope of locating a Dupont's Lark, driving the tracks with the air-con on was nice and comfortable I got out a few times but 40 degree heat was unbearable but scanning from a lovely chilled car was pleasant enough..

My hotel was in Belchite which was a 10 minute drive to the meeting point in Coda, then another 10 minutes to the hide. The farmer who I met spoke little English and is to be paid directly, He set the hide ready for my session, showed Me where to park and to be gone by Midday due to excessive heat.

Once I was on my own, I rearranged the hide chairs for use as tables placing all my water, food and binoculars on, set up the tripod and camera then the wait was on ......

Only had to wait an hour before the first flock of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse flew in, they landed way out in the ploughed field and ever so slowly walked in, they're extremely nervous birds to the extent that when one of the first birds in had drank, just taking off was enough to spook another to take off without drinking ..

During the morning session 16 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse came in to the drinking pool, with only a pair of Black-bellied Sandgrouse coming in to drink ..

What a great morning it had been and as it approached 11:30 it was beginning to be unbearable around 40 degrees outside, I had drank nearly 3 litres of water and sweated most of it back out again.
Other birds that either came in or flew past were Red-billed Chough, Montagu's Harrier, Calandra Lark & Green Sandpiper are the notable birds ..
As per instructions no birds had been seen for 15 minutes so I left the hide, closed the shutter & door and walked all my gear in one go back to the car for minimal disturbance, best of all I get to do it all again tomorrow ..

The morning of Saturday 9th, by 06:45 I'm in the hide all set-up and the wait is back on again, just over an hour later and the first flock came in, scattering across the ploughed field, slowly walking in towards the drinking pool ..

Small flocks came in throughout the morning with a total of 41 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse coming to drink, unfortunately no Black-bellied were sighted ..

I did try for some take-off shots but all were going away with the wrong head turns ..
Far too quickly my time was up in the hide, it was now all about packing up with a 3 hour drive to Solsona ..

Tips for you when in the hide ....

1# .. Take plenty of water 4L minimum ..
2# .. Tripod & Gimbal type head is a must ..
3# .. Preferred focal length 800 to 1000mm ..

Then all that's needed is to book it !!

Photo_Logistics

Brazil ~ Atlantic Coast ~ June 12th - 20th ~ '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:03:00 +0000

Brazil ~ Atlantic Coast

June 12th - 20th '25

Guided tour starting off at Intervales then on to Legardo das Aguas on to Peruibe and finishing off at Parque Ibirapuera ...

Total species seen was 265 ...

White-headed Marsh-Tyrant

Red-and-White Crake

Blackish Rail

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Bananaquit

Blue Dacnis ~ female

Green-headed Tanager

Black-backed Tanager

Dusky-legged Guan

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Plain-winged Woodcreeper

Green-winged Saltator

Black-goggled Tanager

Ruby-crowned Tanager

Blue Dacnis

Green-headed Tanager

Olive-green Tanager

Sayaca Tanager

Brazilian Tanager

Ruby-crowned Tanager

Azure-shouldered Tanager

Helmeted Woodpecker

Dusky-legged Guan

Brazilian Tanager ~ female

Blue Dacnis

Green-headed Tanager

Red-rumped Cacique

Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail

Red-necked Tanager

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Red-necked Tanager

Violaceous Euphonia

Saffron Toucanet

Saw-billed Hermit

Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper

Variable Antshrike

Ruddy Quail-Dove

Spot-winged Wood-Quail

Saffron Toucanet

Plain Parakeet

Cattle Tyrant

Azure Jay

Channel-billed Toucan

Red-tailed Amazon

Creamy-bellied Thrush

Mangrove Rail

Scissor-tailed Nightjar

Flame-crested Tanager

Buff-bellied Puffbird

Turquoise-fronted Amazon

Striated Heron

Green-barred Woodpecker

White-faced Whistling-Duck

Lineated Woodpecker

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Blond-crested Woodpecker ~ female

Trinidad ~ 19th - 26th March '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 17:38:00 +0000

Trinidad ~ 19th - 26th March '25

Flew out from Gatwick south with British Airways, car & flight package landing early evening. My first three nights were at The Pax Guesthouse, then a night at Le Grand Almandier returning back to Pax for the remainder of my trip ..

Locations visited for birding ..

Pax Guesthouse & surroundings

Pointe a Pierre Wildfowl Trust

Caroni Swamp

Asa Wright Nature Centre

Saint John's Road

Aripo Livestock Station

Monte Video Road

La Vega

Trincity Sewage Treatment Ponds

Temple by the Sea

Orange Valley

Waterloo

West Sumaria Trace

All images taken with OM1 mkII ~ 150/400pro

Tenerife, Spain ~ 28th Feb - 2nd Mar '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 20:19:00 +0000

Tenerife, Spain

Flew out from Gatwick on the 28th February landing at nearly 5pm at Tenerife South and with an hour of daylight remaining I went to the golf course to try for the parakeets before driving north for an hour to Garachico where my apartment was for the next two nights ..

1st March

First stop was Mirador Lomo Molino in recent days both pigeons have been seen here and Bolle's Pigeon were easily seen with 11 birds showing well ..

I tried a few other sites like The Water Mountain Trail near Erjos which produced more Bolle's before an hours drive to Corona Forest recreational area with a loose flock of 18 Tenerife Blue Chaffinch ..

2nd March

Again first stop was Mirador Lomo Molino finding 21 Bolle's Pigeon and 3 Laurel Pigeon ..

I had plans to go up to Las Lajas on my way back towards the airport but with success yesterday with Blue Chaffinch I tried again for Nanday Parakeet at Golf Las Americas ..

I managed 35 species for the trip concentrating mainly on target birds .... Bolle's Pigeon, Laurel Pigeon, Tenerife Blue Chaffinch and Nanday Parakeet ..

Notable species Canary Islands Chiffchaff, Common Kestrel, Canary Islands Chaffinch, European Robin, African Blue Tit, Common Buzzard and Great Spotted Woodpecker ..

Didn't see Tenerife Goldcrest ..

Other notables were Atlantic Canary, Eurasian Spoonbill, Plain Swift, Cory's Shearwater, African Collared Dove and Ruddy Shelduck ..

Morocco ~ 4th - 11th Jan' ~ '25

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 16:49:00 +0000

Morocco ~ 4th - 11th Jan' ~ '25

Flight & car booked with British Airways to Marrakesh landing at 18:30 and the plan was to drive an hour to Ait Ourir ready for the next morning ..... But ...!!

I was on Flickr and saw a post from Brendan Ryan with a Maghreb Owl he had seen in the grounds of Aurocher hotel on the way up to Oukaimeden, a quick message to Jono and a new plan was underway, cancelled the original hotel, booked Aurocher which was 90 minutes from the airport ..

4th January

We arrived about 21:30 ish at Aurocher and had a very late evening meal before going out with fingers & toes crossed about 10 minutes in and we could not believe what we heard, way off in the distance a Maghreb called and it got closer & closer until its next call which was behind us in the trees high above the hotel on the road, On went the torch and their it was, both of us went straight to panic mode, back to the room grabbed the cameras and came back to it still in the road side trees before gliding over our heads ...

5th January

As it was only 30 minutes drive up to Oukaimeden it seemed stupid not to go up, Ohhhhh it most defiantly turned out to be a bad idea, I was last up here in 2018 and they have ruined it, at the ski resort with containers all along the road selling everything from peanuts to ski's, it was like a Boot Sale in the snow ..

That's the last time i'm going up in winter ..

We had a good bit of birding before starting down and that's where the nightmare began, 100's of mopeds, cars, vans and coaches going up with plenty trying to escape down resulted in road blocks, one was for 15 minutes without moving so we got out and did some Black Wheatears, it took just over 2 hours 30 minutes just to get to the hotel where we started and now we have a 4 hour drive over the Atlas Mountains and out towards Ouarzazate our place for the night was Bivouac Lot of Stars ..

6th January

The morning got off to a good start at Barrage Tarmigte a wetland area with multiple small pools seeing 19 species best being Common Snipe ..

Then it was a location on the massive Barrage Al Mansour Ad Dahbi out through Ouarzazate on the eastern side off the RN10 at Eddahbi - nord - est, another 19 species with notables like Great Cormorant, Slender-billed Gull & Thekla Lark ..

A couple more sites on route before having 3 hours driving the many tracks of Tagdilt, 15 quality species in total with notables of Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Lanner Falcon, Temminck's Lark, Greater Hoopoe-Lark & Red-rumped Wheatear it definitely was good to be back out here ..

The sunset over Tagdilt then it was a 2 hour drive towards Errachidia for a night at Auberge Tinit ..

7th January

Today was 5 hour round trip out east on the N10 which was a new region on the Morocco map and it was close enough to the Algeria border for Jono to get pigeon on his Ebird Algeria List on route were some good stops for photography using the car as a hide ..

We went out as far as Barrage Oued Zelmou before turning back a few stops along the way then on to the RN17 through Erfoud to our place for two nights at Riad Caravasar on the outer edge of the magnificent Erg Chebbi ...
8th January
Sunrise and we are at Yasmina sadly we left it to late and it was fully booked to stay here, this is the first time I've seen the lake either side of Yasmina, it was stunning with the dunes ...
Tisserdmine area was next we walked a vast wadi with Desert Wheatear & Greater Hoopoe-Lark best of, and then closer to the dunes at another ebird pin for Sandgrouse we tried a few sites throughout the trip failing to see crowned or spotted ..

The large lagoon south of Merzouga, Dayet Srij whilst the light was harsh produced 14 species in 90 minutes like Northern Shoveler, Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt & Greenshank we drove as much of the track around the lagoon as it has plenty of hidden bays worth taking a look at ..
9th January
An hour at first light hoping for some Sandgrouse to fly in at (31.184, -4.036), not visible from the main N13 road but its a very large flooded area, No grouse ... We did see 9 species ..

It was a 4 hour drive back towards Tagdilt for the afternoon light driving the tracks looking for photo opportunities, Red-rumped Wheatear & Temminck's Lark was most obliging ..

We were staying the night in Imiter at Nomadic Birdway, for a morning back out on Tagdilt ..

