INSIDE Welcome - WINGS Birding Tours Worldwidewingsbirds.com/files/Spring-10.pdf · Welcome WINGS is delighted to bring you announcements of our upcom - ing new tours, along with

WelcomeWINGS is delighted to bring you announcements of our upcom-ing new tours, along with brief reports from our most recent tripsaround the world. Our tours are the brainchildren of our leaders,whose passion for their favorite regions and favorite birds isdirectly reflected by the depth and variety of our offerings.WINGS leaders often spend months, even years, getting to knowtheir favored localities, with the result that our itineraries growout of a thorough familiarity with the destinations’ birds and withthe cultural and natural settings that make them worth visiting.

In addition to our regularly scheduled tours around the world,WINGS also offers private guiding services to individuals andgroups. If birding where and when you want, alone or in thecompany of friends, appeals to you, please contact the WINGSoffice. We’ll be happy to arrange a tour that suits your needs andcircumstances.

Full details of all our tours can be found at our website,wingsbirds.com. If you don’t have ready access to the internet, orif you have questions, please call or write the WINGS office.We’ll be happy to help you.

Kenya: The Great Migrationin the Masai MaraJuly 31 - August 13, 2010

Spring 2010

WINGS1643 N. Alvernon WaySuite 109Tucson, AZ 85712Tel: 888-293-6443

(toll free in the U.S.)520-320-9868

Fax: [email protected]

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� Kenya� New Zealand� The Netherlands� Mexico� Tanzania� Panama� Puerto Rico� Ghana� Germany� Alaska� New York� Maine� Costa Rica

From Our Leaders

Profiles

WINGS Updates

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For details on all WINGS tours, please visit our website at www.wingsbirds.com

David Tipling’s new photographic tour concentrates on putting the photographer in position totake advantage of unforgettable scenes such as this one.

Photo: David Tipling.

Unlike a classic WINGS birding tour, this new photographic tour is intendedto ensure avid photographers the best opportunities for capturing definitiveimages; the leader’s efforts will be devoted to placing participants in the bestposition and giving them all the time they need—plus offering invaluable tipsand instruction from one of the world’s finest wildlife photographers.

Kenya ranks high on any list of the world’s top destinations for wildlifephotography. The country boasts the largest concentrations of wild ani-mals anywhere on the planet, and the special quality of light at these lati-tudes and a tourist infrastructure second to none combine to create theperfect circumstances for a fantastic photographic tour. Our tour withDavid Tipling caters to photographers at every level of ability and expe-rience. David will help you get the most out of your camera in every dif-ferent situation, getting you close to the action and ensuring that youhave plenty of time to capture memorable images. Our days will typicallystart just before dawn, a magical time in Africa. Most days we’ll return toour lodge when the light gets too harsh; for those who want to keep ontaking photos, most of the lodges have superb grounds full of wildlife,including lots of colorful birds. We’ll venture out again after lunch tomake the most of mid-afternoon’s wonderful low light.

New Zealand:Island Endemics and Seabirds

November 29 –December 19, 2010

New Zealand’s combination of landand sea birding with the superb organi-zation and local knowledge provided byour “Kiwi” leader—plus, of course,Dan Brown’s experience—ensures adiverse and captivating adventure insome of the most breathtaking land-scapes anywhere.

A birding tour to New Zealand ispacked full of highlights: albatrossesso close you can count the droplets ofwater on their feathers, the deafeningcalls of New Zealand Bellbirds ringingthrough the forest at dawn, a confid-ing New Zealand Robin standingguard on a forest path, a Kiwi snuf-fling through the leaf litter. All ofthese classic images come to life onthe remote Pacific islands of NewZealand. Bordered by the Tasman Seaon the west and the South Pacific onthe east, New Zealand stretches

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The green islandsof New Zealandare home to afascinatingavifauna, includingtremendousconcentrations ofseabirds.

Photo: Wikimedia.

page 2 …WINGS News Spring 2010 For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.com

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page 3 …WINGS News Spring 2010For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.com

almost 1,000 miles north to south. Eons of isolation have given the threemain islands and a multitude of smaller islands a unique avifauna, withfour endemic families; in all, more than 15% of the islands’ species areendemic, many of them globally threatened. We’ll visit remarkable sanc-tuaries, breathtaking scenic parks, and old-growth forests in search ofland birds, and sail the coastal waters looking for some of New Zealand’sincredible concentrations of seabirds and sea mammals. Dan Brown andBrent Stephenson lead.

The Netherlands in WinterJanuary 26-30 and February 2-6, 2011

As northern Europe and Siberia slumber under blankets of snow, the poldersof The Netherlands are awash with wintering wildfowl. Our short andincredibly bird-rich tour begins and ends in Amsterdam, leaving participantsthe opportunity to combine their birding experience with visits to otherEuropean destinations.

Large flocks of winter-ing passerines, and theworld’s best apple pieand hot chocolate: it’seasy to see why winter-time birding in TheNetherlands is soimpressive. Geese arethe main attraction,with all the Europeanwintering species possi-ble; we stand a greatchance of seeing bothRed-breasted andLesser White-frontedGeese among the teeming thousands of Eurasian White-fronted, TundraBean, and Barnacle Geese. The open polders are also great for winteringraptors, and we should encounter White-tailed Eagle, Rough-leggedHawk, and Hen Harrier, among other species. Add to the list Smew,Eurasian Bittern, and Lesser Spotted and Black Woodpeckers, not tomention the possibility of a surprise or two, and everything is in place forthe ideal short winter tour. James Lidster leads.

Mexico: The LacandonRainforest and Maya RuinsFebruary 12-20, 2011

Not so many years ago, a visit to Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest and the Mayaruins of Bonampak and Yaxchilan was a major undertaking. Today, with

The sturdy andattractiveFieldfare wintersin large numbersin TheNetherlands.

Photo: James Lidster.

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page 4 …WINGS News Spring 2010 For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.com

Lilac-breastedRollers areamong thecolorful Africanspecialties ofTarangireNational Park.

Photo: Brian Finch.

new paved roads and new lodges, the Lacandon is surprisingly easy to visit—and full of tropical specialties.

The Lacandon rainforest lies inthe watershed of theUsumacinta (“sacred monkey”)River. Scarlet Macaws, GreatCurassows, howler monkeys,hawk-eagles, and perhaps evena tapir or jaguar can be seenamid spectacular rain forest,home to the lowland Maya civ-ilization. Important sites suchas Yaxchilan lie along theUsumacinta itself, whileBonampak—unknown to west-erners until 1946—is on theLacanja River, a tributary of

the Usumacinta. The forests in this region are home to the northernmostextension of truly Amazonian fauna: puffbirds, toucans, jacamars,antbirds, leaftossers, manakins, cotingas, and woodcreepers all occurhere—but in manageable doses. One local community is working to pro-tect the endangered Scarlet Macaw, and from their comfortable lodgewe’ll take a boat trip up beautiful limestone tributaries into the MontesAzules Biosphere Reserve. Join Steve Howell and Rich Hoyer in thisexciting exploration of Mexico’s tropical rainforest.

Tanzania:Kilimanjaro to the SerengetiMarch 5-18, 2011

This latest addition to our Africa tours is designed as an ideal introduction tothe birds and mammals of the continent’s East. We have intentionally

planned a relaxed pace, leaving timeto truly savor all that this wonderfulcountry has to offer.

Tanzania long ago recognized theimportance of its natural resources,and has done much over the years toprotect them. Today, some 25% ofthis beautiful country is given overto national parks and reserves, andour new tour features the mostfamous of them all. Starting on thedensely wooded slopes of MountMeru, in the shadow of Kilimanjaro,we’ll wander among the giantbaobab trees of Tarangire National

The incandescentGreenHoneycreeper isone of the tropicalresidents of theLacandonrainforest.

Photo: Steve Howell.

Park and travel to the very edge of the Rift Valley at Lake Manyara beforevisiting two of the world’s most dazzling wildlife locations—Ngorongoroand the vast Serengeti. Steve Rooke and James Wolstencroft lead.

Panama:Spring at the Canopy TowerMarch 12-19, 2011(with Foothills Extension to March 23)

As one moves across Panama from the Costa Rican border east toward theColombian border, Central American birds drop out and such trulyNeotropical groups as antbirds, woodcreepers, tyrant flycatchers, humming-birds, and tanagers begin to dominate. It all makes for an exceedingly richbirding experience.

Our newest Panama tour is timedto take advantage of the beginningof spring migration, when residentbreeding birds are joined by win-tering migrants and transientsfrom North America. This influxof migrants makes for a verydiverse avian assemblage. Theacclaimed Canopy Tower servesas a delightful home base as weexplore several remarkable bird-ing areas, including PipelineRoad, which offers arguably thebest birding in Central America,with over 400 species recordedfrom this single locale.

