Back into our routine

With Peter now back in the Algarve after his travels for Avian Adventures we have returned this week to our usual routine that includes birding in both the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo, some photography and some reading of colour-rings.

We began on Monday with a trip to the salinas at Olhão where two Red-necked Phalaropes had been seen during the previous few days. This species is classified as a rarity here and is always a delight to see. With good directions we easily found one of them but have to assume that the other one had departed.

 Red-necked Phalarope

Whilst in the Olhão area we called in at Quinta de Marim. This was partly to see our friends at RIAS but also to have a look for a Marbled Duck that had been seen and photographed on the small freshwater pond there. Marbled Duck is a species that many visiting birders want to see and ask us to find for them, presumably not realising what a scarce bird it has become in Iberia. The last record in the Algarve was in January 1997!

Marbled Duck

It used to be that they could be found across the border in Doñana but relatively few remain there and they aren’t easy to find. The breeding population is very small and has undergone a large and rapid decline because of destruction and degradation of breeding habitat. Many of the wetlands in North Africa where they spend the winter have also beeen destroyed.

Marbled Duck

When we found the duck it was quickly obvious that it had a yellow ring on its right leg and this it would seem is evidence that it originates from a Spanish re-introduction project. For more precise details it will be necessary to read the inscription on the ring, something that won’t be easily achieved!

We did hear that there had been a report of two Marbled Ducks at Quinta de Marim, which together with the secretive behaviour of the bird we saw has given rise to speculation that a breeding attempt might be in progress. Now that would be exciting!

A morning out around Tavira with the camera resulted in some pleasing portraits of European Bee-eaters. We also spent some time at a small puddle where Serins and Goldfinches were drinking and bathing and House Martins were collecting mud.

 European Bee-eater

House Martin

We spent a full day in the Castro Verde area where we saw most of the expected species including thirteen raptor species, European Rollers and both Little & Great Bustards. Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins (aka Rufous Bush Chats), Collared Pratincoles, Cattle Egrets and Gull-billed Terns were also getting on with the business of breeding. We also saw four Mute Swans but we’re not sure what they were doing there!

 Eurasian Griffon

 Gull-billed Tern

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Cattle Egret

An enjoyable afternoon was taken up with a visit to the Audouin’s Gull breeding colony in the Ria Formosa. This species began breeding in the Algarve in 2001 and it’s amazing that there are now estimated to be 1,800 pairs here.  Forty years ago the global population was estimated to be only 1,000 pairs! The population has expanded owing to increased availability of fisheries discards close to key breeding colonies, something that could in future be affected by the EU Common Fisheries Policy. We managed to read a few colour-rings including some indicating that the birds originated from the Ebro Delta in Spain, site of the largest colony in the Mediterranean. There is also a substantial breeding colony of Yellow-legged Gulls on the island.

 Audouin's Gull

 Yellow-legged Gulls

More Avian Adventures!

With June left holding the fort in the Algarve, Peter has again been off again leading a tour for Avian Adventures, this time in his favourite Arizona.  It was his 22nd visit to the Grand Canyon state and his 14th spring tour there.

This year's tour was confined to the south-east of the state with just one brief excursion north of Tucson to find Burrowing Owl.  The itinerary included stays in Portal, Sierra Vista, Green Valley and Tucson, giving access to more excellent birding sites than could possibly be covered in the time available.

Here are some photographs of a few of the birds seen and places visited during two weeks of sunshine:

Scenic Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahuas

Burrowing Owl - in decline and becoming harder to find around Tucson

Willow Tank - an oasis in the desert, near Portal

Whitewater Draw - not much water at this time of year but still worth a visit

Patagonia Lake - a large man-made lake, good for ducks, grebes, shorebirds and more

Lower Sabino Canyon - saguaros, chollas, mesquite, palo verde and more

Amado Sewage Pond - often attracts something unusual, this time a Greater Scaup

Portal Main St. - always good for an early morning or evening walk

Black-throated Sparrow - an attractive common resident of desert scrub

Lark Sparrow - one of the most numerous birds we saw

Cactus Wren - the official state bird of Arizona

Greater Roadrunner - always popular and seemed particularly numerous this year

Scott's Oriole - one of three oriole species seen

(Mexican) Spotted Owl - well worth the climb up Miller Canyon 

Lucifer Hummingbird - eight species of hummingbirds were seen

Vermilion Flycatcher - presumably a first-year male

Tanzania - the 'Big Five' x 2

The months March, April and May provide some of the year's best birdwatching in the Algarve. It can be a very busy time for us. In most years we also try to fit in to this period a tour in some other part of the world for Avian Adventures so it's a good thing that there are two of us!

This year we are even busier than ever, partly as a result of having not one but three Avian Adventures tours to lead during this period. It's little wonder that we haven't had much time to add to this blog!

Our last blog post was about our tour in Costa Rica, a trip that we were able to enjoy together. Since then, June has been guiding in the Algarve while Peter has been leading a tour in Tanzania and next week starts another one in Arizona.

Included here are some photographs from Tanzania - two versions of the 'Big Five' that were seen during a tour that included Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.  We have blogged before after previous tours in Tanzania (e.g. here, here and here).  We can't recommend this tour highly enough; it provides one of the world's great wildlife spectacles.

The 'Big Five' mammals are those regarded by big-game hunters as the most difficult to hunt on foot although, of course, we like to do our hunting with binoculars and camera.  Our 'Big Five' birds are just some of the larger species seen during the tour, included just for fun!