10th January

The owner Brahim of Nomadic Birdway asked to join us for the morning pre-breakfast session first out on Tagdilt, driving the many tracks but again it was the dump area which had the close birds for some photography ..

Brahim said he knew a location for Maghreb Wheatear at the Falcon Nest Escarpment, we tried here on our way out for PEOwl, this time we went down in to the wadi finding Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Lanner Falcon and Maghreb Wheatear ..

After breakfast we had another long drive towards our last nights accommodation staying at Maison d'Hotes Irocha, Tisseldei a small village at the base of the Atlas Mountains, its a good place to stop overnight ready for the drive over the pass the following morning ..
We stopped at a few places on route the best one was off the main N9 road turning onto the N10 then turning onto the P1505 which loops back to the N9, as mentioned in the Gosney Guide Book trying some great desert areas with the idea that we were just to early in the year finding 7 species in nearly 2 hours, Blue Rock Thrush & Maghreb Wheatear being the notables ..

11th January

Nice early breakfast, the pass was clear of snow so we started our way over, stopping many times, Aguelmouss was a good stop with notables like Black Wheatear, Crimson-winged Finch & Rock Bunting ..

Once over and down towards Marrakesh we tried a Ebird pin for Fulvous Chatterer at (31.571, -7.909) with no luck but we did see 34 Maghreb Magpie !!, Great Grey Shrike & Moussier's Redstart..

All that was left now was the drive to the airport ..

We failed to get 3 of our target birds Crowned & Spotted Sandgrouse more luck than anything else as we were in great habitat on a few occasions, so probably should of got a guide, and the other one we were to early for which was Atlas Wheatear ..

Finished the trip on 96 species ..
Morocco List is at 144 ..

They will have to wait until the next trip to Morocco ..

How to get Nicobar Pigeon on your List ?

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 12:01:00 +0000

Nicobar Pigeon ~ Thailand

To see this species actually turned out to be a lot easier than thought, get a boat out to the Similan Islands ...

In a nutshell that's basically it get yourself on the island ..

Go on-line with the many ticket selling companies like Viator or Tripadvisor or book direct ..

I travelled up the day before from Phangnag which was an hours drive to Khao Lak Pier or direct from Phuket Airport its only 2hrs 10 so its not that bad travel wise to get to Khao Lak Pier ..

My ticket was with Sawanu Travel located on the main road roughly 100 meters from Khao Lak Pier, cost was Tbt 2800 ~ £65 ..

Now as a birder you have to put up with the tourists and go along with the boat tour you have no choice, the tour is 4 islands, two of which are for snorkelling, the other two islands are 30 minutes and 90 minutes on each, Thankfully you get the 90 minutes on island No:4 which is Nicobar Central ..

So 07:30 on the morning of the 29th December, I did the check-in and got my wrist band to get me on the boat, Two boats, Two colours of wristbands and about 60 people on each boat, both were fully booked. My boat was due to leave at 08:30 but was good 30 minutes late, and its at least a 90 minute speedboat ride to the first island, I thought that maybe I might get Frigatebird or any bird would of been a bonus but absolutely nothing and the same went for the first snorkelling stop ..

Island No:8 ~ Ko Similan ~ My Ebird started at 10:27am was on the island for 56 minutes and noted 10 species, in the fenced off pond area were 2 Nicobar Pigeons and in the canopy were Green & Pied Imperial Pigeon, Oriental Cuckoo, Yellow-browed Warbler and Pacific Reef-Heron on the rocks ..

Island No:9 ~ Ko Ba Ngu ~ Ebird Started at 11:37am and was stationary with dropped anchor whilst the others did snorkelling I went up to top deck seeing only 2 species in 32 minutes a White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Grey-faced Buzzard ..

Island No:4 ~ Ko Miang ~ Ebird started at 12:31pm and I had well over 2 hours after lunch going between both camp sites looking for photo opportunities with the Nicobar.

Tip ... Save some rice in a tissue, sprinkle on the ground near some birds, take some photos ..

In total 11 species seen but it really was all about that Pigeon which actually was brilliant 7 birds in total, I had them literally walking around me and the benches, giving great views with 5 Green & 4 Pied in the canopy ..

I had the Nicobar Pigeons all to myself as rest of the many, many boats had people only interested in suntans & Selfies ...

On Island No:4 to find the Nicobar Pigeon just walk to the campsites at Had Yai and Had Lek once lunch is over and the people have moved away from the bench area at Had Yai its guaranteed they will be picking up the leftovers around the benches ..

Get Nicobar on your Thai or World List its easy ..

Southern Thailand ~ Dec' 20th ~ 31st - '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 09:42:00 +0000

Southern Thailand

December 20th ~ 31st - 2024

Flights were booked with China Eastern basically because they were only £1000 return which was 1200 cheaper than BA, these flights went via Shanghai with virtually 24 hr travelling before landing in Phuket ..

I didn't get any birding until the morning of the 22nd which started off at Nai Yang Beach then Sirinat NP as they were close to last nights hotel. A 20 minute drive north to Mai Khao which was a great area especially walking around the lagoon, a road goes all around it with tracks off at certain points all were good and produced species like Red Collared Dove, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Black Baza, Crested Goshawk & Forest Wagtail ..

The 23rd and I did another walk around the lagoon seeing 51 species before leaving the Phuket region and driving to Phangnga.

Kalai mangroves was my first stop possibly because it was midday but this was the worst site I tried of the entire trip onwards to Ao Phang-nga NP canopy Tower, Mangrove Road and the Harbour Road, the mangroves were tough going with not many species. Managed to get my one and only Ruddy Kingfisher down the Mangrove Road ..

Back for first light on the 24th at Mangrove Road before going for another try around Phang-nga Tower with Brown-winged Kingfisher above the entrance, I tried the Wang Mor Kaeng Park late morning which was such a changed from the hard going mangroves and noted 25 species here in 2 hrs ..

Another go around the tower trail & mangrove road still not finding Vireo and Broadbill before giving in and heading out of the Phang-nga region towards Krabi ..

It's the 25th and no sign that is xmas here which is exactly why I travel over this period, and first light I'm walking the Krabi Town Mangrove Boardwalk, a 1km walk out to a floating jetty this is where you get a boat either out to the Sandbars or the Mangrove Canals. I went out and back twice arranging a boat for 10am ..

Walked back out again and the boatman was waiting for me, it took about 15 minutes to get out to the beginning of the sandbars where there was 1000's of birds, we got stuck by grounding many times but it really wasn't a problem as the boatman quickly jumping in knee deep and pushed the boat off ..

Waders & Terns like 100's of Terek Sandpipers, Great Knot, Tibetan Sandpipers and Nordmann's Greenshank with Black-naped and both Crested Terns in 2 hrs noted 24 species ..

I drove whilst the light was harsh about an hour to Khao Pra-Bang Khram Wildlife Sanctuary walking a jungle track for 2 miles noting 19 species like Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, Eastern Crowned Warbler & Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker ..

Back to Khao Pra but a different track first thing just over 3 hrs and 3 miles produced 26 species like Red-billed Malkoha, Brown-backed Needletail and Purple-naped Spiderhunter ..

Back to Krabi for midday and I walked around Maritime Park Resort it was closed for renovations but I went in anyway for 80 minutes seeing 23 species ..

I yet again tried the Krabi mangrove trail failing to see either Vireo or Broadbill but at the jetty I got talking to another boatman and went out into the mangrove canals for 3 hrs covering 6 miles and producing 19 species like Green-billed Malkoha, Brown-winged & Black-capped Kingfishers ..

I arranged another boat trip for first light ..

The 27th and I'm at the jetty at the end of the mangrove trail, in the dark with two screeching Eastern Barn Owl's which had a fly around just as the light broke ..

The boat trip was 3 hrs and 7 miles with a total of 12 Brown-winged & 3 Black-capped Kingfishers and I also found a roosting Grey Nightjar ..

Then I tried Khao Phanom Bencha NP this was a great site not to busy, its another waterfall and streams set in the jungle I stayed here for over 3 hrs trying a few times for Forktail but still had some good birds like Brown-backed Needletail, Blue-eared & Golden-whiskered Barbet and Ochraceous Bulbul ..

I drove out of the Krabi region and back to Phangnga ..

The 28th and at first light i'm back in the Wang Mor Kaeng Park and in 3 hrs I found some good birds with 32 species in total, Large Green-Pigeon, Yellow Bittern, Banded Woodpecker & Blue Whistling Thrush ..

I tried a few sites on route but it was really just about getting to Khao Lak Pier which took about 90 minutes, I sat drinking a coffee whilst it rained, watching the boats and mentioned I had come to the area to try and get a ticket for the boat trip tomorrow, I can arrange that she said and 10 minutes later it was booked ..
I next booked my hotel for the night now I had a boat ticket, then drove to Lam Ru NP - Ton Chong Fa Waterfall trying again for the Forktail unsuccessfully but I did see Red-billed Malkoha & Great Hornbill, 90 minutes and only 7 species ..
My hotel for the night was actually a tent at Sawasdee Lagoon Resort, I arrived with about an hour of daylight left and soon realised it held great potential and should of had more time here but that was just not possible, 13 species best being 2 Pin-tailed Snipe feeding in the long grass on the football pitch ..
Up early on the 29th and did the 30 minute drive to Khao Lak Pier, checked in, grabbed a coffee and then waited, it was easily 30 minutes later than planned to board the boat and still had a 90 minute journey to the first island. I read a blog saying they saw nothing on their journey and that was exactly what I saw, absolutely nothing both out & back ..
The first island was just for snorkelling, I went up to top deck for the 30 minutes and saw ... Nothing .. Although I did see a whole new level of selfie taking by Asian couples where the boyfriend basically was a photo/video slave if he didn't do a good job he had to do it multiple times before she was happy ..
Next Island No:8 which I had an hour on the island seeing 10 species and the bird the trip was for, Nicobar Pigeon, 2 of them were in a fenced off pond area, also Green Imperial Pigeon, Pied Imperial Pigeon and Oriental Cuckoo before getting back on the boat ..
Next island No:9 was another snorkelling stop but I did see Grey-faced Buzzard from the upper deck ..
The main event .. !! Island No:4 and even though I had already seen Nicobar it was all about getting some photos, 2 hours on the island produced 11 species ... 4 Pied, 5 Green all flight views in the canopy and 7 Nicobar Pigeons all picking up peoples food spillages between the benches ..
Another 90 minute boat ride back to the mainland seeing nothing, I then booked a hotel near Chalong Reservoir in Phuket a 2 hr 30 drive, arriving to a cancelled hotel booking !! Booked another 30 minutes away only to arrive to yet another cancelled booking, i've been staying in £30 a night max nicely adequate places now i've had to book a night for £107 and it was an absolute dive in Phuket, The worst i've stayed in ever !! but after over 5 hours I'd had enough, the smell and falling down ceiling I just put up with ..
Sherry's Guest House ~ Is one to avoid .....
The 30th and not surprisingly I was up early and out, Khlong Kata Reservoir and surroundings was my first stop, the smaller lakes near to the reservoir were much more productive with 34 species for the area in 2 hrs like Lesser Whistling Duck, Great Myna and Blue Rock Thrush ..
I tried a few other sites before ending up at Bang Pae Waterfall way to busy but Grey-rumped Treeswift & Grey-faced Buzzard nearby were nice before heading for the airport ..
A total of 145 species for the trip ...