Following our weeklong stay atthe tower, we offer an extensionto the eastern foothills, whereour rustic but comfortable lodge,nestled in a cooler foothill valley,gives us access to a wealth of newbirds more typical of the Darienand Colombia. This region, onlyrecently opened to extensive ornithological research, has already proved tobe perhaps the best place in the world to find the extremely local Sapayoaand Speckled Antshrike. Gavin Bieber adds this springtime adventure tohis tour offerings.

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page 5 …WINGS News Spring 2010For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.com

A Violet-crownedWoodnymphseems almost toproduce its ownlight in the forestsof Panama.

Photo: Gavin Bieber.

Puerto RicoMarch 27 – April 2, 2011

The old Spanish colony of Puerto Rico, now a self-governing US territory andpopular holiday destination, is a perfect weeklong getaway for birders. Withan excellent road system providing convenient access to its many forestreserves, Puerto Rico offers some of the easiest and most enjoyable birding inthe tropics.

Gavin Bieber’s new tour seeks out all 17 of the island’s endemics andmore than two dozen Caribbean specialties, visiting every habitat fromthe windswept elfin woods of Maricao to the bird-rich thorn scrub of theGuanica Dry Forest. The lush gardens of the northeast shelter the beauti-ful Green-throated Carib and the charismatic Antillean CrestedHummingbird, while on a visit to the coast we’ll look for Brown Boobiesand Magnificent Frigatebirds. Vine-draped palm forests harbor PuertoRican Woodpecker and Puerto Rican Flycatcher. The extensive lowlandforests of Cambalache State Forest are the concert hall for the dawn cho-rus of a host of endemics: Puerto Rican Bullfinch, the exquisite PuertoRican Tody, the appealing Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Puerto RicanSpindalis, the sprightly Adelaide’s Warbler, and Puerto Rican Vireo. Thelush montane forests of Maricao State Forest and other protected areasnear our hotel base will keep us entertained with Puerto Rican Emerald,Puerto Rican Spindalis, Puerto Rican Tanager, and Puerto Rican Oriole.But the star attraction is Elfin Woods Warbler, usually seen well here withperseverance. Many other endemics are to be found in the Guanica DryForest, and we’ll hope to find the attractive Adelaide’s Warbler and theregionally endemic Caribbean Elaenia. We’ll make an evening excursionto search for the local Puerto Rican Nightjar and Puerto Rican Screech-Owl, and investigate wetlands for rare species such as West IndianWhistling-Duck and Yellow-breasted Crake.

For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.compage 6 …WINGS News Spring 2010

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Blue skies, blueseas, andendemics andspecialties galoreawait birdingvisitors to PuertoRico.


For details on all WINGS tours, visit www.wingsbirds.com page 7 …WINGS News Spring 2010

Ghana: The Upper Guinea ForestMarch 27 – April 12, 2011

Lying on the Gulf of Guinea along Africa’s tropical western coast, Ghana is acountry rich in both ancient tradition and the history of European presencein West Africa. While it more than lives up to its reputation as one of Africa’sfriendliest and safest countries, Ghana remains a treasure experienced by arefreshingly small number of tourists.

Our tour begins amid the lagoonsof the Gold Coast, where migrantshorebirds from Europe swell thenumbers of resident waterbirds. Wethen move inland to the primarytropical rainforest of KakumNational Park, home to the world-famous canopy walkway that placesus at eye level with a vast array ofrainforest species, including numer-ous hornbills, parrots, and barbets.Our tour also includes a ground-breaking exploration of Ankasa, an areaseldom visited by birders. A trek into the forest will take us to the secrethome of the cave-dwelling Yellow-headed Picathartes, one of Africa’s mostelusive birds. James Lidster offers this revised itinerary to one of Africa’sunder-visited jewels.

Germany: Birds and ArtApril 28 – May 14, 2011

Many of the cultural and artistic sites that make Germany a dream destina-tion for travelers are also outstanding areas for birds. Like our other Birdsand Art tours, this adventure combines comfortable accommodations, latemornings, a relaxed pace, and supreme flexibility as we seek to provide a“whole landscape” experience for birders and non-birding companions alike.

White Storks andEurasian Kestrels neston churches and monas-teries, and gardens andforests surrounding thepalaces and huntinglodges of long-deadmonarchs provide nest-ing grounds for passer-ines and Germany’sfamous wealth of wood-peckers. Serins singfrom the rooftops of

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A Violet Turacoassaults thesenses againstthe sky of Ghana.


The sandstonecathedral ofMainz towersover the Rhine—and some verygood birding.

Photo: Wikimedia.

Mainz, Dippers hunt Freiburg’s urban streams, and Hooded Crows patrolthe streets of Berlin. But there’s wilder country here, too: Bavaria’s highmountains can produce Alpine Chough and Snowfinch in some of themost spectacular scenery Europe has to offer, while the marshes andmoors of the Pomeranian plain and Baltic coast have breeding CommonCrane and Red Kite. Our leisurely Grand Tour of Germany is intendedfor travelers whose interests extend beyond the ornithological to includenature, art, and history. Participants can choose to sit out any of thescheduled activities to pursue their own interests or simply relax. RickWright leads this ornitho-cultural exploration of Europe’s geographiccenter.

Alaska: Birding the Last FrontierMay, June, August, and September 2011

Alaska is as spectacular as it is vast, with stunning snow-covered peaks risingout of flower-laden tundra and mighty glaciers flowing into forest-lined fjords.Our popular tours have been thoroughly revised to increase our clients’ flexi-bility, providing an opportunity to personalize a tour to suit your scheduleand your needs. Certain combinations of tours may be available at a price lessthan the sum of the individual tour prices; details on these savings are avail-able from the WINGS office.

The Pribilofs are the place in North America to savor the richness of aseabird colony. Our visit to St. Paul concentrates on the nesting species,


Snow-toppedMcKinley loomsover the AlaskaRange.

Photo: Rich Hoyer.

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but in late May we also hope for migrating shorebirds and a rarity or two.The Pribilofs can be combined with our Majesty of the North tour orwith our spring tour of Gambell.

Mainland Alaska and theKenai Peninsula featuresDenali National Park, whereMount McKinley and theAlaska Range provide thespectacular backdrop to oursearch for Grizzly Bears andSmith’s Longspurs. The mag-nificent Kenai Peninsula andResurrection Bay are full ofimpressive displays of marinebirds and mammals.

Gambell combines the possibility of Asiatic visitors with a spectacularpassage of seabirds. We also hope to see birds that breed locally in westernor northern Alaska but nowhere else in North America.

Nome and the Seward Peninsula will still be witnessing migration dur-ing our visit, and we’ll search for Bristle-thighed Curlew among thewealth of breeding shorebirds. Nome extensions are available to both ourMajesty of the North tour and our spring tour of Gambell.

Barrow, the most northerly city in Alaska, offers access to high-latitudetundra rich in specialty birds. We search for Steller’s and SpectacledEiders here, at one of the only accessible breeding areas in North Americafor both.

WINGS also visits Alaska in the fall. Gambell in Autumn provides theopportunity to see a variety of specialties, an incredible seabird spectacle,and likely some Asian landbird strays. Paul Lehman spends much of thefall at Gambell as the WINGS Leader in Residence.

All of our Alaska tours are conducted by leaders with decades of experi-ence in the state. Traveling with Jon Dunn, Paul Lehman, Rich Hoyer,and Gavin Bieber ensures the finest possible experience—and the bestchances at such mega-rarities as Jack Snipe, Stonechat, or Hawfinch, allof which and more have been discovered by our recent tour groups.

Big City Weekend: New York CityMay 7-8, 2011

Our new Big City Weekends have been created to offer the WINGS experienceto birders who for whatever reason aren’t able to participate in one of ourlonger tours farther afield. To keep the price of these two-day events low, ourweekends do not include food, lodging, or organized transportation; contact


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Horned Puffinsare among themost sought-after and mostcomicalinhabitants ofthe Pribilofs.


the WINGS office if you have any questions about making arrangements totake part in this one-of-a-kind birding experience.

Fittingly enough, New York is the site of our first venture. The largestcity in the US is a very special place for the birder. Not only is the metro-politan area sprinkled with outstanding natural areas, but the city canclaim—along with Cape May and with Essex County, Massachusetts—tobe the birthplace of American birding. From Audubon to Roger ToryPeterson and beyond, New York has drawn birders and ornithologists toits museums, its libraries, and its impressive array of parks and refuges.Two of the most famous, Central Park and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge,provide the setting for this Big City Weekend, an exploration of the sur-prising wealth of birds to be found and enjoyed right in the heart of themost exciting city in the world.

Maine:Monhegan Island in SpringMay 22-28, 2011

Late May is a fantastic time to visit Maine’s Monhegan Island. Warblers intheir summer finery are pouring through the Northeast, and many will driftover the Gulf of Maine on their nocturnal flights.

Monhegan Island is perfectly positioned to catch arriving migrants asthey seek refuge on land at dawn. Rapidly changing weather conditionscan result in massive “fallouts” of tired migrants, many of which will for-age in the rocks on the shoreline. The possibility of overshoots from the


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New York’sCentral Park is avenerableinstitution in NorthAmerican birding,and its springtimefallouts arelegendary.

