North Thailand & Spoonies Jan 2016

Well our incredibly successful Thailand tours remain very popular and we have already filled our comprehensive Thai tour in Feb 2016 and have several bookings for the 2017 tour already. But now there is a North Thailand tour on our website for January 2016 with an extension to see Spoon-billed Sandpiper and multitudes of other shorebirds as well.

See tour itinerary - click here.

See this years tour report - click here.

See tour photos - click here.

And here's a few photo's of the Holy Grail....

Birding the Steppes...

Left Casa Boletas at the ungodly time of 5am and headed some 90 minutes down to the steppes where we were fortunate to find that it was very chilly here for most of the morning. A White Stork breeding colony was seen on the drive but not a lot else. However, our arrival in this different habitat of dry steppes and rocky outcrops couldn’t have been better timed as our first stop along the road shortly after sunrise set the tone with a cracking Calandra Lark on the road in front of us, followed by a Southern Grey Shrike, our first of many Thekla Larks and Black-eared Wheatears, Woodchat Shrike and Little Owl.

Then our first European Roller was spotted before we came across a field full of Calandra Larks, Spotless Starlings and Eurasian Skylarks which were all scoped. There were a few distant Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards, and a Hoopoe was also seen. Lots of distant Kestrels were probably Lessers although only a couple were positively identified, but there were probably hundreds in the area. It was just a shame that both Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse were only seen at great distance, although the distinctive flight calls could be heard.

Steppe habitat

This vast area is criss-crossed with numerous tracks and its easy to get lost, which we did frequently but this didn’t matter as we were having fun exploring the area. A Great Spotted Cuckoo was seen flying next to the bus as we headed in a different direction and we watched this for a while, then a Montagu’s Harrier flew by, and a Spectacled Warbler was found, with a Sardinian Warbler appearing nearby. Then a covey of Red-legged Partridge scurried across a dry field, and we also saw Spotless Starlings, Peregrine, Cattle Egret and a female Hen Harrier, as well as lots of European Bee-eaters throughout the morning. Some Greater Short-toed Larks were found in a ploughed field and were joined by a Woodlark.  At a small pond we had Common Coot, Little Grebe and Common Moorhen (woohoo..!!),  and then the first of 2 Golden Eagles were seen showing really well. As the day finally got very hot we also came across a flock of Red-billed Choughs and some Jackdaws.

Golden Eagle

At lunch we watched a few Rollers and an adult Golden Eagle from our vantage point at the top of an escarpment overlooking a wide area. So it was really hot by now and we decided to head back to the hotel and after doing battle with the satnav which was no help whatsoever in this maze of unmarked tracks in the middle of nowhere, we got lucky and final found a paved road and made our way out of there.

We enjoyed great views of these White Storks

During the drive back we stopped to photograph a colony of White Storks on some buildings at the edge of a village and then we found a pair of Black Wheatears and a male Blue Rock Thrush to round off a great trip and our birding in Spain for another year.

We found Black Wheatear here...

Crags, Ruins & Apollo

We left our wonderful, secluded hotel high up in the Hecho Valley and headed down to pastures new, stopping amongst some arable fields to look for Ortolan Bunting again, but only hearing it this time. There were plenty of Corn Buntings, a few Cirl Buntings, and a fabulous Queen of Spain Fritillary. Moving on we paid a visit to a small craggy area where a fruiting bush held 2 Western Orphean Warblers, 2 Subalpine Warblers and a male Sardinian Warbler.  

A good place for warblers....!

A male Blue Rock Thrush was found on a cliff face, and 3 Peregrines, Eurasian Griffons and Egyptian Vultures soared in the clear blue sky. We’d already seen Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Common Buzzard, along with many Red and Black Kites so far today.

Castille de Loare

After some cold drinks and chips in a nearby restaurant we drove to Castille de Loare, a very scenic and picturesque setting where Rock Sparrow, Eurasian Hoopoe and Eurasian Crag Martins were present. 

Eurasian Crag Martin

Rock Sparrow was also breeding near the battlements

A very close Apollo Butterfly was also much appreciated here and was at a very low elevation than I would have expected. 

Amazing views of this Apollo today

After a short perusal of the ruins we had more cold drinks and ice-cream before driving to Loporzano and the wonderful Casa Boletas, our base for the next 2 nights. Along the ay we spotted several European Bee-eaters….… 38 degrees here this afternoon….!

Still Chillin in Spain.....!