Goa, India ~ 5th/13th Nov '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 20:51:00 +0000

Goa, India ~ 5th/13th November '24

After searching for flights & hotel separately it turns out the best way was to book a package deal with Tui, the flights were direct and I choose the cheapest hotel as I would only be staying in it a few nights, it was Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim.

I booked 3 nights/4 days at Backwoods Camp, Surla for some Western Ghats species, contacted Loven via his website & Whatsapp, transferred the deposit and paid the balance once at the camp.

The flight out from Gatwick was scheduled for 20:55 but a 3 hour delay now has wiped out my first afternoons birding, so by the time I actually arrived at my hotel on the 6th it meant 30 minutes of daylight. A walk to the beach which had more people than grains of sand and I quickly returned back up the road to the bar.

7th November

Pick up was 05:30, Loven had arranged a taxi and the 90 minute journey was for the most part in the dark. I met up with Loven who had a group of 7 birders he was guiding and I joined them at Dharbandora walking a road through jungle for an hour, 14 species with notables like Malabar Barbet, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Flameback, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Flame-throated Bulbul & Golden-fronted Leafbird.

A short drive to Tambdi Surla Temple for another hour mainly at a small farm near the temple which had Asian Green Bee-eater, Blyth's Reed Warbler & Eurasian Hoopoe. Nearby on a jungle track Loven took us to his known site and after a few minutes of wondering what for, a look in his scope revealed a Sri Lanka Frogmouth ..

Back to the camp for breakfast, then a walk on the approach track to the camp surrounded by jungle with a few open areas with notables like Vernal Hanging Parrot, Greenish Warbler, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon & Western Crowned Warbler before returning back to the camp as the middle of the day was to hot and bird activity was low !! ... So while the others did whatever like played cards or slept, I went out birding as the jungle canopy gave a bit of shade and obviously there were birds about like Orange-headed Thrush, Jungle Babbler, Grey-breasted Prinia, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Little Swift & Nilgiri Flowerpecker.

Reuben arrived whilst eating my lunch at the camp, he was Loven's brother and would be my guide so we went off leaving the group with Loven and tried an area out to the river known to be good and it was 27 species in 90 minutes with Malabar Pied Hornbill, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Brown-headed Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Ashy Woodswallow, White-rumped Shama, Tickell's Blue flycatcher, Loten's Sunbird and the star bird Blue-eared Kingfisher ....

Reuben emphasised that we didn't want to be in the jungle in the dark as the light was fading we made our way back to the car and back to camp for dinner & beers. Then it was time to head to my shack all the main rooms were taken by the group and it was me that had definitely drew the short straw. The shower, toilet and basin all leaked quite badly which was easy to deal with just shut the mains off but the moisture in the shack was running down the walls and even the bed was damp to get in and sleep. There was also plenty of friends sharing my damp shack, a frog on the cistern, a gecko in the shower, a big millipede, a slug & to many winged blood suckers that fed on me all night ..

8th November

Didn't sleep well, really cold in the night with just a sheet and that buzzing of mosquitoes drives you crazy, I got up early and went to the dining room waiting for coffee & biscuits at 6:00am.

We all did 3 hours out on the approach track to the camp, some good birding with 43 species in total and the notables were Pied Cuckoo, Indian Swiftlet, Crested Treeswift, Booted Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Black-rumped Flameback, Malabar Parakeet, Indian White-eye, Malabar Starling, Verditer Flycatcher & Little Spiderhunter before returning back to camp for breakfast.

A fish farm was our next location for an hour viewing from quite a distance on the limits of 8x bin's for the fish ponds but with two scopes available if needed and some species circled over head the notables here were Asian Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Crested Honey-buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle & Wire-tailed Swallow. We made our way back to the camp for lunch, at the entrance to the camp were Malabar Grey Hornbill, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Black-naped Monarch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch & Malabar Whistling-Thrush.

Once lunch was over the group played cards or slept, again I went out birding just exploring tracks etc off the main entrance track and totalled 17 species in an hour with notables of Malabar Flameback, Jungle Owlet, Green Warbler, Dark-fronted Babbler & White-bellied Blue Flycatcher ..

I was back at camp for 15:30, Reuben & I went and walked a road out passed Murge to Aglote and back again, one side of the road was jungle the other farmland, it was a good 2 hours of great birds with 29 species in total with the likes of Changeable Hawk-eagle, Great Hornbill, Rufous Treepie, Scaly-breasted Munia, Bluethroat, Black-hooded Oriole & Blue-bearded Bee-eater ..

On the way back to camp we stopped off to a known area and walked out to a clearing in the jungle, Reuben said keep the torch aimed at the ground for snakes like Pit Viper & Cobra until we get there, unfortunately there wasn't any snakes but in the torch beam were Jungle Nightjar and Indian Scops Owl, then dinner back at the camp before another night in my shack ..

9th November

Up extra early today coffee & biscuits at 05:30 then an hours drive to Bondla, first stopping at Ganjem Junction and Ganjeshwari Temple at 06:50 with just over 2 hours of birding walking the road from the small village to the temple and back, some good birds here with a total of 50 species with many notables like Asian Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, Malabar Imperial Pigeon, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Brown-headed Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Common Woodshrike, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Indian Yellow Tit, Dusky Crag Martin & White-browed Wagtail ..

We went in to the small village for breakfast, the local food which really is so good, samosa, potato bhaji & chickpea curry with a coffee, some opted out and had a cheese sandwich !!

Next it was up into Bondla now that the gates are open, walking in parts of the forest and along some parts of the road for another 2 hours 23 species with notables of Speckled Piculet, Forest Wagtail, Large-billed Leaf Warbler & Brown-breasted Flycatcher ..

Then it was the drive back to camp for lunch.

I birded again upto 15:30 just on the approach road tracks for just over an hour racking up 15 species with some good notables of Rufous Treepie, Asian Palm swift & Red Spurfowl.

Reuben suggested we try Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary which is a dead-end road so you drive out for a few kilometers and back, we did part way before turning around which still took 80 minutes and the notables were Crested Serpent-Eagle, Malabar Barbet, Forest Wagtail & White-Bellied Woodpecker ..

Stopped at a road-side football pitch near Tambdi and in the torch beam was Jerdon's Nightjar on the crossbar with one in flight.

Back to camp for dinner and my last night in the shack..

10th November

Reuben had the job of taking me back to my hotel in Candolim, via some stops on route, I asked him if he fancied some more birding for the next few days and the deal was done ..

First stop was Tambdi Surla Temple for just over 2 hours trying without success to get into the forest with all paths blocked, so went to the open area of farmland, heard Asian Fairy Bluebird & Indian Scimitar Babbler yet again but just couldn't see either.

A few good notables were in the 20 species like Puff-throated Babbler, White-cheeked Barbet, Yellow-throated Sparrow & Orange-headed Thrush ..

Back to camp for breakfast before finally heading off from Backwoods Camp, really liked it here great habitat which produced some brilliant birds, camp food & local food was fantastic and it was wonderful being away from westerners for a few days ..

Raitollem Lake was the next stop 14 species in 30 minutes like Lesser Whistling-Duck, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Grey-headed Swamphen, Bronze-winged Jacana & Oriental Darter.

Next was Church Lake, Curtorim 20 species in 30 minutes like Asian Openbill, Lesser Adjutant, Paddyfield Pipit & Siberian Stonechat ..

After some lunch we went to Carambolim Lake & surroundings such a massive area that you cannot possibly cover it in a few days let alone an afternoon, it was probably one of my favourite sites as it had a bit of everything, Lakes, wetlands, farmland & forest and in just under 3 hours racked up 59 species with notables like Black-crowned Night Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Osprey, Brown Boobook & Amur Falcon ..

Dropped off back at my original hotel Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim, although probably 2 star if you squinted after a few beers it may get 3 stars but a nice big bed & hot shower that I was so happy about it was more like 5 stars compared to my shack ..

11th November

Reuben picked me up at 06:00 for a 45 minute drive up to Morjim Beach, a short walk out and I could already see waders & gulls flying around .. Why ? .. Well the usual dog walkers ..

But the sunrising was rather nice ..

An hour & 20 minutes produced 31 species with notables like Tibetan & Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Brown-headed Gull, Heuglin's Gull, Lesser & Greater Crested Tern, Gull-billed Tern, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Amur Falcon, Alexandrine Parakeet & Spot-breasted Fantail.

The plan had been to get a boat out to the sand bar to get closer but the bar had very little on it..

Next was Pernem, parked on the bridge and viewed both sides, either side was part cultivated and partly flooded with a river running through both, an hour here racked up 37 species like Small Pratincole, Cinnamon Bittern, Pied Kingfisher, White-naped Woodpecker, Long-tailed Shrike, Indian Blackbird, Baya Weaver & Tricoloured Munia ..