Photo: Corey Finger.

south and vagrantsfrom almost anydirection adds icing tothe cake of the fantas-tic birding afforded bythis quaint littleisland. Monhegan’ssmall village is inhab-ited year-round by afew hardy lobstermenand lobsterwomenand their families. Inthe warmer months, athriving summercolony and art scenefeast on the celebrated Maine coast scenery. We’ll be arriving before thethrongs of summer tourists, and will probably have the island largely toourselves, sharing it only with other birders, local lobster fishermen, andartists. The rustic Trailing Yew will be our home for the week, featuringdelicious breakfasts and home-cooked dinners. Our comfortableEuropean-style accommodations only enhance the “turn-back-the-clock”mystique of our tour. Derek Lovitch leads this newest installment in theWINGS Mohegan Island experience.

Costa Rica:Snowcaps and Sea TurtlesJuly 17-30, 2011

Rich Hoyer’s new summertime tourto Costa Rica explores a classictropical destination at a timewhen relatively few birders visit.

From a weather perspective, July is afine time in Costa Rica: rain fallsmostly later in the day, and tempera-tures are even a bit cooler than inthe spring. It’s also post-breedingseason for most birds, meaning peaknumbers, and it’s right at the start ofGreen Sea Turtle nesting season. Wevisit famous sites and little-knownlocalities while staying in some of thecountry’s finest new lodges, makingthis the ideal tour for those who arecoming to Costa Rica for the firsttime or for those returning in searchof a fresh itinerary at a new anduncrowded season.


Uncommon andsubtle, aPhiladelphiaVireo pausesafter makinglandfall onMonhegan.


A GreatCurassow stridesalong the forestpaths of CostaRica.

Photo: Rich Hoyer.

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South AmericaThe Bird Continent: South America’s nickname says it all. With well over3,000 species, South America plays host to nearly a third of all the world’sbirds. Such snazzy groups as parrots, hummingbirds, and trogons attain theirmost impressive diversity here, and a number of families are found nowhereelse in the world. WINGS tours visit virtually all of the hotbeds ofNeotropical endemism, from the windy plains of Patagonia to the rainforestsof Brazil. Our recent tours to the continent have been particularly enjoyable,as Judy Davis, Steve Howell, Jon Feenstra, and Rich Hoyer report:

Our Ecuador: Week in Paradise tour continued the tradition of a week’sfine birding based entirely at a single comfortable lodge in the Mindoarea, the heart of birding in northwest Ecuador. In our seven days wetotaled about 320 species, among them 40 hummingbirds. We also sawsuch difficult local species as Giant Antpitta, Ocellated Tapaculo, AndeanCock-of-the-rock, and Tanager Finch, along with Choco endemicsincluding Choco Toucan, Toucan Barbet, Black-tipped Cotinga, andScarlet-browed Tanager. The blasts of color, the swarms of canopy flocks,and the dramatic changes in the species mix just a short ways down the

road truly embodied the experience oftropical birding. Highlights on thisyear’s tour of Chile included pro-longed studies of confidingMagellanic Plover and DiademedSandpiper-Plover; a couple of memo-rable Humboldt Current pelagicswith majestic Royal Albatrosses cir-cling us, fancy Inca Terns, and point-blank views of Peruvian Diving-Petrels on glassy seas; tiny maleChilean Woodstars and PeruvianSheartails feeding on desert blooms;stunning White-sided Hillstars seek-ing flowers on seemingly barren

Andean steppes; iconic Torrent Ducks in their rushing element; and anAndean Condor so close we almost could have stepped onto its wingsand been swept away; plus pygmy-owls, canasteros, empanadas, andchocolate. As our 2009 tour to Argentina: The High Andes discoveredon spying our first White Monjitas over lunch, sometimes two hands justaren’t enough: it took some creative balancing to manage empanadas,drinks, and binoculars all at once. Cream-backed Woodpeckers and aRed-legged Seriema were additional highlights in the Salta area. Andthough rain aborted much of our planned nighttime birding, we stillmanaged to enjoy a very wet Little Nightjar from the dry comfort of ourbus. Our first full day gave us Andean Condors, the first Toco Toucans,an unexpected Chaco Chachalaca—the first ever recorded on a WINGStour—an obliging Giant Antshrike, a suicidal Plumbeous Rail, and a con-fiding Greater Thornbird, all eloquent demonstration of the diversity wewould experience over the tour. Argentina is a vast country, and ourexplorations of The Pampas, Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego began


From Our Leaders

Bright PeruvianMeadowlarksinhabit the lushirrigated valleysof northern Chile.


with Greater Rheas, Southern Screamers, Long-winged Harriers, GiantWood-rails, and a South American Painted Snipe, etching lasting imagesof the pampas into our memories. Just as impressive is the wildlife in theharsh terrain of the Valdez Peninsula, where we enjoyed views of Maras,Patagonian Foxes, Southern Right Whales, Southern Sea Lions, SouthernElephant Seals, Guanacos, Elegant Crested Tinamous, Tawny-throatedDotterels, earthcreepers, and many others. And the sights, sounds, andsmells of our walk through a Magellanic Penguin colony were a mega-experience. Black-browed Albatrosses, Magellanic Diving Petrels,Southern Fulmars, and Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins more thanmade up for our surprise when the Beagle Channel changed our return toUshuaia from a placid sail to a rough sea journey. Not even the mostextravagant superlatives can describe birding in Brazil’s Pantanal andRio Cristalino Jungle Lodge. Our latest tour saw Jabirus, PlumbeousIbises, egrets, herons, and kingfishers in such numbers that our checklistswere filled with estimates of tens and hundreds. The gallery forests of thePantanal provided a male Helmeted Manakin, almost regal in his blackand red plumage. A young Harpy Eagle within our first hour at AltaFloresta set the stage for our Amazonian experience. Our sample of thisoverpowering diversity included a tower experience where macaws flewbelow us and toucans, toucanets, and aracaris perched long enough to bescoped, while a male Pompadour Cotinga flashed past. River trips on theCristalino provided a male Amazonian Umbrellabird, a pair of Razor-billed Curassows, and Hoatzins. Southeast Brazil and Rio may conjureup images of Copacabana, carnival, and salsa. But for the birders on ourlatest tour, mention of the area’s Atlantic rainforest will always recallendemic cotingas including Hooded Berryeater and Black-and-goldCotinga; a day in drier, more open habitat with over 90 bird speciesincluding Red-legged Seriema and Three-toed Jacamar; hours spentsearching out skulkers in low-light forest, where the vocal and visual per-formance of Slaty Bristlefront took the prize; and a successful owl prowlthat provided one of the best views ever of Tawny-browed Owl. Peruboasts even more species than Brazil, and Manu and Machu Picchu areeasily among the country’s most exciting and most bird-filled destina-tions. A world away from home, Machu Picchu produced a FasciatedTiger-Heron, Black-streaked Puffbird, and Green-and-whiteHummingbird. Manu Paradise Lodge hosted a Many-spottedHummingbird and Violet-fronted Brilliants at the feeders; the two full


From Our Leaders

days we birded here found us visiting the chaos of the famous AndeanCock-of-the-rock lek and birding in lush cloud forest dripping with excit-ing birds. Mixed cloud-forest flocks included Golden-bellied Warbler,Yellow-bellied Antwren, and Ocellated Woodcreeper (to be split somedayas Tschudi’s Woodcreeper). One warm morning at low elevation, we weretreated to the rare sight of three Solitary Eagles and a pair of Black-and-white Hawk-Eagles, with a pair of Black Hawk-Eagles just down theroad.

Central Americaand the CaribbeanSo close, so convenient—and so enchantingly exotic. The rainforests and high-lands of Central America and the islands are home to a wondrous variety oftropical birds, and the countries we visit on WINGS tours are as welcomingas their landscapes are captivating. Gavin Bieber and Rich Hoyer report:

Unbeatable views of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle shortly after it had eaten partof an Ocellated Turkey and a once-in-a-lifetime view of a stunning maleLovely Cotinga were the stand-outs on this year’s tour Belize: Birds ofChan Chich. But every day had memorable highlights, and the list offavorite sightings was almost as long as the 196 species recorded duringour seven days of relaxed birding. The weather was interesting in thewake of a strong cold front: instead of the usual tropical heat and humid-ity, it was downright comfortable nearly every day, even a bit chilly on acouple of mornings. Our stay was made thoroughly enjoyable by thehelpful staff and guides at the lodge, the wonderful food, and having thetime to relax and recoup between our outings. Our wonderful 2009Panama tour surpassed even our lofty expectations, with a wealth ofamazing birds and mammals. Among the many standouts were a TinyHawk closely monitoring the tower’s hummingbird feeders, a Scaly-throated Leaftosser feeding young, close views of a stunning male BlueCotinga, a White-tipped Sicklebill feeding at eye-level Heliconia flowers,six species of trogons, a fiesta of gaudy tanagers including Rufous-winged,Bay-headed, Emerald, Speckled, Black-and-yellow, Silver-throated,Golden-hooded, Crimson-backed and Flame-rumped, extended views ofthe endemic Veraguan Mango (along with 24 other species of humming-birds), ant swarms with their attendant Bicolored, Spotted, and incredibleOcellated Antbirds, and a pair of the endemic Stripe-cheekedWoodpeckers. This year’s tour to the Dominican Republic managed toencounter 29 of the endemic species while traveling through upland pineforest, humid tropical forest, dry thornscrub, cactus fields, sugar caneplantations, inland salt lakes, and beautiful sandy beaches. We had fineviews of some stunning and unique birds: Palmchats were common, andwe had repeated encounters with two species of exquisite todies. FromHispaniolan Trogon to three species of quail-doves, from Ridgway’s Hawkto Ashy-faced Owl, from one of the most attractive Melanerpes wood-peckers to the odd Antillean Piculet and elegant La Selle Thrush, andfrom charismatic cuckoos like Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo and Bay-breasted Cuckoo to the real skulkers such as Eastern and Western Chat-


From Our Leaders

Tanagers, this tour offered us a wide range of bird species and an impres-sive degree of endemism.