Costa Rica with Avian Adventures

We have recently returned from leading another AvianAdventures tour, this time in Costa Rica.  This was Peter’s 15th time in Costa Rica and June’s 3rd visit to what is definitely one of our favourite wildlife destinations.  Not only is it a wonderful country for birdwatching but the variety and numbers of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and butterflies means that there is seldom a dull moment. 
 

Violet Sabrewing

On this occasion we worked with local guide, Erick Castro, whom we have known for many years and who was really good at sorting out the many confusion species – we put our hands up and admit that Yellow-bellied, Yellowish, Yellow-margined and Yellow-olive Flycatchers, Yellow, Yellow-bellied and Yellow-crowned Tyrannulets can still sometimes be a bit of puzzle, particularly if they are feeding high in the forest canopy!

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

 Silver-throated Tanager

 Baltimore Oriole

 Blue-grey Tanager

Montezuma Oropendola

After a night in San José on arrival we began the tour on the Caribbean side of the country, staying at the excellent Selva Verde Lodge, situated on the bank of the Rio Sarapiquí.  From there we visited La Selva Biological Station, one of the most important sites in the world for research on tropical rain forest.  For the first-time visitor to Costa Rica, starting a tour here with such an array of tanagers, orioles, toucans, woodcreepers, hummingbirds and flycatchers to contend with can be a mind-boggling experience!

Rio Sarapiquí

Next we had two nights at Arenal Observatory Lodge, still on the Caribbean slope and situated right next to the Arenal volcano.  Arenal is 1,633 metres (5,358 ft.) high and last erupted in 1968 but it is currently inactive.  It seemed strange to see Great Curassows visiting feeders here but in recent times this has been become their regular daily habit whereas previously they were birds we simply hoped to get a quick glimpse of in the forest.

 Arenal

Great Curassow

On the Pacific side of the country we had two nights at La Ensenada Lodge in the dry Guanacaste province.  The lodge is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Nicoya but as well as coastal birds such as Brown Pelican and Magnificent Frigatebird it offers many species of the surrounding dry tropical forest and there are also wetlands, notably saltpans with hundreds of gulls, terns and waders.  Birding the saltpans was like home from home and several of the species seen were those familiar from Europe such as Ruddy Turnstone and Grey Plover.  There were also Whimbrels and Sandwich Terns and we have blogged before here about these possible splits.

 La Ensenada Lodge

Hudsonian Whimbrel

White-necked Puffbird

From La Ensenada we visited Hacienda Solimar, primarily a huge cattle ranch but also a wonderful wetland with thousands of birds.  They were impossible to count but there must have been at least 5,000 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and as many Cattle Egrets as we have ever seen.  The highlights, however, were the much smaller numbers of Jabirus, Limpkins and Snail Kites.

 Hacienda Solimar

Jabiru

From La Ensenada we headed south, joining the Inter American Highway for a while on our way to Hotel Villa Lapas.  We stopped briefly in Puerto Caldera where we searched through flocks of Laughing Gulls looking for a Franklin’s and were surprised to find instead a first-winter Sabine’s Gull, possibly the least expected bird of the whole tour.  In the same place were 100 or more Black Terns, migrants heading north to breed.

Hotel Villa Lapas is conveniently situated close to Carara National Park and we made several visits there. Carara lies only about 90km west of San José and because of that attracts many visitors, especially at weekends.  For the general tourist here the American Crocodiles and the Scarlet Macaws are particular features and easily seen but we were more intent on seeing Antthrushes, Quail-Doves, Tinamous and Manakins along forest trails.

Scarlet Macaws

Also in this area we had an excellent afternoon boat trip on the Rio Tárcoles, looking for the specialist birds that occupy the mangroves and also seeking out the elusive American Pygmy-kingfisher.  River boat trips are always popular and usually present really good opportunities for photography.

 (Mangrove) Yellow Warbler

American Pygmy-kingfisher

Boat-billed Heron

Next we moved to the mountains, to Savegre Hotel Nature Reserve & Spa in the Cordillera de Talamanca.  Both at the hotel and at Paraíso Quetzal Lodge, our lunch stop on the way there, hummingbird feeders were a main attraction with Fiery-throated, Magnificent & Scintillant Hummingbirds, White-throated Mountain-gem and Green Violetear among the species to been seen.

 Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Birding above Savegre

A trip higher up the mountain to about 3,400m above sea level took us to a habitat described as sub-alpine tropical rain paramo.  It was obvious that one or two of our group didn’t feel particularly happy at this altitude and this was also the only time during the tour that we really experienced anything like serious rain.  However, we stuck it out and it wasn’t long before the sun re-appeared along with our target bird, the Volcano Junco.

Volcano Junco

The must-see bird in Costa Rica is the Resplendent Quetzal and the male certainly lives up to its name with its iridescent green and red plumage, extraordinarily long upper tail coverts, a helmet-like crest and a yellow bill.  We left it very late but we did eventually see one in the San Gerardo Valley, near Savegre.  It would have been hugely disappointing had we not seen one but with close to 400 other bird species seen and a mammal list that included Margay, Northern Tamandua, Hooded Skunk, Honduran White Bat, Mantled Howler Monkey and two species of Sloths we don’t think anyone would have returned home feeling anything but delighted by their Costa Rica experience.

 No new photos of Resplendent Quetzal - this one from 2006!