Australia - Heading into the Blue Mountains

This was a private Zoothera Birding tour that also incorporated a countdown to my own personal 6,000th lifer and 50th birthday.... 

We began at the Blue Gum Swamp Track before daybreak in the forlorn hope of finding an owl, before daylight broke to a whole new world of birdcalls. It was slow going for the first couple of hours and seeing our first Spotted Pardalote was the highlight. What a bird! We also saw Grey Fantail, Striated Thornbill, White-eared and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, and a brief Olive-backed Oriole.

We enjoyed our first Eastern Spinebills today.....

Eastern Spinebill showed well today

Walking back to the car we saw Australian Golden Whistler, Rose Robin, Eastern Yellow Robin and Brown Thornbill.

Brown Thornbill

From here we headed deeper into the Blue Mountains to Evans Outlook and our best shot at seeing the New South Wales endemic - Rock Warbler. Along the way roadside birds included Red Wattlebird, Australian Magpie, Magpie Lark and Galah. 

The view at Evans Lookout is stunning...

Enjoying the view at Evans Lookout

But we enjoyed the Rock Warblers here even more...

Rock Warbler

The approach road was very good and we saw our first Satin Bowerbird here. The owner of the adjacent house invited us into her property to look for other birds and the generosity of the Australian folks we encountered throughout the tour was amazing. One of my favourite birds today was this Scarlet Robin, that was a bit flighty and never showed close but was nevertheless absolutely stunning....

Scarlet Robin

There was also our first Laughing Kookaburra, Pied Currawong, Crimson Rosella, White-throated Treecreeper, White-browed Scrubwren, and a few others.

Laughing Kookaburra

We eventually left here and driving to our next birding site saw Masked Lapwing, the incredibly common Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and some Australian Wood Ducks in a roadside pond.

We were pushing it a bit to get to Lake Wallace but timed it to perfection with a couple of hours of daylight to go. This was our spot for Musk Duck and sure enough we saw a few. It took  while to get closer views as they were primarily out in the middle of this large lake but we eventually tracked one down to a quiet little corner just before the sun dipped behind the hills...

Musk Duck

We also saw Little Grassbird, White-faced Heron, Red-rumped Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Dusky Moorhen, Australian Swamphen, Blue-billed Duck, Hardhead, Fairy Martin, Hoary-headed Grebe, Australasian Grebe, Grey Teal, Australian Shoveler, Little Raven and Australian Reed Warbler.

Another great bird was Superb Fairywren...

Superb Fairywren

And these Pink-eared Ducks were just stunning....

Pink-eared Ducks

It was certainly a great day for the first time birder in Oz with 40 lifers...

Madeira Pelagics

Its been a busy summer for Zoothera, with tours to Uganda, Lesser Sundas and currently Guyana. Add in family holidays and the British Birdfair and there's been very little time to post updates.....

I visited Madeira in early August as part of a family holiday and managed to sneak in two pelagics with the excellent Madeira Windbirds. I must admit its been several years since i've done any pelagics but these two trips brought back all of my old feelings for seabirds and it has definitely been way too long since i've done anything like this.

So our first pelagic focussed on finding Zino's Petrel and we had 2 different individuals and were able to watch them for several minutes on each occasion. It was fascinating to watch them and then go through the photos to see how light, angle, distance, background etc all played their part in changing the overall colour of the bird and also the bill shape. A thinner bill on Zino's than Desertas is one of the diagnostic features. Not being an expert on this, it was a steep learning curve for me. The accompanying photos aren't the best but show how the bill shape varies depending on the view. 

Zino's Petrel

The photos of the single Desertas Petrel (Pterodroma deserta) seen on this pelagic really highlight how the bill thickness seems to change depending on the angle.

Desertas Petrel

In reality, through binoculars it's pretty impossible to gauge accurately. The Zino's Petrel was far more elegant, with longer wings, whilst the Desertas Petrel had a more chunky body, darker 'eye' patch and shorter wings. It really is a bit easier really to focus on the wings, body and jizz....

I really enjoyed the close views of Cory's Shearwater, and a Long-tailed Skua was very interested in our frozen chum block..

Cory's Shearwater

Long-tailed Skua

Alaska - New tour for 2018

Alaska's wild and beautiful spaces have long captivated birders and naturalists alike. With miles of unspoiled wilderness, unending layers of snow-covered peaks, rugged hillsides and tundra landscapes aside the Bering Sea, magnificent fjords of the craggy Kenai Peninsula, islands draped with seabirds of all shapes and sizes, glaciers calving into dark blue waters, impenetrable boreal forests and rolling tundra under the mammoth backdrop of North America's tallest mountain peak, it's easy to see why! 

Our 'Birding the Outposts' tour of Alaska offers a complete sampling of Alaska's birdlife as we visit Nome for breeding Arctic waders including Bristle-thighed Curlew, Barrow for Spectacled and Steller's Eiders, take a boat ride out into the Kenai Fjords and visit Denali National Park. 

A post tour extension to the spectacular Pribiloff Islands will be offered for those interested in visiting St. Paul Island's impressive seabird cliffs teeming with puffins, auklets and kittiwakes and we will have a 3-night stay here so we can fully appreciate the extraordinary birding opportunities that this island provides. 

Just a few of the other key target species: Emperor Goose, Harlequin Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, Spruce Grouse, White-billed Diver, Rock Sandpiper, Aleutian Tern, Great Grey Owl, Boreal Owl, Snowy Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gyrfalcon, Boreal Chickadee, Pine Grosbeak, Sooty Fox Sparrow, Smith's Longspur and more!

But it's the nesting seabirds that really make a trip to Alaska so special: Red-faced Cormorant, Brunnich's Guillemot, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Ancient Murrelet, Parakeet Auklet, Least Auklet, Crested Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Red-legged Kittiwake....

Take a look at our tour itinerary here: Alaska 2018

Spectacled Eider 

Spectacular Scenery

And more great scenery

Bristle-thighed Curlew

King Eider

Red Phalarope

Rock Ptarmigan

Sabine's Gull

Willow Ptarmigan

Aleutian Tern

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Boreal Owl

Great Grey Owl

All photos courtesy of Kim Risen, our co-leader for this tour.