MexicoA welcoming people, spectacular food, and a thousand bird species rightlymake Mexico one of the most popular destinations in international ornitho-tourism. Our latest tours have been—as always—full of birds, butterflies,and good times, as Steve Howell and Rich Hoyer report:

Our entry into Mexico for this year’s Butterflies and Birds tour of ElCielo and Gómez Farías was delightfully rapid and uneventful. We hadour first picnic lunch in a subtropical canyon near Ciudad Victoria,where we were utterly distracted by the clicking sounds of crackers andthe beauty of swallowtails, purplewings, Superb Cycadians, and manyother butterflies. Even before getting to our Gómez Farías hotel, we hadthe most unexpected butterfly of the tour, a second state record of White-posted Metalmark on the queen’s wreath flowers. We had a hard timeleaving our hotel grounds some mornings, with non-stop activity in theparking area including Masked Tityra, Yellow-winged Tanager, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Altamira Oriole, Social Flycatcher, and Wedge-tailedSabrewing. Inside the dining area were our only Quilted Metalmark anda gorgeous dragonfly, the Hercules Skimmer, not previously recorded inTamaulipas. Our three nights at Rancho del Cielo were as peaceful andrejuvenating as the most luxurious resort. The nighttime sounds ofMottled Owls and crickets were memories to take home. Some of thebetter birds here were Singing Quail, Azure-crowned Hummingbird,Olivaceous and Spot-crowned Woodcreepers, Gray-collared Becard,Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owl, Golden-browed Warbler, and Elegant Euphonia—a brief list that just scratchesthe surface. Where but Oaxaca and Western Chiapas could you find 15species of vireos and 18 wrens in such a small area? Answer: nowhere.One day we were in tropical scrub with handsome Belted Flycatchers andRusset-crowned Motmots, the next in bromeliad-draped montane forest


From Our Leaders

watching Blue-throated Motmots and Pink-headed Warblers, the next inrain forest with Blue-crowned Motmots and the little-known Nava’sWren—and all based out of one hotel! Then on to Giant Wrens, LesserGround Cuckoos, spectacular mountain vistas and cactus forests, flashyBridled Sparrows and Red Warblers, elusive Dwarf Jays and DwarfVireos, and the haunting songs of Brown-backed Solitaires and a surpriseFulvous Owl. And so our ten days of birding in southern Mexico pro-duced many wonderful birds, including 36 Mexican endemics and 38regional endemics. Great weather and, as always, a very comfortable set-ting with great food and hospitality—plus fabulous birds, of course—made this year’s San Blas tour one to remember. Highlights ranged fromBumblebee Hummingbird to Black-throated Magpie-Jay; from stunningmale Rose-throated Becards and singing Brown-backed Solitaires to cryp-tic, silent, otherworldly Northern Potoos; from shrimp burgers and thirst-quenching “limonadas” to deserted beaches and enchanted mangrovetunnels; from truly Blue-footed Boobies to an elegant Laughing Falcon;and from refreshing siestas to dizzying flocks of caciques, thrushes, tro-gons, woodpeckers, vireos, tanagers, and parakeets swarming into fruitingfig trees.

North AmericaIt may be “home turf ” for many of us, but North America is full of unex-plored corners full of natural beauty. Of course, WINGS takes in all of thegreat hotspots, from Alaska to Florida, from Arizona to Maine, but we add tothem our leaders’ “secret” sites and personal favorites, making our tours asrewarding for old birding hands as for beginners, as exciting for NorthAmericans as for visitors to the continent. Gavin Bieber, Jon Dunn, PaulLehman, Derek Lovitch, Jake Mohlmann, and Will Russell talk abouttheir latest ventures.

After a majority of years with no sea ice at Gambell, this year’s tour toAlaska’s St. Lawrence Island saw ice floes predominating for the first partof our stay. Rain and east to southeast winds resulted in the arrival of sev-


From Our Leaders

eral North American species, the most unusual being a Swainson’s Thrushand the first ever Spotted Sandpiper for the Bering Sea. Asian speciesincluded two Eyebrowed Thrushes, three Rustic Buntings, and a maleBrambling. Also notable were a variegatus Whimbrel, an Asian longipennisCommon Tern, and at least four adult male White-winged Scoters of theAsian stejnegeri race. We encountered all four eiders, all four regular loonsincluding Arctic, a Red-necked Stint, and two Red-throated Pipits.Northern Wheatears and Bluethroats were rather numerous. Other high-lights included a Walrus with a pup on its back and a pod of KillerWhales killing a Gray Whale. The Nome extension had stunning views ofBristle-thighed Curlew, both on the ground and in display flight.Surprising were one or two stakeout Hawfinches well west of Nome, oneof few mainland records for this species. Our Deserts in Winter tour isalways full of surprises, and thisJanuary’s edition was definitely noexception. Perhaps the most unex-pected avian find was the Red-throated Pipit in San Diego, thefirst winter record of the speciesever in the United States. Or maybeit was the total of three Rufous-backed Robins. Or perhaps it wasthe leader’s favorite: a most bizarreimmature Magnificent Frigatebirdcircling around over downtownNogales, Arizona, with snow-capped hills and mountains asbackdrop. Other rare Mexican species included multiple Ruddy Ground-Doves and a Black-capped Gnatcatcher. Two Pacific Golden-Plovers, aEurasian Wigeon, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull joined the pipit inadding some Old World flavor to the mix. Our latest SouthernCalifornia tour tallied all of the chaparral and oak woodland species thatinhabit the region, as well as a fine selection of other migrant and resi-dent species from the Salton Sea and the Colorado and Mohave Deserts.Highlights included Yellow-footed Gull, Allen’s Hummingbirds, at leastone pair of Island Scrub-Jays, a pair of California Gnatcatchers, a pair ofLeConte’s Thrashers, and a handful of Lawrence’s Goldfinches. Raritiesincluded a Black Vulture—only California’s fourth record—a juvenileRuff, an immature female Prairie Warbler, and an Orchard Oriole. Wealso encountered spectacular numbers of shearwaters of three species andCommon Dolphins in the Santa Barbara Channel on our return fromSanta Cruz Island. Our most recent Arizona Owls and Warblers tourhad what was certainly the best turnout ever in terms of Mexican rarities.The list was impressive, and included White-eared and LuciferHummingbirds, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Rufous-capped and Crescent-chested Warblers, and a male Flame-colored Tanager. Add to that all theregular Arizona specialties, beautiful weather, and the usual stunningArizona mountain scenery, and this tour was one for the record books.Arizona’s Second Spring was highlighted by the first Sinaloa Wren northof Mexico. Other highlights included splendid views of a pair ofMontezuma Quail; fourteen species of raptors including Gray, Common


From Our Leaders

The famousground cuckoo ofthe deserts,GreaterRoadrunners areconspicuousresidents of theAmericanSouthwest.

Photo: Greg Greene.