Stopped for some breakfast and this is what Me & Reuben had 2 Samosas, 2 Bhaji, 2 Chickpea Curry, 1 Sausage Roll, 2 Bread, Pepsi & Coffee and 2 large bottles of water ...

All this lot for £2.40 !!

Now thats value for money ..

Next stop was Salvador do Mundo Fields and in 40 minutes had a total of 14 species like Asian Koel, Black-winged Stilt, Grey Plover, Asian Whoolly-necked Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Indian Roller & Jungle Myna ..

Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary was the next location to try, it was mid-afternoon, very hot, and even the guides in the office said don't bother it's to hot you won't see anything, it was a kilometer walk out through the mangroves and it was much cooler under the canopy.

In just over an hour a total of 16 species which is 16 more than the guides suggested I would see, like Striated Heron, Spot-breasted Fantail, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher & Clamorous Reed Warbler.

The plan was that from Salim Ali to catch the ferry across to the next location Divar Island for Larks & Buntings etc but the ferry was closed so it meant a longer drive to a different location stopping on route at Tikhazan-Narve Marshes (West) it was a short 15 minute recce which racked up 12 species, best of were Paddyfield Pipit & Blue-faced Malkoha.

The end of the day was finished off back at Carambolim Lake due to the non-running ferry, 15 species in 30 minutes.

The evening meal was just down from my hotel at Inferno Restaurant and was definitely my best meal of the trip.

It was Kaju Khumb Curry & Kashmiri Naan which was cashew and mushroom curry, the naan was fruit filled with coconut sprinkled over with a few beers.

12th November

Early pick up to arrive at Agacaim Tidal Mudflats for first light, parked on the bypass and walked a short distance between some cultivated flooded fields out onto the beach, 28 species seen in an hour between the two areas, beach & Floods with notables like Garganey, Little Ringed Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Temminck's Stint, Slender-billed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Asian Openbill and Dusky Crag Martin ..

On-route was a quick look in to Batim Lake for 10 minutes, 100's of birds but only 4 species and Pheasant-tailed Jacana was best of them ..

Just after 09:00am and its another try at Carambolim Lake, parking in Karmali village and walking between the floods at Mandur, in 2 hours it produced 41 species and the notables are Greater Coucal, White Stork, Osprey, Plain Prinia, Purple Heron, Shikra, Jungle Owlet, White-cheeked Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback and Jerdon's Leafbird ..

My plan was to bird one of the Plateau's for Larks etc but Reuben asked for the afternoon off so I said drop me at Fort Aguada it was midday and really very hot, I did have a walk around the Fort but found one of the street vendors had a tent with seating so I had some food & a coffee, and ventured out again, not really finding much and I was beginning to think my choice of location was a bad one but I retreated to the tent for more liquid refreshment.

Once it had slightly cooled down a bit I walked basically the way out for cars to where the boats and Trailers are in the trees, this area was where I had most of the 31 species and some quality notables like Amur Falcon, Asian Koel, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Lesser Cuckoo, Coppersmith Barbet, Indian Cuckooshrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Common Woodshrike, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo & Black-naped Monarch and most annoyingly I heard White-Browed Bulbul but couldn't actually see it ..

I was going to stay here until dusk as their was plenty of birds & taxis but they were all waiting for people they had dropped off earlier, The vendor rang his uncle, 10 minutes later I was in a taxi heading for my hotel, showered and back in the Inferno Restaurant for the same again Cashew & Mushroom Curry and a couple of beers as this was my last night ..

13th November

Extra early start as it was a 45 minute drive to get to Cortalim Jetty for 06:20, this was for Kamat Birding Boat trip in the mangroves on the Zuari River, boats are generally good for photography as the birds aren't to bothered by the boat.

I made sure to board quickly and grabbed the front seat, the boat only takes about a dozen people and as payback for getting the prime seat I had the annoying women behind me, oh what joy !!

Machine gun shutter, distance no issue, it seemed the further the bird was away more shots were needed, every shot was a beautiful shot and how many times can the boat reverse for a Common Kingfisher none were even remotely close to the boat but she still insisted it was a beautiful shot ..

Nearly 3 hours racked up 36 species with some good notables like Painted Stork, Western Reef-Heron, B-CN Heron, Striated Heron, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Collared Kingfisher and the star bird that most people come on the boat for Black-capped Kingfisher ..!!

From the boat it was a dash to the airport an hour away, not to much traffic and Reuben got me there with time to spare ..

I really enjoyed birding Goa, the photography was harder than I expected it to be but the birds made up for it ..

Finished the trip on 210 species with 92 new birds !!

To contact Loven at Backwoods Camp ..

will add website at a later date as its blocked

To contact Reuben at Goa Birding ..

goabirding@hotmail.com

Mexico ~ Yucatan Peninsula ~ 9th/14th Oct '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 07:12:00 +0000

Back to Mexico with Jono for the Yucatan Peninsula

Flights were with British Airways from Gatwick to Cancun, flew out on the 9th October landing early evening with a drive down to Playa del Carmen, ready for Cozumel in the morning ..

10th October

Got the ferry over to Cozumel Island and rented a car trying various sites from Ebird before El Cedral giving up Cozumel Emerald & Western Spindalis as the standouts amongst loads of quality birds.

Birding all day trying many different sites when late afternoon Jono found Cozumel Vireo along a track near 35 Calle 31 Sur.

October 11th

Arrived at Camino Akumal it was just getting light, we walked various parts of the track finding 34 species in just over an hour before moving on to the lagoon & temple sites of Coba finding 38 species like Trogons, Woodcreepers & Crakes ..

October 12th

Yet another brilliant track we walked for 2 hours from first light at Ejido San Salvador, Rio Lagartos finding 56 species and notables like Black-throated Bobwhite, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Laughing Falcon & Yucatan Wren ..

Returning back to our hotel for breakfast and birding from the terrace whilst eating was nice with 22 species ..

We birded at least another half a dozen sites like Salinas las Coloradas, beaches nearby & Rancho El Paraiso ..

October 13th

Again back on the track at Ejido San Salvador for first light with 47 species then back for breakfast on the terrace. Then a few sites around Valladolid.

October 14th

Started the day off at the new Felipe Carrillo Puerto Airport, On a side road and the approach road it felt a little uncomfortable birding here for me as if we shouldn't be here but its a known site and the birding was good producing some notables like Lesson's Motmot, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed Toucan & Olive-sided Flycatcher 30 species in total.
Next was Muyil the roads opposite the archaeological site was great birding last time and were even better this visit notables being Squirrel Cuckoo, Barred Antshrike, Masked Tityra, Black-headed & Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, we then walked the boardwalk section of Muyil as the actual site is closed for building works.

Form here we went on to our final hotel, Wakax Hacienda a bit pricey but the grounds are excellent for birding and the room was amazing. Nice leisurely birding with stops for wine at the bar every now and then was more than acceptable whilst getting some quality birds Neotropic Cormorant, Collared Forest-Falcon, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper & Indigo Bunting with a total of 36 species.

October 15th

Birded the grounds again first thing totalling 32 species before some breakfast then it was the drive to the airport for the return flight home ..
Trip total of 200 species ..

Iceland ~ 8th to 15th June - '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 18:44:00 +0000

Booked a week in Iceland with British Airways including a car from 8th to 15th June, stayed the Friday evening at The Thistle Hotel, Heathrow for a 07:15 Saturday morning take-off. I just booked flights & car with no accomodation, so I could book on the day depending on where I ended up ..

Saturday 8th

With a flight time of under 3 hours and efficient passport control it wasn't long before I was paying extra for full insurance for car hire, this is something I would recommend as they will get you for stone chips, scuffs and water ingress if your stupid enough to try a river crossing in a car and yes I met a couple a few years ago from Korea who's car went floating down the river.

First stop was for the long-staying W-W-Scoter near Keflavik Airport at Njarovik Bay, I had a good hour or so around the bay area racking up 24 species but No sign of the Scoter.

Then on to Tjornin Ponds in Reykjavik and found 2 pairs of Greater Scaup they seem quite reliable here so I gambled on better light later in the week but still had a few frames ..

Time to head north and get some miles down so got on the ring-road 1 for 2+ hours before stopping at the N1 services at Borgarnes for Jackfruit burger & Fries before driving one of my favorite roads the 540 which turned out to be hard work as i'm guessing this year the breeding season must be a bit late as most of the normal species didn't even seem paired up yet.

I drove right up to the snaefellsnes Peninsula and crossed over via the 56 and headed towards Stykkisholmur, trying the few km's of the 577 with no luck, this is normally a good road for certain species.

It was now nearly 10pm and I hadn't booked any hotels yet so headed for the hostel in Stykkisholmur, which has been taken over and not a hostel anymore, so booking.com and 100m up the road I got booked in with a room for the night.

Sunday 9th

I was up and out by 04:00am and back on the 577 it wasn't long before I found some Red-throated Divers.

I tried my luck with them for a couple of hours and gave in and went back for breakfast.
After breakfast I drove the long route around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula out on the 577 towards Grundarfjordur a few small stops along the way but this was my first longer stop around the harbour before stopping at Kirkjufell, I wasn't having much luck with bird photography, a site for Harlequin near Olafsvik always has birds at the river mouth but they were just not interested and stayed distant. I drove the 574 all the way round with nothing to stop for before trying the stacks at Arnarstapi for Auks primarily Brunnich's which i've seen here in previous years but No Auks at all..
Normally early June is perfect but is seems the birds are late starters this year ..
The southern road of the peninsula was just as bad with a few stops before getting on the 56 back over the pass. I decided that with not much luck on my normally good photographic roads to push on north as far as I could towards Husavik but driving some of the tracks rather than the faster main ring road, so it was the 54, 60, 59 & 68 before joining the the ring-road,  I also had a detour for an Ivory Gull that was seen very recently but couldn't find it.
I stayed the night near Blonduos.
Monday 10th
Out early at 4am heading for Husavik, on the ring-road, Over the higher ground it was snow covered and the lower meadows & ploughed fields had 100's of Pink-feet with young, I still made Husavik before 8am and stayed for an hours birding around the harbour with the usual species.
Next stop was Laxa Bridge a quick recce before deciding where I was going to give it a try first which was down river from the bridge ..