Drove higher up the Hecho Valley at 6.30am and got to see a Black Woodpecker flying overhead several times, along with some nice looks at Crested Tit, Serin, Red Crossbill and a few other goodies. After breakfast drove down to the river and spent a leisurely morning’s birding seeing Rock Sparrow, Eurasian Golden Oriole, several Garden Warblers and even scoped a fine Eurasian Wryneck. Had our picnic lunch in the shade beside the cool river before driving for coffee in Berdun and then checking out a little site I know that didn’t really reveal anything new apart from an odd Marbled White. So we headed back up the valley and stopped for ice cream before getting back to the hotel at 4.45pm for a nice rest and cold beer!    

Spanish Pyrenees Continued... Again...

I wasn’t surprised that it was negative news about the Candanchu chairlift being open and so there went our chance of seeing any snowfinches. However, Astun was open for business and we trundled over there after breakfast, stopping to watch a few Black Kites quartering the fields at the bottom of the Hecho Valley. We drove through Jaca and then up towards the French border at the Col du Somport and then the ski station of Astun. We called in to one of the restaurants for coffee and bacon baguettes (oh yes) before boarding the chairlift two at a time.

As always, it was a lovely serene and peaceful experience to do this and once at the top at around 2100m we walked past the lake and up into the hills. It’s just too green and ‘soft’ for snowfinches and to be honest it was rather quiet with only a flyover Lammergeier, some Water Pipits and a few Northern Wheatears. 

Great scenery at the top of the chairlift

So we spent some time enjoying the fantastic scenery and then returned to the chairlift, calling in to the café for some cold drinks. A lucky move as it turned out as I heard a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush singing and then we picked it up perched on some boulders quite some distance away. Scope views were decent and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as this was a much-wanted lifer for the group.

Astun chairlift

Once down at the bottom we drove out and stopped for our very late (3pm) picnic lunch, only to be joined by a singing Rock Bunting – a huge bonus as they just don’t seem to be very numerous now.

Rock Bunting

We then drove to a pine forest where Western Bonelli’s Warbler was easily found by Roberta, and there was also Subalpine Warbler, Eurasian Nuthatch, Three-toed Treecreeper, Firecrest and Great Spotted woodpecker, plus a few Heath Fritillaries.

Nice view once again

Heath Fritillary

Finland & Arctic Norway 2016

We have another new tour for next year, this one to Finland & Arctic Norway. Yep it's an expensive tour but the quality of potential species reads like a "Who's Who" of most wanted European and Western Palearctic birds: Great Grey Owl, Eurasian Pygmy Owl, Eurasian Hawk Owl, Ural Owl, Tengmalm's Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Siberian Tit, Siberian Jay, Capercaillie, Willow Grouse, Hazel Grouse, Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Pine Grosbeak, Two-barred Crossbill, White-billed Diver, King Eider, Steller's Eider, Brunnich's Guillemot, Long-tailed Skua, Gyr Falcon......... 

For the full tour itinerary - click here. 

We are very privileged to be able to showcase Jari Peltomaki's (Finnature) superb photos from this tour:

Black Grouse

Capercaillie

Dotterel

Hawk owl

Eurasian Pygmy Owl

Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker

The boat to Hornoya Island

Great Grey Owl is the daddy...!

Hazel Grouse is always tricky to find but Finland gives you multiple chances....

King Eider

Lapland Bunting

Long-tailed Skua

Eurasian Hawk Owl

Northern Red-flanked Bluetail

Pine Grosbeak can sometimes be found at feeding stations

Atlantic Puffin - Hornoya Island

Displaying Ruff

Siberian Jay

Siberian Tit

Smew - one of the most beautiful ducks

Steller's Eider - this might just be better...?

Ural Owl should be staked out....

White-tailed Eagle usually provides great views.

Willow Grouse can be seen at a number of localities

Hecho Valley

Drove up to Selva de Oza in the picturesque Hecho Valley and quickly found a White-throated Dipper, along with an unidentified skipper and Black-veined White. We then proceeded to drive higher and walked up through the wide-open valley with Red-billed Choughs, Yellowhammers, Egyptian Vultures, and Apollo Butterfly being seen. 

Fantastic scenery of the upper Hecho Valley

We spent quite some time enjoying the fabulous scenery before driving back down to the forest for lunch. In the trees right overhead as we were munching our sandwiches we saw Short-toed Treecreeper and Crested Tit.

Then drove to Hecho village and a nice little bar for cold drinks, coffee and ice cream as it was just so hot. Afterwards we drove up towards Gabardito and searched for new butterflies with White-letter Hairstreak and Essex Skipper being added to our list.

White-letter Hairstreak

After dinner we drove to a new site and waited patiently for the sun to set and sure enough at the appointed time a huge Eurasian Eagle Owl flew in and landed on some trees to our right and began calling away for several minutes before soaring across the darkening sky right in front if us and disappearing over a hill. Wow!