Black, Harris’s, Short-tailed, and Zone-tailed Hawks; seven species ofowls including a cooperative pair of adult Spotted Owls; a fine variety ofhummingbirds including White-eared, Berylline, Lucifer, and Violet-crowned; a breeding-plumaged male Black-capped Gnatcatcher; a return-ing adult male Flame-colored Tanager; and Five-striped Sparrow. Themonsoons were a bit early this year, and lowland sparrows were in fullsong. We also tallied over 40 species of butterflies and recorded severalsnakes, including a Western Diamondback. A Bobcat was our mostnotable mammal sighting. Our 2010 New Mexico in Winter adventurewas an unmitigated success. The group tallied 141 species in just six days,traveling as far south as Percha Dam State Park and as far north as theLas Vegas NWR and Conchas Lake. Along the way, we experienced abreadth of habitats hard to match in any other similarly sized area in thecountry. Montane forests, barren creosote flats, riparian cottonwoodforests, extensive pinyon-juniper forests, and the wide-open prairie com-bined to provide spectacular backdrops for our daily excursions. Thebirds were just as varied, from wheeling flocks of thousands of callinggeese and Sandhill Cranes to perched up and singing Crissal Thrashers,and from point-blank views of all three species of rosy-finches to suchsurprising rarities as Red-throated Loon, Red-necked Grebe, and GrayCatbird. A migrant trap like Cape May is all about suspense. Even whileenjoying Northern Bobwhites, Clapper Rails, and Seaside and SaltmarshSparrows, there’s always the gnawing anticipation that at any minute theweather could break and the warblers and raptors will come pouring over.Last year’s tour did it well, working saltmarshes, barrier islands, and

coastal woodlands for the special-ties, plus finding a few goodies likeHudsonian Godwit and NewJersey’s second Roseate Spoonbill.We even made a trip across the Bayto see Brown-headed Nuthatch atthe northern limit of its range inDelaware. On the final day, thewinds shifted to give us an excellentflight with Bald Eagles and dozensof accipiters and falcons circlingoverhead. But it was the flock offifteen species of warbler, includinga scarce migrant Canada Warbler,

that really put the icing on the cake. Our Migration in the Midwesttour visits some equally famous hotspots, including Point Pelee andCrane Creek, where our most recent group found a wide variety andgood quantity of migrants. Crane Creek was particularly noteworthy withlarge numbers of eastern warblers, many of them literally at arm’s reach.In the end we recorded 36 species of warblers, missing only the scarceConnecticut, and had all of the eastern flycatchers. We had good views ofKirtland’s Warblers near Mio, and also found a female Kirtland’s at CraneCreek. Our day in southern Ohio produced the usual southern species,plus good views of Henslow’s Sparrows and Blue Grosbeaks. A White-faced Ibis east of Bay City, Michigan, was certainly noteworthy. Alsonoteworthy, but under the exotic category, were an adult Whooping


From Our Leaders

On a good Mayday, the famousMidwesternmigration spotstruly “drip” withcolorful birds likethis BaltimoreOriole.

Photo: Jon Dunn.

Crane east of Bay City and a well-documented female Linnet at TawasPoint. Two immature Rough-legged Hawks were exceptionally late; theymight have been more comfortable in Minnesota in Winter, wheresnow-covered bogs and forests are home to some of the most enigmaticspecies on the continent. Temperatures ran 5 to 10 degrees above normal,and with light winds on most days, it was more than tolerable outside.The sight of a total of nine different Northern Hawk Owls, Great GrayOwl, Snowy Owl, and Sharp-tailed Grouse dancing in the snow quicklywarmed spirits, if not fingers and toes. Pine Grosbeaks, Gray Jays, andPine Siskins were common, and other irruptive target birds seen includeda number of Northern Shrikes, Boreal Chickadees, and EveningGrosbeaks. Other highlights included Lesser Scaup, Iceland and GlaucousGulls, five Coyotes, and a family group of four Bobcats. Our recent tourof Nebraska’s Platte River had the great good fortune of recording threespecies of cranes, a first for a WINGS tour in North America, and possi-bly for any organized tour on the continent. The star was certainly thestakeout Common Crane at North Platte. Coming in second place wasthe adult Whooping Crane near Grand Island, a rare but regular migrantthat typically occurs in April. Both of these birds were mixed in withstaggering numbers of Sandhill Cranes, with our maximum one-daycount of some 400,000. Watching many tens of thousands of Sandhillsleave or arrive at river bar roost sites provides for one of the great wildlifespectacles anywhere. And their constant bugling is a sound that willlinger with us for a very long time. The winter of 2010 was a fantasticseason for the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. We had success withall of the staked-out rarities, including Northern Jacana, Rose-throatedBecard, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and—the star of the show—a juve-nile Roadside Hawk. In addition to these Mexican wanderers, we visiteda wintering Northern Wheatear, an incredible counterpoint to the south-ern strays. Our repeated views of Green Jays, Altamira Orioles, PlainChachalacas, and a host of other fine birds restricted to this corner of theUnited States allowed the participants to really get to know these speciesrather than merely ticking them off on their lists. Our first tour of coastalGeorgia and South Carolina combined visits to important historic siteswith some fine birding. In the Savannah area, we visited Fort Pulaski,Fort Jackson, and Fort McAllister; from Charleston, we stopped in at


From Our Leaders

Fort Moultrie and famous Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, our birding turnedup over 150 species, among them Red-cockaded Woodpecker andBachman’s Sparrow, along with a fine variety of waterbirds and passerines.The food was unquestionably gourmet throughout, and even the luncheswere exceptional at such restaurants as Poe’s Tavern, where the poet’s writ-ings are literally part of the wallpaper. Our most recent fall tour ofMaine’s Monhegan Island made do without a notable cold front, butstill managed to see a good representation of the season’s mix. One of ourfavorite aspects of Monhegan, repeated in some form seemingly everyyear, is the little band of warblers that seems for days on end to inhabitthe skimpy rows of lilacs along the main road; we see them so manytimes and at such close range that they almost become friends. This year’sbunch included American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Northern Parula, aparticularly bright Wilson’s Warbler, and, at least briefly, the greenest ofTennessee Warblers. Dickcissel, Lark Sparrow, and Clay-colored Sparroware Monhegan’s autumn specialty birds, and all were present this timeagain; Clay-colored Sparrows were amazingly numerous, and our countof eight together was almost certainly an all-time regional high.

Australia and the PacificThe lands of the South Pacific, from the tiniest atoll to the great IslandContinent itself, are home to some of the weirdest and most beautiful crea-tures on the planet. As David Fisher reports, there’s no place like Australasiato get a taste of the outlandish, the bizarre, and the wondrous.

Our tour of Queensland and New South Wales started in Cairns, wherewe admired the Papuan Frogmouths and marveled at the birds and mam-mals coming to the feeders at Kingfisher Lodge; Bush Rat and Fawn-footed Melomys were new to the cumulative WINGS list. On the way tothe Atherton Tablelands, we enjoyed Australian Bustards, Square-tailedKites at the nest, and Great Bowerbird at the bower. The rainforest patch-es around Yungaburra were teeming with so many birds that it was hardto pick out highlights. Watching Tooth-billed Bowerbirds singing abovetheir strange leaf bowers was memorable, as were the Chowchillas, theSpotted Catbirds, and, of course, the Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroos. AtCassowary House we had two cassowaries almost right away, leaving usplenty of time to enjoy the Fairy Gerygones and Lovely Fairy-wrensbefore returning to Cairns and its Mangrove Robins, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, and Collared Kingfishers—not to mention the Rufous Night-Herons roosting right in the center of town. Out on the Great BarrierReef we found seven Red-footed Boobies, both species of frigatebird, anda Black Noddy. We also enjoyed a fantastic day at sea, surrounded bytwenty-plus albatrosses of four species; it was quite remarkable to watchthem interact with a Mako Shark while all of them—including theshark—were fed by hand from the boat. And this was in addition toboth species of giant petrel, three species of Pterodroma petrel, and aBlack-bellied Storm-Petrel—only our second ever in 24 tours—among allthe Wilson’s. We also recorded Humpback Whales, Sun Fish, and FurSeal. Our tour of South Australia and Northern Territory kicked off


From Our Leaders

with the waterbirds of Adelaide, followed by a visit to the St. Kilda salt-fields, where another mass of waterbirds included the only Musk Ducksand Fairy Terns of the tour. At Gluepot, we connected with the greatlysought-after Black-eared Miner, a highly endangered species with a popu-lation of possibly fewer than 500 individuals; we had excellent views ofthis and many of the other mallee specialties. Moving on to the RedCenter of Australia, we based ourselves in Alice Springs for three nights.We found most of the local specialties, including Western Bowerbird atthe bower, Red-browed Pardalote, and Painted Firetail, while Bourke’sParrots put on a splendid show coming in to drink at dusk. Our day tripto Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata-Tjuta (the Olgas) allowed us to explorethose magnificent geological features at leisure, and of course we stayedfor the world-famous sunset. We added more than a hundred species tothe trip list at Darwin, where local specialties included a pair of ChestnutRails with a chick, a pair of Barking Owls, a splendid Rufous Owl, astunning Rainbow Pitta, and a lovely family of Tawny Frogmouths. Anight in Katherine allowed us to see Hooded Parrot and Gouldian Finchas well as Yellow-tinted and Rufous-throated Honeyeaters. Tasmania andVictoria provided some excellent birding, too. Our local guide had all theTasmanian endemics staked out. The Forty-spotted Pardalotes were groupfavorites as usual, though a pair of white-morph Gray Goshawks was alsoa sight to behold. Moving north through Victoria, our next major stopwas Deniliquin, home of the famous Plains-wanderer. After showing usInland Dotterel, Little Buttonquail, and Stubble Quail, the local ranchersproduced a stunning female Plains-wanderer, the brighter of the sexes.We were lucky to see two Australasian Bitterns at the only wet pond inthe district. A lake just outside of Chiltern produced seven unexpectedFreckled Ducks, a local rarity. The weather challenged us somewhataround Healesville, but in between showers we had great encounters withSuperb Lyrebird, the longest passerine in the world. We started the nextday well with Gang-gangs in the hotel garden, continued with Blue-billedDucks and a vast camp of Gray-headed Flying-foxes, and ended brilliant-ly with a pair of Powerful Owls and a Platypus.