The recent snow fall and subsequent melt had the Laxa River flowing fast and high, just under the bridge from the car park is a small beach with a bit of slack water and I staked it out for awhile..
The light was now quite harsh so had a complete recce around Myvatn trying to find a location for the evening session, it needed to be on the western side looking easterly for the best light, starting the 2nd lap past Laxa bridge and passing a few places again which looked promising but I needed to eat so stopped at Reykjahlio before back tracking to Vindbelgur, set the rig up and got myself low down on the black volcanic beach with birds at distance but making their way in to the slack water of the bay.

The light was fantastic, the lake was like a mirror with no breeze so I decided I would try again tomorrow evening and set-up better, so moved further south to the next bay, more Scoter and Long-tailed Duck but all very distant except for a Great Northern Diver cruising the shoreline which was joined by another four and all five came past close in before drifting out in the massive Myvatn..

I booked a hotel when I got back to the car and a short drive around to Reykjahlio staying at Vogahraun 4 ..

Tuesday 11th

Up early & out again, I tried many tracks leading off the main roads around Myvatn, and once I had done the complete loop around Myvatn, I tried some of the better tracks again, nothing was close enough for the camera and birding was typically difficult.

Redwing's are everywhere if you cannot see one, you can definitely hear one, but getting one isolated wasn't easy ..
Myvatn and the river Laxa seemed birdless virtually for the camera, So I went further out basically birding and running the clock down for the evening session back at Myvatn.
The rest of the morning and all the afternoon was hard work, and the evening session just didn't go as planned either, the light was fantastic again like last night but tonight had a breeze which made the water surface a bit choppy in all the bays on the western side of Myvatn and none of last nights birds were there ..
A few times I drove up & down the western side before giving up and headed for the bird trail 2.3km walk out from the cafe as the sun was going down and then off to my hotel.

Wednesday 12th

Having never driven the north-eastern part of the ring road it seemed like a good opportunity, so put my hoped for finally destination for the day of Vik in google maps and at nearly 8 hours driving it was definitely going to be a long day ..
A couple of stops along the way to add Rock Dove & Great Skua to the list, some breakfast (muesli in a car park) before yet again trying for the mighty Vestrahorn last time I was here a few years ago now it was completely surrounded by mist and not visible at all, only giving myself a few hours meant I never got to see it.
This time I still really only had a few hours at most but was teased with the bottom half !!

Next time fingers crossed it will be all of it with the Aurora Borealis above it, if your planning a trip google "Vestrahorn" then you will see why it should be on your trip list ..
I added a distant Ring-necked Duck out on the Hofn point before another 2 hours on the road to Jokulsarlon Lagoon & Diamond Beach, its a tourist hotspot and getting here in the middle of the day is not ideal as its full of humans 1000's of em, if you can time it better for like 4am when most are still asleep do it .. I was hoping for Eiders on the iceberg's and the crazy beach full of iceberg's neither happened ..!!

Hofskirkja Church, the last turf roof church c.1884, since my last visit they've added white crosses which I managed to position myself to get them out of frame ..

By the time I eventually got to Vik it was early evening, a quick stop for a booking.com search for the evening meant a bit more driving further west for another 30 minutes to Skogafoss for a well earned nights sleep ..

Thursday 13th

Out early as breakfast wasn't till 7 and I had two hours to kill in the rain, yes it turned out to be utterly pointless, no birds and one of the sites was closed for the breeding season at Dyrholeay, by the time I got back and loaded the car it was 7 so it all worked out ..
The plan was to stop at Floi Reserve but the rain was still heavy and the forecast was better further west, so with no real luck so far with Slavonian's I tried a site near Reykjavik and was amazed to find at least 9 pairs, two pairs already had built nests, with one pair choosing to build 5 meters from the path. Forecast was decent for the evening and even better for tomorrow evening, I now had a plan so went off firstly to Sandgeroi then Gardur Lighthouse before returning back for the evening, watching the behaviour of the Slavonian Grebe's with the inevitable territorial disputes ..

Once the light had completely gone, I packed up thinking how tomorrow here could possibly pan out before booking a hotel for the night in the city, checked in and walked out for a restaurant only to find the massive Hallgrimskirkja Church at the end of the road ..

A bowl of soup, slice of Rye & two beers later with £27 gone !!
It was time for bed ..

Friday 14th

Wasn't in a rush to get out as it was all about the evening session, so had breakfast at the hotel then went for another try for the Greater Scaup photos at Tjornin Ponds light was awful ..

I had another try at Njarovik Ponds for the White-winged Scoter, stopping for a coffee at the services and returning back to the car with a glance over to the pools and it was there, asleep out in the middle I scrambled to get the camera set-up, got in position and a fire engine with sirens going spooked it and off it went, so far out in the bay that I couldn't find it ..

Back towards Sandgeroi and I drove the road 45, up to the lighthouse at Gardur then out to Hafnir and back a couple of times.

At Hafnarfjorour I had amongst the usual species a Common Moorhen and at Gardi Ponds was a Ring-necked Duck.
Knowing I would be with the Grebe's till late I stopped off for dinner first before heading for the lake.
From the car park I had a walk on the southern side out to the trees just checking that I wasn't missing a better option for Grebe pairs on my return I had Common Sandpiper briefly fly in momentarily before heading off along the southern side.
Once back at the car I tried submitting to Ebird, turns out it's a rare bird for Iceland and it wasn't long before the local birders arrived trying to find it. The Common Sandpiper has only been recorded 13 times, not realising just how important it was I carried on and set-up back in the same spot as last night and began, watching, waiting and seeing some fantastic behaviour between the pair of Slavonian Grebe's ..

The next few hours was brilliant to witness the bond & behaviour of this pair that I concentrated on, the male spent his time adding weed to the nest or chasing off intruders.
When it another species he dived and came up underneath possibly grabbing a foot as the bird freaked with shock and moved away.
There were two other pairs nearby and the male kept the rival males in check, firstly by a defensive posture of laying flat against the water level, moving towards the rival with a quick burst of speed would normally be enough to retreat the rival, otherwise it went to full on attack ..

Nest change overs were roughly every 45 minutes, the bird would carefully get on with their clumsy approach, check & move the contents before settling down, the bird on the water would wash and preen before moving away ..

The female's posture (below) a submissive gesture waiting for the male to approach ..

Mating took place only once in the time I was there, and the pair thankfully were perfectly side on ..

I stayed until the light went with the sun dropping behind the hill.
What a fantastic way to finish the trip on ...

I finished on 68 species for the week ..

I also saw Arctic Fox, Long-finned Pilot Whale and Reindeer ..

My last hotel was close to the airport for an early flight back to the U.K ..
I fancy a mid-winter visit next time ...

Lake Kerkini & Lailias Ski Resort ~ Greece ~ April 4th - 7th .. '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 17:44:00 +0000

Got a flight & car package with British Airways and a hotel down at the dam end of the lake, the drive from Thessaloniki airport to the hotel took nearly two hours arriving just after 10pm.

Up early on Friday 5th and began driving to various sites around the lake in a anti-clockwise direction and after a few hours at different sites the realization that the birding and photography was going to be much harder than i was expecting ..

These are the sites from Gosney & Ebird that I visited multiple times especially on the eastern side of the lake to the drainage channel approaching from different tracks each time ..

I tried a boat trip which was disappointing even at 8 euros the skipper just went straight through the massive raft of cormorants putting them all up with some pelicans, the rest of the tourists on the boat thought this was fantastic obviously the boat then drifted for five minutes before returning to dock ..

I then made my way down the western side of the lake ..

I managed 72 species for the first day which I was more than happy with and there was some great birds like Ferruginous Duck, Little Crake, Hen Harrier, Black Kite, Penduline Tit, Marsh Sandpiper, Black Stork, Short-toed Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Quail and both the Pelicans ..

Saturday 6th

I tried the drainage channel as the light direction was perfect but approaching a small run-off ditch from the hot spring water which i'd driven a few times already gave way and the car was now grounded with the passenger wheel just spinning, an hour later, after jacking up the car and making a ramp out of bricks & blocks I finally got it out ..

After that little bit of drama I decided to head up to Lailias Ski Resort an hours drive and once out of Serres the scenery on route and then up Mount Lailias was great ..

The light for photography was already harsh by the time I was nearing the resort but the birding was good ..

I tried a couple of locations for Rock Partridge as per Gosney and stopped on the way down scanning nice rocky slopes but unfortunately couldn't see any but I did have some good birds like Wryneck, Woodlark, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Marsh Tit, Crossbill & Common Rock Thrush ..

Back at the lake mid-afternoon trying the drainage channel before heading to Strymonas Bridge on the northern side driving out east photo targets were still hard work but 5 Tawny Pipits & an Ortolan Bunting were nice to find before they flew off ..

I also went back to the harbour hoping to find Vasilis but was given the run-around and gave up ..

Later at the restaurant after a nice meal & a couple of beers I found him on Facebook and sent a message, back at the hotel, batteries charged, showered and now asleep, I was woken by a strange buzzing it was my phone ringing and it was Vasilis, he was 300km away but he had arranged with a friend of his Nick Gallios for me to be on his boat in the morning, a few messages later and it was all sort, now i'm wide awake and can't go back to sleep and I need to be at the boat for 6:45 am ..

Sunday 7th

It felt like I got next to no sleep and i've got a 20 minute drive to the boat but arrive with 15 minutes to spare it was just getting light and looked like it was going to be a good day ..

Nick arrived with three other clients for the boat ..

So I know its really the wrong time of year for pelican photography, winter is best as they are in breeding plumage but it was a great trip out and Nick knew exactly what we all wanted out of our photography and where to position the boat ..

The 800 5.6 was definitely a bit to much focal length, and the others had nice silent mirrorless bodies and my 1dx mkII sounded like a sledge hammer but it was so good on the boat for the birds ..

The 3 hour boat trip was great both Pelicans, Spoonbill, White-tailed Eagle, Black-winged Stilt, Ruff and Med Gull were the notables and more Great Cormorant than you can possibly imagine ..

I decided to get the two hour drive done so I was closer to the airport and headed for Kalochori Lagoon another really good site which I drove around and checked out all the areas ..