From Our Leaders

AsiaWith few exceptions, the great birding localities of Asia have long gone over-looked. Today, though, with good infrastructures emerging in many countries,old conflicts resolved, and a new ethos of conservation encouraging birdingtourism, Asia has become one of the hottest destinations around. WINGStours visit the old favorites and exciting new landscapes, as Richard Craik,Fergus Crystal, Jon Dunn, David Fisher, James Lidster, and SteveRooke relate.

During our first two days in Vietnam, we came to grips with the likes ofChestnut Bulbul, Short-tailed Parrotbill, Coral-billed and Streak-breastedScimitar-babblers, and chuckling flocks of Gray Laughingthrushes.Golden Babblers, Schaeffer’s Fulvettas, and Bianchi’s Warblers lurked atmid-height in the bamboo forests, while Gray-throated Babblers andSlaty-bellied Tesias crept along. At Cuc Phuong, we saw Rufous-throatedFulvetta and Limestone Wren Babbler, along with Scaly-breastedPartridge, Blue-rumped Pitta, Maroon Oriole, a gaggle of Silver-breastedBroadbills, Hainan Blue Flycatcher, White-winged Magpie, and Racket-and Ratchet-tailed Treepies. We flew south to Dalat, and over the nextthree days we visited a variety of habitats. Mountain conifers yielded allthe hoped-for species, including two groups of Vietnamese Cutias; severalpairs of Red (or should that be Vietnamese?) Crossbill; Mugimaki, Red-throated, and Little Pied Flycatchers; Slender-billed Oriole; VietnameseGreenfinch; and even a day-roosting Oriental Scops Owl. Within a cou-ple of hours of starting the Highlands Extension, we were enjoyingsuperb views of the recently split Limestone Warbler and the recently dis-covered Sooty Babbler. Our first evening in Bach Ma National Parkfound us enjoying Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills in the samefield of view, while the next day started with a showy Blue-rumped Pittafollowed by two cock Silver Pheasants fighting on the road. Within acouple of minutes of getting out of the bus at Lo Xo we were enjoyingtwo very obliging Black-crowned Barwings, a species not discovered until1996. Our Central Asia tour started with clear skies and bright sun, and

we were soon on our way to theChimgan Hills, where OrientalHoney Buzzard, Hume’s LesserWhitethroat, Rufous-naped,Yellow-breasted and Turkestan Tits,and White-capped and RockBuntings were some of the high-lights. Reaching Samarkand, weenjoyed great views of White-throated Robin, Eastern OrpheanWarbler, Barred Warbler, Red-head-ed Bunting, Lesser Gray and

Isabelline Shrikes, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, and Hume’s Short-toed Lark.Pander’s Ground Jay was the main object of our attention the followingday. The birds showed well, and we returned to town with time toindulge in some serious rug buying. In Kazakhstan, Mongolian Finchcame to drink right by the tents and Gray-necked Bunting sang justabove. The plains gave great views of Pallas’s Sandgrouse, up to four Saker


From Our Leaders

Central Asia isfull of specialbirds and exoticexperiences.

Photo: Steve Rooke.

Falcons, Asian Desert Warbler, Desert Wheatear, Horned Lark, RockSparrow, and spiralling Demoiselle Cranes. High in the mountainsaround Almaty, we watched Güldenstädt’s Redstart and Brown Accentor,and lower down we were rewarded with outstanding views of Sulphur-bellied Warbler and—bird of the trip for many—Severtzov’s Tit Warbler.Once again, Mongolia beggared our store of superlatives. By the TuulRiver, we recorded Azure Tit, Daurian Jackdaw, White-cheeked Starling,Chestnut-eared Bunting, a small fallout of Arctic Warblers, and LesserSpotted Woodpecker. The following day, we saw a Pallas’s GrasshopperWarbler and two Dusky Warblers, followed by Pallas’s Sandgrouse andOriental Plover between the airport and our first ger camp. It was clearthat a fallout had taken place, and we spent a couple of hours siftingthrough Thick-billed, Dusky, Pallas’s and Two-barred Greenish Warblers,more Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, Hawfinches, Common Rosefinches,a Japanese Sparrowhawk, a cuckoo species, Siberian Rubythroats, andbreeders such as Isabelline Shrike, Desert Wheatear, and Amur and BaikalWhite Wagtails. Over the course of our two visits to Yolyn Am, we sawLammergeier, Black and Himalayan Vultures, Golden Eagle, dancingDemoiselle Cranes, Altai Snowcock, Kozlov’s, Brown, and AlpineAccentors, Isabelline Wheatear, Black Redstart, Wallcreeper, Pacific Swift,Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Beautiful Rosefinch, Twite, White-wingedSnowfinch, and Godlewski’s Bunting. Another day of driving was punc-tuated by a couple more Asian Desert Warblers and Steppe Gray Shrike;best of all was a noisy group of Henderson’s Ground Jays, providing byfar our best encounter ever as they perched, called, and generally lookedsuperb. On our tour of Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau, two speciespractically ran away with the end-of-tour prize for “Bird of the Trip.”Our first Pink-tailed Bunting was a juvenile; we went on to see anotherthree birds, including a gorgeous male at nomore than 15 yards’ distance that was performingits distinctive parachuting song flight with tailsplayed and wings shivering: a fabulous andgreatly appreciated encounter with thistaxonomic enigma, once considered a rosefinchbut now placed in its own family. But first placewent to one of the last species added to our triplist, Tibet’s endemic Tibetan Eared-Pheasant.We were lucky, eventually succeeding in seeingseveral birds after hearing them from the parkinglot; these first individuals were distant, butremained out in the open in a high-altitudemeadow for perhaps ten or fifteen minutes,allowing us all to have repeated scope views.An hour later several more birds were spot-ted—this time much closer, and headed ourway. Eventually they came in to one of thesmall fields only a few hundred yards from us,where they stayed until we were satiated. InNorthern India, we knew instantly what itmeant when we heard one of the park guideswhistle: they were watching a Tiger! Closing


From Our Leaders

India's colorfulBlue-throatedBarbet: the nameis a seriousunderstatement.

Photo: Paul Holt.

in, we were motioned forwards—not that we needed too much directingas there, walking right up the middle of the jeep track, was our quarry,our first Tiger. It was a fantastic encounter, with the animal in view foralmost 15 minutes, walking right up the center of the forest road as if sheowned it—which we knew she did. We’d go on to see two more finebeasts on our fifth and final game drive, plus a solitary male at Corbett.That makes seven years in a row that we’ve seen Tigers on this tour, but itwas particularly fitting that we saw them this year: Valentine’s Day 2010also marked the start of the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Tigers were farfrom all that we saw even at Ranthambhore, where ornithological high-lights included the hoped-for Painted Spurfowl, two rather elusive White-naped Woodpeckers, and the first of our three encounters with BrownFish Owl. A pool beside our hotel held impressive numbers of exquisitelyplumaged Painted Sandgrouse, and an excursion yielded a number ofdesert species such as Indian Courser, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, andYellow-wattled Lapwing. Southern India and the Andamans providedjust as much excitement. Our first ornithological delights came withunusually extended scope views of a fine male Indian Blue Robin. Laterthe same day we were enjoying strutting Gray Junglefowl, our firstdemure Nilgiri and secretive Black-and-orange Flycatchers, an extremelycooperative male Kashmir Flycatcher, and a Nilgiri Blue Robin. AnotherSouth Indian endemic, this time in the shape of White-browed Bulbul,fell next, as, spectacularly, did a very handsome male White-belliedMinivet. The following morning saw us searching successfully for IndianPitta right on the hotel grounds. A Jerdon’s Nightjar flew over the restau-rant, soon followed by a very satisfying encounter with a pair of RedSpurfowl—often the hardest South Indian endemic to see well. Our threedays at Periyar featured repeated encounters with Heart-spottedWoodpeckers, White-bellied Treepies, Indian Black Woodpeckers, andMalabar and Great Pied Hornbills. On the extension we steadily whittleddown the list of island endemics. The night birds—the scops owl, thetwo hawk owls, and even the nightjar—fell surprisingly easily, and perse-verance eventually produced nineteen of the Andamans’ endemics,including Andaman Crake, Andaman Cuckooshrike, Andaman Coucal,and Andaman Woodpigeon. Japan in Winter featured fine hospitality,delicious food, and breathtaking birds. Walks along the snowy slopes ofTateshina provided views of Copper Pheasant, Japanese PygmyWoodpecker, and Red-flanked Bluetail. We saw Japanese Wagtail andJapanese Woodpecker at a Buddhist temple, Long-tailed Rosefinch andGreen Pheasant near a brilliantly preserved Edo-era village, a flock ofBewick’s Swans in the Kamikawa River surrounded by other waterfowlincluding Smew and Falcated Duck, and a group of 20 Asian Azure-winged Magpies in the reeds. We also made a memorable excursion to seeup to 60 Japanese Macaques squabbling, delousing, frowning, andbathing. The Arasaki rice fields were filled with 5,000 Hooded Cranesand 500 White-naped Cranes. An Eastern Water Rail gave great views ofthis newly separated species. We got great views of an adult Pallas’s Gull,and close views of 76 Saunders’s Gulls. Two Black-faced Spoonbills werealso there. One of our first Red-crowned Cranes approached to within 20yards of our safari bus; our driver then showed us a magnificent roostingUral Owl. Farther north, we set out on an early morning boat trip out to


From Our Leaders

the sea ice, where we watched up to 50 Steller’s Sea Eagles and 15 White-tailed Eagles, surrounded by hundreds of Slaty-backed, Glaucous, andGlaucous-winged Gulls. That night we had brief views of a Blakiston’sFish Owl. This year’s Peninsular Thailand and Gurney’s Pitta tour wastreated to stunning views of a male Gurney’s on the first afternoon. Wealso had excellent views of both Banded and Mangrove Pittas. Otherhighlights included Chinese Egret, hundreds of Lesser and ten or moreChristmas Island Frigatebirds, nest-ing Blyth’s and Wallace’s Hawk-Eagles, all of Thailand’s malkohasincluding the scarce and localChestnut-bellied, Javan Frogmouth,and three large owls: Spotted andBrown Wood-Owls and a BarredEagle Owl with a youngster. Inaddition we had Nicobar Pigeon,Thick-billed Spiderhunter, Brown-streaked and an immature maleMugimaki Flycatcher, Rufous-col-lared Kingfisher, Scarlet-rumpedTrogon, Pied Triller, and a coopera-tive Rail-babbler. Our rarest find wasa male Eurasian Blackbird at Laem Talumphuk, the first for southernThailand. This year’s Coast to the Highlands tour of Thailand recordedmore than 400 species. Near the coast we found over 30 species of shore-birds, including the much sought-after Spoon-billed Sandpiper, tenNordmann’s Greenshanks, Broad-billed Sandpiper, and Malaysian and thenewly rediscovered White-faced Plovers. Several Chinese Egrets and a sin-gle Black-faced Spoonbill were also notable. At Khao Yai National Parkwe had extended views of Silver Pheasant and Siamese Fireback, threespecies of hornbill, and three species of broadbill, including a nest-build-ing pair of Dusky Broadbills. Also notable were a female MugimakiFlycatcher, two Violet Cuckoos, and three Pin-tailed Parrotfinches.Highlights in northern Thailand included three female Hume’s Pheasants,Black-tailed Crake, White-browed and Speckled Piculets, Crimson-breast-ed Woodpecker, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Black-breasted and ChestnutThrushes, a male Gray-winged Blackbird, a female Blue-fronted Redstart,a male Fire-tailed Sunbird molting into alternate plumage, and a maleand female Black-headed Bunting in the Tha Ton paddies.

AfricaBirding in Africa goes from strength to strength, with new sites being discov-ered all the time. WINGS is fortunate to have expert leaders and the finestground agents around taking our groups to famous localities and little-knowngems, with results that are nothing less than spectacular. James Lidster andSteve Rooke report on our latest tours.

Our 2009 South Africa: Kalahari to the Cape started well, withSouthern Pale Chanting Goshawks, dinky Pygmy Falcons, and massive


From Our Leaders

Thailand's richcultural heritageis everywhere inevidence—andalmost enoughto draw ourattention fromthe country'sfascinatingbirdlife.

Photo: Jon Dunn.

Sociable Weaver nests. Our drive into the Kalahari took us to a waterholewith good numbers of Namaqua Sandgrouse and a few Burchell’sSandgrouse. A pair of Southern White-faced Scops Owls in a bush were areal find, and our other highlights included several Bateleurs, a couple ofSecretary Birds, Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, Kalahari Scrub-Robins, stun-ning Crimson-breasted Shrikes, hordes of Scaly-feathered Finches, Maricoand Chat Flycatchers, three sleepy Cheetahs, and a fine male Lion.Outside the reserve, we found lots of Northern Black Korhaans, Lilac-breasted Rollers, and a very responsive Pearl-spotted Owlet. The CapeGannets and other seabirds of Lambert Bay were still impressive. Leavingthe coast, we got very good views of Little Rush and Lesser SwampWarblers. We found both of our targets at West Coast Nature Reserve,Black and African Marsh Harriers, and then it was off for the karoo, withour first Blue Cranes and Orange-throated Longclaw along the way.Birding in Ghana just gets better with each passing year. Our early visitto Shai Hills turned up White-crowned Cliff-chat, White-shoulderedBlack Tit, Rock Martin, and Double-toothed Barbet. Kakum’s canopy

walkway is an unfailing highlight, andrewarded us with such special birds as BlackBee-eater, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk,African Cuckoo Hawk, African Finfoot,Great Blue and Yellow-billed Turacos, BlackCuckoo, the much sought-after Yellow-foot-ed Honeyguide, White-throated Blue andPreuss’s Swallows, Golden and White-throat-ed Greenbuls, Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Kemp’s Longbill,Sharpe’s Apalis, Red-billed Helmet Shrike,Black-and-white Flycatcher, Red-ventedMalimbe, and Sabine’s, Cassin’s, and BlackSpinetails. The Picathartes arrived on time

and showed well for all. Ethiopia, a time-honored destination, was veryprofitable as always, with a wide range of species including superb viewsof Clapperton’s Francolin, Temminck’s Courser, Grayish and Verreaux’sEagle Owls, a young Didric Cuckoo being fed by a Rüppell’s Weaver,Bearded and Nubian Woodpeckers, Red-throated Wryneck, Banded andRed-fronted Barbets, Greater Honeyguide, Black-winged Lovebird,Slender-tailed Nightjar, Black Scimitarbill, and Abyssinian Black andBlack-eared Wheatears. Thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingos werea welcome sight at Lake Abiata, as was a big group of Kittlitz’s Plovers. Anice male Lesser Kestrel, Red-chested and Gray-rumped Swallows,Erlanger’s Lark, and Red-breasted Wheatear were a few of the birds wesaw on the drive to Goba, but our highlight was a roosting Cape EagleOwl, followed by fantastic views of an Abyssinian Long-eared Owl androosting Montane Nightjars at Dinsho. Kenya was lush and green for ourJanuary tour, covered in a recently grown carpet of thick vegetation. Ouronly Egyptian Vulture was the first we’d seen for a number of years. Aflock of 23 Levant Sparrowhawks was unprecedented in Kenya. TwoCommon Buttonquail flushed from roadside grass were our first for anumber of years. An African Finfoot in Nairobi National Park was


From Our Leaders

A White-throatedBee-eater on thealert in Ghana.


David’s first there in 29 visits. Three Greater Painted-Snipe during ourpicnic lunch at Musiara Marsh were certainly in the running for bird-of-the-trip honors. The African Scops Owl at Lake Baringo was unexpected.The Bar-tailed Trogon on the way down from Mountain Lodge was a realtreat for everyone. The Somali Bee-eater on the drive out from Patterson’sCamp was the first for a number of years. A pair of African Broadbillsnear the Ikuwya Stream in Kakamega Forest represented only our fourthsighting in ten years—and to see the male performing its amazing displayflight was a treat indeed. The birding was spectacular from the start onour 2010 Spring Morocco tour, with Levaillant’s Woodpecker, AfricanBlue Tit, Atlas Chaffinch, and “Atlas” Long-legged Buzzard all recordedbefore our delicious outdoor lunch. A short hike up one of the moun-tains led us to Seebohm’s Wheatear and a small group of AfricanCrimson-winged Finches. Throughout the rest of the day we saw such“stimulants” as Moussier’s and Black Redstarts, Alpine and Red-billedChoughs, Blue Rock Thrush, and some truly amazing mountain scenery.Next morning we were soon enjoying a flock of 50 Crimson-wingedFinches, this time with an “Atlas” Horned Lark and the rather surrealsight of a Moroccan TV company preparing to take a coffee table up theski lifts to produce a commercial. We saw White-throated Dipper andGray Wagtail before setting off to the desert around Boumalne. Along theway we stopped for Tristram’s Warbler, more stunning scenery, deliciousmint tea, and a quick pause near Ouarzazate that produced Maghreb(Long-billed Crested) Lark, Marbled Duck, and Ruddy Shelduck.

EuropeIn some ways the most civilized of continents, Europe still preserves a surpris-ing variety of wild habitats, with a corresponding wealth of birds available tothose who know where to look. Our most recent tours were led by JamesLidster, Bryan Bland, and Rick Wright, who report on their experiencesbelow.