Notables here were Marsh & Wood Sandpiper, Slender-billed Gull and Little Owl ..

Total species for the trip 111 not to shabby at all ..

Definitely going for a winter visit ..

Fuerteventura .. Feb 29th ~ Mar 3rd - '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:44:00 +0000

I got a good flight & car deal with British Airways, then an apartment with Booking.com which all came to £280 could of even had a cheaper deal with a hotel further from my main location saving £60 but location and restaurants etc was worth the extra staying in Villaverde ..

The plan was to stay mainly in the northern part around Tindaya and photograph the desert species which I did have success at up to a point, and this was hindered by being overcast in the mornings & evenings ..

Actually finding the birds, knowing they are in the area was hard enough and then needing them close to the tracks when the light was good proved even more difficult ..

Area's that I tried were ..

Tindaya, morning & evening everyday ..

Barranco de la Muley, Salinas del Carmen, Barranco Puerto de los Molinos, Embalse de los Molinos, Barranco Esquinzo, Corralejo PNat ..

Fuerteventura Stonechat was easy at Barranco Puerto de los Molinos with a pair next to the car park with a convenient restaurant here as well ..

From here instead of going back on the main road I suggest taking the track which goes up literally beside the restaurant and eventually crosses Tindaya, the track runs through stepped areas that are worked either side of the track with at least 4+ more pairs of Chats ..

Only found two Stone Curlews which were by the main crossroad near Tindaya ..

Small flocks of Mediterranean Short-toed Lark were at most of the sites I visited ..

Great Grey Shrike (koenigi) were not bothered by the car at all, to close to focus on at times just couldn't get a bird in a nice setting..

Houbara Bustard were easiest near the crossroad as per Gosney drive through the village on the main road which leads out towards the crossroad, a male & two females which were seen everyday both morning & evening visits, but never as a trio, two females together and the male alone ..

Others were seen 13 in total but not nice, close steady viewing as around the lead up to the crossroad ..

Cream-coloured Courser, I found 5 birds about 1km along the track at the crossroads which leads to Los Molinos, 3 just run and didn't stop running and two were so close I didn't even see them, eventually they moved to a focusing distance for the camera, defiantly not often you can say that ..

The last evening was beautiful light and I drove all the main tracks on Tindaya finding nothing close so drove tracks out west towards the coast but still no luck ..

Really enjoyable long weekend and one I would easily do again, cheap and a good calendar filler in between trips ..

The Gambia & Senegal ~ January 5th-12th - '24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 18:31:00 +0000

Booked a package deal with Tui as it was direct flights & hotel for under £800 and used the hotel as a base for a few days ..

Had a guide for the whole trip which was £700 each plus another £150 each for Senegal more on this later !!

You have to pay 20 $ or Euro to enter the country and again to leave, make sure you have 1000 Dalasi when returning to the airport as this is far cheaper than the 20$ ..

So having planned this trip with Jono L we met up at the check in desk on the Friday afternoon of the 5th January and finally got the trip underway, 6 hours later we were met at the airport by our guide who dropped us off at Hotel Palm Beach probably a 1 star hotel but it did the job being literally next to Koto Creek ..

January 6th

Next morning after breakfast our guide met us at 07:30am we did a 1 minute drive not kidding to Koto Creek Bridge and the birding got underway ..

Koto Creek was very productive as the tide was out and the mud was exposed so we had a few species of wader, herons, hirundines & kingfishers, then we went out onto the nature trail we had a total of 49 species in less than two hours ..

Notable were White-faced Whistling-Duck, Giant Kingfisher & Fine-spotted Woodpecker ..

Next stop as we headed towards Tendaba was at Farasuto Forest NR there's a drinking pool to attract the birds in which we gave 30 minutes to then a walk out through the forest to a wetland area we had 31 species in two hours ..

Notable species Guinea Turaco, White-backed Night Heron & Greyish Eagle Owl ..

Another stop was at Pirang Forest NR with a couple of short walks producing 13 species and the local forest guide taking us straight to the star birds ..

Notables here Northern White-faced Owl, Verreaux's Owl & African Green Pigeon ..

From here we were taken to the guide's Photography hide which for most people it would probably be good but having done quite a few Photo hides in other countries this particular set-up was awful for photography as no thought had gone into backgrounds, perches, pools or drinking areas we gave it 30 minutes had 9 species and moved on ..

Both Me & Jono were hungry so we asked the guide to stop for food so at the next village we were treated to bread, banana's & water, total definitely cost under £1 and trust me you probably wouldn't want to take a chance on eating much else from the road side stalls, so the food throughout the day to get us by was the above basically bread & water ..!!

Back to it, stopped again after a couple more hours driving at Kampanti Raptor Bridge, the light was nice and getting better as it was 4:30pm and this stop was a small wetland.

We had 22 species here and notable were Stone Partridge, Lizard Buzzard, Grasshooper Buzzard & Pearl-spotted Owlet ..

We arrived at Tendaba Camp with the daylight quickly fading so did a recce out by the jetty, then had a couple of beers & something much nicer than just bread for dinner ..

January 7th

Breakfast was at 07:00am, then it was out to the jetty for our boat trip through the mangrove which stopped halfway and we all had a walk out to a massive wetland which was viewed at distance, the walk out & back to the boat was good for species, but the boat was better in total we had 57 species in just under 3 hours ..
Notable species were Goliath Heron, Spur-winged Goose & African Woolly-necked Stork.
The boat trip is well worth doing if your in Tendaba, it looks like it would be fairly dark from the mangroves but it opens out, the light is good for photography and there is loads of birds to see ..

After a great boat trip we grabbed the gear and started the long drive towards the border, with quick stops along the way if we saw something that needed more time to work out the species.
Soma Saltmarsh was a good quick stop 10 species with Long-crested Eagle & Pink-backed Pelican.
More miles covered, and living the best life on bread & water we had another stop at Njauri Reservoir mid-afternoon with 18 species the best being Sahel Paradise-Whydah.
Late afternoon and the light was lovely our guide took us to Wassu Quarry, we had 15 species here and the notables were Sahel Bush Sparrow, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow & a small colony of Red-throated Bee-eater and like most returned to the same perch so once in position it was the waiting game for the good pose ..

We arrived at the Baobolong Bush Camp about 5:30pm dumped the gear off in the -5* room and went out birding the Georgetown Bush track for an hour totaling 23 species most notable were Four-banded Sandgrouse, Black-headed Heron, Hadada Ibis & White-crowned Robin Chat ..

January 8th

A bit of birding on the river from the garden of our Guest house at Baobolong Camp for 30 minutes before breakfast produced 6 species notable was Leaf-love ..

We had a long drive today to cross the border into Senegal again stopping many times just for a few minutes each time

before continuing on, notable birds were Beaudouin's Snake Eagle, Dark Chanting-Goshawk & White-backed Vulture ..

Once we were through the two border controls, a Gambian & a Senegal one with a big strip of No Man's Land in-between, still with at least a 2 hour+ drive the birding on route got going in Senegal with notables being White Helmetshrike, Senegal Eremomela & African Golden Oriole ..

We finally arrived at Wassadou Camp mid-afternoon and had a 2 hour wait before our evening boat trip so stood under the trees watching river from camp and racked up 29 species notables being African Finfoot, Egyptian Plover & Palm-nut Vulture ..

The boat trip was another good one, a 2 hour trip in a small boat 6 people max unfortunately for Plover photos we went the opposite way first so by the time we found them the light had gone but still a great trip with 45 species seen from the boat ..

Notables being Spur-winged Goose, Adamawa Turtle Dove, African Finfoot, Greater Painted-Snipe, Northern Carmine Bee-eater & Egyptian Plover ..

What a fantastic day, target species seen well and some photographed and to top it off a mother & calf Hippopotamus in the river ..

January 9th

Sunrise at Wassadou Camp ..

A bit of birding as the sun came up at the river and around camp before breakfast, then we had a great morning birding for 3 & a half hours around camp and down river seeing 65 species notables African Finfoot, Gabar Goshawk, Senegal Batis, White Helmetshrike, Grey-headed Bushshrike, African Blue Flycatcher, Northern Black-Flycatcher & White-crowned Robin-Chat ..

We packed up and got back on the road about 11 towards Gambia, it was a very successful smash & grab taster trip for Senegal but we had hours of driving with a few stops just for identification of raptors mainly seeing Tawny Eagle & White-backed Vulture among the notables before a good stop early evening at Bansang Quarry for 45 minutes in good light notable species being Bush Petronia or Sahel Bush Sparrow & Gosling's Bunting ..

Back at the Baobolong Camp for the night, first dropping the gear off before meeting a local guide who took Me & Jono and our guide !! out with the torch ..

Went to the west end of Janjanbureh and in 30 minutes we had 5 Long-tailed Nightjar & 2 African Scops Owl ..

January 10th

Before breakfast we watched the river from the Baobolong camp garden for 45 minutes and racked up 28 species notables were Spur-winged Goose & Bruce's Green Pigeon ..

After breakfast we went back out to the west end of Janjanbureh and had some great birding in nearly 2 hours we saw 55 species the notables were Violet Turaco, Black-headed Lapwing, Bearded Barbet, Eurasian Wryneck & Pin-tailed Whydah ..

Back on the road towards the coast with stops along the way, Fulabantang Village was a good one with Marabou Stork, Brown Snake-Eagle & Wahlberg's Eagle ..

Jakhaly Rice Fields was our next stop for 90 minutes yet another great location with total of 47 species from only half a dozen fields that were productive that had been drained and were mud.

Notables were Black Crake, Kittlitz's Plover & Greater Painted Snipe ..

Another good stop was early afternoon at Dalaba Wetlands a short 20 minute stop produced 12 species and most notable was African Pygmy-Goose ..

We've had a few words already with our guide he seems to be ok one minute and completely not bothered the next, we've asked him to tell us the species rather than just saying duck or eagle !!

Picking out on call and telling us what it is so we can get to grips ourselves with calls especially new birds !!

We probably missed loads as he couldn't be arsed half the time, morning & evening light for photography but a few times he wants to leave and move on ... errrrr No ..

Still surviving on bread & water !!

We suggest can we try this location as per Ebird his reply we haven't got time its 10am !! Ffs ..

So rocking up to our next location Wurokang the light was getting better and we are here to find Courser's as it a known location.

We had a search over the area but no luck, but did have Bateleur so split up, Jono vanished and so did the guide, I started on the larks ..

I can here the guide in the distance shouting something, but I'm lying down with the Larks when Jono comes over and we walk back towards the 4x4 ..

Jono tells me he found a Temminck's Courser and smashed it at close range !!

The light was now great and it was on the far side on the next field.

The guide then said is time to move on ..!!

I believe, No I definitely had a meltdown and lost it, explaining we weren't going as the light was good and we were driving across the field for the courser, which we did ..

Jono lead Me to the birds whilst I was still ranting my anger, 5 birds now, 4 flush from 100 metres away and I couldn't get near the remainder so settled on a distant record shot ..

We did still have a 2 hour drive and it turns out he don't like driving in the dark ..
We came to take photos & do some birding which we certainly paid quite a lot of money to do so ..

January 11th

Breakfast at our base Hotel Palm Beach before meeting our guide at Koto Creek Bridge, the tide was high so not much to see, then we walked Koto Nature Trail out around the sewage works ..
Really good birding, 65 species in 4 hours with notables being White-faced Whistling-Duck, Northern White-faced Owl, Green Woodhoopoe, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird & Fine-spotted Woodpecker ..

Our guide said he would meet us again later in the afternoon, apparently birding during the hottest part of the day isn't productive so the guides rest, He hadn't done that all week, anyway it was better to not have him tagging along ..

We ate lunch at our hotel and it was marginally better than just Bread & Water ..

So after eating, Me & Jono went out around the Casino Cycle track and sewage works, 2 hours and 31 species of which the notables were Blue-bellied Roller, Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher & Eurasian Crag Martin ..

Meeting the guide again at Koto Creek Bridge for what was meant to be another boat trip up the Creek but the strong Ocean waves had blocked the Creek with a sandbar, so it was still high water as it couldn't flow out.

More money in our guide's pocket !!

So Me & Jono had already come up with a plan knowing this was going to happen, We said take us to Tanji Beach ..

Not surprising that the answer was we don't have time ..

It's 4pm and only 20 minutes away ..

We argued and went to Tanji Beach !!

The least amount of money He has to spend out the more money He makes that's the conclusion We came too ..

Twenty minutes later and we are at Tanji Beach, a small fishing village crammed with people all existing literally on the high tide line. Its a great location with plenty of birds feeding on waste fish and more along the beach in the lagoons ..

We were here for 2 hours till sunset and 30 species seen, the notables were Caspian Tern, West African Crested Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit & Arctic Skua ..

January 12th

Met the guide at 07:30 and headed to Brufut Woods ..

We walked a few different areas Forest & rough scrub around buildings. We sat with two other groups at a drinking hide, the three guides were talking so much, I gave in and went off for a walk on my own.

Great area covering a few sites seeing 43 species of which the notables were Red-necked Falcon, Fanti Sawwing & Yellow Penduline Tit ..

Moving a little further down the coast we tried Tujereng for 90 minutes racking up 31 species with Mottled Spinetail, Osprey & Shikra being the notable birds ..

He seemed to be dragging the day out slowly, Me & Jono talked about this and felt like it was in order to limit time for the next location ..

Its Friday our last day and the itinerary has always been a Free Day so We said that Marakissa would be the next location ..

Ffs " We don't have time "

We ended up giving him 1000 Dalasi for fuel to take us there !!

We arrived at about 3pm and birded for well over 2 hours at a great site Marrakissa - Darsilami Bridge light was really nice and getting better all the time..

In total we had 37 species and the notables were Black Heron, Wattled Lapwing & Wire-tailed Swallow ..

And that was that, we ran out of time ..

Packed our gear away at the road-side and headed for the airport ..

Total species for Gambia was 210

Total species for Senegal was 104

Total Trip List of species seen 228

What an amazing trip !!

Great Northern Diver ~ Southend Pier, Essex - 27.01.24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 18:53:00 +0000

With news in the week of White-billed Diver off the pier most of Thursday and late Friday it seemed a good bet for a possible sighting today. I got the first train at 10:15am with Bradders last time I saw him he had brown hair ..!!

Most birders seemed to go to the upper level for a more elevated view over the estuary, great views but to high from the water level, I viewed the opposite bay a few times just on the off chance it was there, unfortunately it wasn't seen today ..

Instead I took a few shots of a close in Great Northern ..

Northern Waterthrush ~ Heybridge, Maldon Essex - 14.01.24

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 19:38:00 +0000

After years of not going to see mega's & rare birds in the U.K this is my second of '24, defiantly won't be making a habit of it that's for sure but as both had been here for quite a while going for the Northern Waterthrush seemed like a good idea as there would be less people to piss me off ..

Picked up Jono L at 8am and was parked in the car park that everyone was asked to park in, a short walk and I was surprised to see so many people already there, with many parked directly opposite in the road, I know its unrestricted parking but when asked to park elsewhere and you choose to be one of the many to upset the residents this is why bird news is suppressed ..

Other than parking all went well it took a couple of hours for the bird to return and when it did the shutters went mental, one ~~machine gun~~ camera behind me took 200+ shots before while the bird was still half way down the ditch !!

Still a pleasant morning out seeing a Northern Waterthrush ..

Singapore ~ 12th - 17th November 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 19:43:00 +0000

After reading Jono's blog post many times about his trip to Singapore it wasn't long before I booked myself a trip out ..

A bit of research suggested mid November was a good time to go as birds were on the move, so I booked flights with British Airways flying out on Saturday evening 11th November, landing in Singapore on Sunday at nearly 5 pm.

Once through the airport which was a breeze, then down the escalators to the taxi pick up, the glass doors opened and the heat was intense even being under cover. The Grab took me straight to Value Thomson Hotel my base for the trip.

Most of my travel was via Grab a taxi App which was quick and efficient, with cars arriving within 5 minutes, a couple of the more remote locations I had to get a bus back to the nearest town and then get a Grab still no hassle and all travel was easy.

Locations visited ..

Jurong Lake Gardens, Singapore Botanical Gardens, Hampstead Wetlands, Pasir Ris Park, Marina East, Gardens by the Bay & Satay by the Bay.

All Bird sightings will be added at the end ..

Monday 13th ..

Got a Grab to Jurong Lake Gardens and birded the area around the Fusion Spoon heading towards the Floating Wetlands plenty of birds with Yellow Bittern & Lineated Barbet the best of, a coffee in Starbucks before another search of the Fusion Spoon area this time a few birders were gathered staring at the Pitta..

Mangrove Pitta

From here I got a Grab to Singapore Botanical Gardens walking around Symphony Lake, Keppel Wetlands, Learning Forest and Swan Lake no bird photo opportunities but plenty to see, the amount of Pied-imperial Pigeons that came out the canopy when a Peregrine came through was impressive.

Tuesday 14th ..

Headed for Hampstead Wetlands for first light quite a few photographers were already here so working out where the Buffy's were was easy as their cameras were all pointing up to the canopy.

Its a tiny lake and in the middle was a low tree with a pair of Straw-headed Bulbul nesting and on the far bank was Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker & Oriental Pied-hornbill.

The Buffy's were just to high in the canopy for my liking shooting skyward so decided to return later in the week.

Getting a Grab from here to Pasir Ris Park was eventually excepted by a Grab driver as its a little bit out the way but was soon dropped off at Car Park C and walking through the bird filled park.

Collared Kingfisher

Approaching the Tower Hide were two Black Baza above the canopy, speaking to another birder who told Me that the Owls were now in car park D so went through mangrove boardwalks till fairly open parkland searching the tree tops for a pair of Owls.

Spotted Wood-Owl

It was even harder to get a Grab from here so got the bus to the town terminal and then a Grab to Singapore Botanical Gardens paying $15 to go into the National Orchid Garden, 100's of beautiful plants but I was looking for one in particular which sunbirds like to feed on sadly it had been hosed by the gardener the flower head virtually gone, I found the sunbird nearby before it was lost to view.

Crimson Sunbird

Back to Symphony Lake at Heliconia Avenue for more sunbirds whilst waiting I had Greater Racket-tailed Drongo & Laced Woodpecker plus many others, it was the waiting that resulted in ..

Problem #1 ..
Standing with the camera on the monopod resting against legs I was viewing both sides of a path to see when the sunbirds would return to feed, so I must of been turning round in the same direction as later that evening back at the hotel I found that I had lost the rubber foot to the monopod.

Ornate Sunbird

Ornate Sunbird

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Stayed till dusk then back to the hotel for a much needed shower before getting a Grab to Marina East walking along to the barrage and over into Gardens by the Bay for dinner.

Wednesday 15th ..

I went back early to Pasir Ris Park as the Black Baza was photographed from the Tower Hide yesterday, after birding from the top level of the Hide for a couple of hours they never came to perch only a distant flyby.

Red-breasted Parakeet

Over hearing what other birders were saying I asked if I could follow once at this clump of palm it took 20 minutes of searching before locating were the owl was resting.

Sunda Scops Owl

To get a photo of the owl was a bit difficult with 800mm lens & a cropped body meant laying down just to achieve minimum focus distance sadly couldn't avoid a palm frond between lens and owl.

Other good birds here were Dollarbird, Stork-billed Kingfisher & White-bellied Sea Eagle.

The forecast looked good for the rest of the afternoon so got a Grab to Singapore Botanical Gardens starting at Keppel Wetlands and finding a Indian Cuckoo walking up through the gardens to where I was standing yesterday at the Heliconia, in the soil just off the path was the foot to my monopod !!

Whilst again waiting for the sunbirds to return I had Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot & Plume-toed Swiftlet.

Ornate Sunbird

Thursday 16th ..

First light my Grab dropped Me off at Marina East Drive, I walked away from the barrage past the barrier first the whole Drive is flooded meadow and great habitat with plenty of birds.
This area is the hotspot for Greater Painted Snipe as per Ebird, I searched but found none.

Purple Heron

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Paddyfield Pipit

So many good birds here like Masked & Red-wattled Lapwing, Lesser Whistling-Duck, Bee-eaters and Brown Shrikes.
Near the breakwater was a concrete beach with driftwood etc and a load of Plovers like Malaysian, Tibetan & White-faced, the lite by now was awful so crossed the barrage to Gardens by the Bay for breakfast.
I did try my luck birding Satay by the Bay and Gardens by the Bay but nothing happening so got a Grab for an evening session at Hampstead Wetlands as the taxi was coming to a stand still I could see the owl already in a nice low tree near the small bridge.

Buffy Fish-Owl

There was plenty of photographers here turns out they were all waiting for one of the adult Owls to fly down to the waters edge to drink this they said normally happens just as its getting dark, I had nothing better to do and to see one of these big Buffy's fly in seemed worth waiting for but after an hour and now completely dark I gave in, whilst the Owl flew across the road atop of a lamppost out came the trigger happy filling their memory cards in the dark !!
Once back at the hotel and freshened up, I sat in the bar with a few beers planning the mornings location completely oblivious as to what was actually unfolding ..!!!

Friday 17th ..

Woke up earlier as I wanted to be at Marina East Drive for sunrise, made a coffee, looked for any new bird news then on to BA app to check-in ...

" 0 hours to check-in, check-in unavailable " .... What ??
Tried again ..
" 0 hours to check-in, check-in unavailable " .... Can't be ?
So I entered my booking via a different route ..
This time seeing the date ...... Ohhhh F**k it ..!!

Problem #2 ..

Basically I had missed my flight ..
Whilst I was sitting in the bar last night, actually I should of been at the airport, some how I had convinced myself that I flew on Friday night even booked the hotel for a Friday check out, yet everything else was for the Thursday 16th, even ignored the reminder email ..

Now I've had to book a new return flight £500.
Problem sorted if a costly one, time to get a Grab ..

Arrived a little later than planned to Marina East Drive, this time checking the floods out towards the barrage again having no success with Painted, Rails or Crakes but a showy Shrike was nice.

Brown Shrike

I walked back to the road barrier scanning the floods and returned to the last flood again checking until a tiny head showed in what I thought wasn't enough cover but was totally wrong it was deeper than it looked, there was a Snipe just not the one I was hoping for and if it was that difficult to see there was probably more birds hiding out of sight ..

Common Snipe

Over the barrage to Gardens by the Bay, had some breakfast before getting a Grab to Jurong Lake Gardens getting dropped off at south car park for the long walk out to the fishing platforms where a few birders were gathered looking up into the canopy at a Cuckoo.

Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo

All were standing looking up into the sun, Why !. I do not know so I stood on the other side of the tree looking without squinting ..
A bit of movement in a nearby tree and there is a Plaintive Cuckoo, but nobody seemed interested and most walked off except a lady birder so I placed my camera & binoculars on the grass, pointing out the Cuckoo for her whilst asking what had been seen to make the other birders move she replied with directions Hooded Pitta !!

I grabbed my camera and got a march on way back round past the south car park to a big clump of bamboo with gathered birders. Picking a good view point just standing still and waiting, whilst the other photographers were constantly walking about even approaching the fairly dense cover the Pitta was using. Eventually I got a bit of movement so opened my backpack for my bino's ..

Problem #3 ..

Yes you know .... They weren't in the backpack I had left them on the grass back at the Cuckoo ..!!
That was a long walk and I couldn't face it yet so stayed hoping for better views of the Pitta but after 90 minutes the views hadn't improved people were still walking to close so I went for a slow walk back to the Cuckoo and there still on the grass were my binoculars.
The way back to the Pitta was stopped by torrential rain for a good 30 minutes which I hoped had cleared out the photographers, it had but a few remained and whilst waiting more were arriving and the constant moving about started again, I voiced my opinion that the bird was never going to come out unless they all just stayed back on the path and waited, to my amazement they all came and stood on the path.
I was rapidly running out of time, I felt the Pitta just wasn't going to show, the rain had stopped so decided I'd stand a better chance seeing Crakes & Rails after the rain, on the pathways though the Grassland.
There were plenty of birds seemingly everywhere drying off and I had them all to myself ..

Slaty-breasted Rail

Barred Buttonquail

Ruddy-breasted Crake

What a trio to finish on ...

A grab back to the hotel that had held my case for Me, packed all my camera etc away and then a Grab to the airport.
A much needed shower and fresh cloths in the BA lounge then some food & wine, before my return flight to Heathrow.

If you have made it this far the medal is in the post .. Well done.

Complete bird list ..

1. Spotted Dove ~ Jurong lake gardens
2. Zebra Dove ~ "
3. Asian Koel ~ "
4. White-breasted Waterhen ~ "
5. Yellow Bittern ~ "
6. Striated Heron ~ "
7. Brahminy Kite ~ "
8. Common Kingfisher ~ "
9. Blue-tailed Bee-eater ~ "
10. Lineated Barbet ~ "
11. Red-breasted Parakeet ~ "
12. Mangrove Pitta ~ "
13. Black-napped Oriole ~ "
14. Malaysian Pied-Fantail ~ "
15. Brown Shrike ~ "
16. House Crow ~ "
17. Pacific Swallow ~ "
18. Yellow-vented Bulbul ~ "
19. Arctic Warbler ~ "
20. Asian Glossy Starling ~ "
21. Javan Myna ~ "
22. Brown-throated Sunbird ~ "
23. Red Junglefowl ~ Singapore Botanical Gardens
24. Pink-necked Green-Pigeon ~ "
25. Pied Imperial Pigeon ~ "
26. Crested Honey-buzzard ~ "
27. White-throated Kingfisher ~ "
28. Peregrine Falcon ~ "
29. Tanimbar Corella ~ "
30. Ashy Tailorbird ~ "
31. Common Hill Myna ~ "
32. Buffy Fish-Owl ~ Hampstead Wetlands
33. Oriental Pied-Hornbill ~ "
34. Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker ~ "
35. Ring-necked Parakeet ~ "
36. Amur Paradise-Flycatcher ~ "
37. Straw-headed Bulbul ~ "
38. Black Baza ~ Pasir Ris Park
39. Spotted Wood-Owl ~ "
40. Collared Kingfisher ~ "
41. Crow-billed Drongo ~ "
42. Common Tailorbird ~ "
43. Eurasian Tree Sparrow ~ "
44. Ornate Sunbird ~ Singapore Botanical Gardens
45. Crimson Sunbird ~ "
46. Laced Woodpecker ~ "
47. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo ~ "
48. Oriental Magpie-Robin ~ "
49. White-bellied Sea-Eagle ~ Pasir Ris Park
50. Stork-billed Kingfisher ~ "
51. Dollarbird ~ "
52. Ashy Minivet ~ "
53. Red-rumped Swallow ~ "
54. Long-tailed Parakeet ~ "
55. Sunda Scops Owl ~ "
56. Common Lora ~ "
57. Asian Brown Flycatcher ~ "
58. Black-crowned Night Heron ~ "
59. Indian Cuckoo ~ Singapore Botanical Gardens
60. Plume-toed Swiftlet ~ "
61. Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot ~ "
62. Red-whiskered Bulbul ~ "
63. Slaty-breasted Rail ~ Marina East
64. Lesser Whistling-Duck ~ "
65. Tibetan Sand Plover ~ "
66. Malaysian Plover ~ "
67. Common Sandpiper ~ "
68. Little Egret ~ "
69. Chinese Pond Heron ~ "
70. Medium Egret ~ "
71. Grey Heron ~ "
72. Purple Heron ~ "
73. Chinese Sparrowhawk ~ "
74. Barn Swallow ~ "
75. Scaly-breasted Munia ~ "
76. Great White Egret ~ "
77. Paddyfield Pipit ~ "
78. White-faced Plover ~ "
79. White-winged BlackTern ~ "
80. Common Moorhen ~ "
81. Red-wattled Lapwing ~ "
82. Masked Lapwing ~ "
83. Little Tern ~ "
84. Eastern Cattle Egret ~ "
85. Zitting Cisticola ~ "
86. Common Myna ~ "
87. Common Snipe ~ "
88. Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo ~ Jurong Lake Gardens
89. Plaintive Cuckoo ~ "
90. Rock Dove ~ "
91. Daurian Starling ~ "
92. Western Hooded Pitta ~ "
93. Barred Buttonquail ~ "
94. Ruddy-breasted Crake ~ "
95. Lesser Coucal ~ "

Plus escapee Mute Swan ..

A fantastic trip with planned sites that I just didn't get chance to visit so maybe next time ...

Copenhagen .. July 15th & 16th

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 09:37:00 +0000

Another weekend city break where the main aim was to get around to as many of the photographic locations as possible..

EasyJet flights were straight forward for a change and I stayed at Hotel Bethel which is right in the middle of the main Nyhavn ..

Getting about was mainland Metro using the prepaid Pass and buses, from which all sites are within walking distance..

Valensole, France ~ 8th & 9th July

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:53:00 +0000

Had a great weekend in Provence around the lavender region of Valensole, France 8th & 9th July ..

Flew with EasyJet to Marseille Airport which was cheap enough then hired a car with Europcar which definitely wasn’t cheap £388 for two days .. Pants down ..

It’s only an hours drive to Valensole then spent the day driving round to the many lavender fields looking for my sunset location which I found on the Plateau to return to later ..

My hotel was Les Chambres d hotes de Valensole through booking.com checked in etc and a short drive back for sunset …

Sunrise was from the main D6 road near Terraroma and with plenty of other people with the same idea getting a model in your image was fairly easy ..

Nice weekend away a bit more expensive than I expected it to be still better than staying at home ..

Vienna, Austria ~ 1st & 2nd July

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Southcott) — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:49:00 +0000

Spent the weekend of 1st & 2nd of July sightseeing in Vienna, Austria ..

Flew out early Saturday morning with Austrian Airlines and then travelled around with trains and the underground going to all the major locations in the city …

Unfortunately some of the locations were closed like office buildings for spiral stairs etc ..

Getting around was so cheap with a city pass but forgetting to buy a train ticket back to the airport and getting fined €105 wiped that out …

Enjoyable trip …