From Our Leaders

We arrived at our first hotel in Estonia to find six White-tailed Eagles asCommon Mergansers flew past. From that point on, the trip combinedoutstanding northern and eastern European quality with impressive quan-tity. The quality came in the form of two Lesser White-fronted Geese, aRed-breasted Goose, Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, Great Egret, twoCapercaillie, displaying Black Grouse, Hazel Grouse, lekking Great Snipe,Marsh Sandpiper, Black, Gray-headed, and White-backed Woodpeckers,Eurasian Wryneck, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, EuropeanHoney-Buzzard, Northern Goshawk, Bohemian Waxwing, CitrineWagtail, Bearded Tit, Icterine, Great Reed and Savi’s Warblers, andsuperb nest-building Penduline Tits. Quantity was provided by the water-fowl and shorebirds, with tens of thousands of Barnacle and GreaterWhite-fronted Geese, many Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, Tundra BeanGeese, Long-tailed Ducks, and Common and Velvet Scoters. The num-bers of shorebirds were staggering, with hundreds of Ruff, many in breed-ing plumage. Most days we saw Common Cranes, and there can be fewbetter experiences than standing deep in a forest and hearing that magicalbugling. White Storks were nesting in many villages, and small groups ofSmew were recorded on the open water. Our Birds and Art tour ofProvence turned up good birds every day, immeasurably enhanced by the

knowledge that the birds wewere enjoying fit so perfectlyinto their landscape, a land-scape created by nature and bythousands of years of culture.There would be no CragMartins or Alpine Swifts if notfor the presence of a Romanaqueduct, and no GreenWoodpeckers if not for thecareful mowing of the overflow parking at the Pont duGard. People, birds, and landscapes are inextricably bound

together in the history of western Europe, and part of the point of ourtour was to make those connections explicit. And again and again we suc-ceeded: a Black Redstart nesting in a crack in a Gothic arch in theAlyscamps, Stone-curlews pacing the overgrazed steppe of La Crau, eventhe Blue Tit picking food from the rooftops during our final exquisitedinner together all bore witness to the way that nature and culture, birdsand art, can be understood only when viewed together. What Icelandlacks in total number of species it more than makes up for in quality—and in the sheer numbers of certain species. During our ten-day 2009tour we recorded all of the specialties and had incredible views of somestunning birds. The quality came in the form of amazing views ofGyrfalcon, a Snowy Owl on a warm sunny afternoon, an adult femaleSteller’s Eider and a distant King Eider, Ring-billed and Little Gulls, threeadult Long-tailed Jaegers, a flock of drake Harlequin Ducks, rafts ofBarrow’s Goldeneye, Red Phalaropes, and Red-necked Phalaropes tooclose to focus a camera on. That last species also features under the quan-tity heading, with a single lake holding several hundred. Nearby we had


From Our Leaders

Birding issupposed to begood for bodyand soul—andappetite.

Photo: Rick Wright.

large flocks of Arctic Terns. The seabird cliffs at Latrabjarg were spectacu-lar again, with an eerie quality cast over them by low-lying mist. Ourspringtime tour of Spain led us to the Coto Doñana, Bonanza, andHuelvam, where the group came up trumps with Red-knobbed Coot,displaying and mating White-headed Ducks, flocks of Greater Flamingos,Eurasian Spoonbill, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis at colonies, five LittleBitterns together, Collared Pratincole, mainland Spain’s only breedingpair of Osprey, a brief Red-necked Nightjar, very showy Azure-wingedMagpies, Rufous Bushchat, Crested Tit, and Golden Oriole. Fancy gullsincluded Audouin’s, Little, Mediterranean, and Slender-billed, whileamong the notable warblers were Western Olivaceous, Dartford,Subalpine, dozens of Great Reed, and “reeling” Savi’s. We enjoyed anafternoon of raptor migration, watching as tens of Booted and Short-toedSnake Eagles arrived from Africa among more than 150 Black Kites. Wealso saw our first Honey Buzzards, bringing our tally to 22 raptor species.Nearby we had great looks at Iberian Chiffchaff, Western Bonelli’sWarbler, and Iberian Green Woodpecker—and a Nightingale finally satout in the open for us. Our new venture to Ukraine provided a happyand satisfying mix of history, scenery, and outstanding birding. Our pic-nics were a daily highlight, memorable for the varied buffet treats and forthe birds at each location: Demoiselle Crane, Great Bustard, and Saker atone; Imperial Eagle, Barred and Eastern Orphean Warblers, and Chukarat another; Rock Thrush at a third; and Great black-headed Gull, PallidHarrier, and Caspian Tern at the last, suitably celebrated with caviar andchampagne. Roadside birding was also outstanding, with literally thou-sands of Red-footed Falcons, marsh terns, Calandra Larks, andMediterranean Gulls, and a constant supply of Golden Orioles, Hoopoes,Lesser Gray and Red-backed Shrikes, Bee-eaters, Rollers, Pied Wheatears,and Black-headed Buntings. Even Pygmy Cormorant, White-tailed Eagle,and Hobby were seen from the comfort of our silent electric boat glidingthrough the Dnipr tributaries. Add to this the beauty of the little harborof Balaclava and the many old palaces and fine houses, the fascination ofthe steppe, and the range of other wildlife, and the Crimea was a verygood choice for our eight days in May.


From Our Leaders

Hugo Haroldo Enríquez ToledoHugo’s fascination with birds beganin 1996, when he worked forFundaeco investigating the birds ofthe Guatemala City area and thedepartment of Izabal. Since then, hehas studied birds in 16 of Guatemala’s22 departments, including three yearsbanding birds in Izabal. Hugo spentfour months in Pennsylvania studyingtechniques for monitoring migrantraptors at Hawk Mountain. From1997 to 1999, he was part of theGuatemalan team that conducted thefirst hawk counts on both coasts of

the country. In 2004 he served as an intern in California with theInstitute for Bird Populations and Sequioa and Kings Canyon NationalParks, where he conducted breeding bird surveys and banded birds. Hehas also been a valuable participant and leader at the series ofInternational Birdwatching Encounters in Guatemala. We’re delighted totake the opportunity to introduce WINGS clients to Hugo and the beau-tiful country he knows so well.

Jake MohlmannJake holds a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in Parks and RecreationManagement from The PennsylvaniaState University. He has worked forNew York City’s Museum of NaturalHistory and for Pittsburgh’sCarnegie Museum of Science. But asummer in Portal, Arizona, con-vinced Jake that the Southwest waswhere he needed to be. Since thenhe has worked on projects involvingBurrowing Owls at the Salton Seaand counted secretive marsh birds inthe lower Colorado River basin. He

also spent a summer leading tours on St. Paul Island, isolated in the mid-dle of the Bering Sea, and has worked on the identification and monitor-ing of endangered species, include the highly endangered Desert Tortoise.It was on St. Paul that Jake recorded the first Western Hemisphere recordof Brown Hawk Owl, subject of a subsequent cover photo and article inNorth American Birds in 2007. WINGS is proud to welcome Jake and tomake available to our tour participants his voluminous knowledge ofornithology and natural history and genuine gift for sharing and inter-preting experiences afield.


Profiles

Photo: Rick Wright.

Photo: WINGS.

Marco ValtrianiMarco holds a degree in Biology fromthe University of Pisa. He is a pas-sionate hiker, birder, and researcherwho has spent years exploring thewild areas of Italy, Algeria, Morocco,Syria, Venezuela, Nepal, GreatBritain, Finland, Germany, France,Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. We’rehappy to have Marco sharing hisknowledge of the landscapes, history,and traditions of his native Etruria.

After seven years as Office Manager, Lauren Bosch will leave WINGS inJune. A familiar voice to tour participants and an unfailingly cheerfulpresence in the office, Lauren will be missed by us all. We extend our sin-cere best wishes for the future.

WINGS bids a fond farewell to Gary Rosenberg, who retired from thecompany in January. In nearly a quarter century of tours, Gary consis-tently impressed our clients with his knowledge, his skill, and his goodnature. We wish him all the best for the next stages of his life.

Rick Wright left the office of WINGS Managing Director in January toaccompany his wife, Alison Beringer, to British Columbia. Rick will con-tinue to serve as Senior Leader and to edit the WINGS website andnewsletters.

WINGS On Line and On TVFull details of all our tours, including itineraries, practical information,bird lists, and reports from recent trips, are available on our website,wingsbirds.com. For the latest from the field, read The Wingbeat, ournew birding blog (wingsbirds.com/blog), and join our Facebook page(WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide). Photographers are encouraged tosubmit tour images to our Flickr page as well.

WINGS is proud to be a sponsor of Birding Adventures Television. Manyepisodes feature WINGS leaders at our tour destinations. You can watchrecent shows on line at birdingadventures.com.


Photo:Walking In Etruria.

Updates

Profiles

Each year, WINGS arranges a number of private tours for groups andindividuals. Recent months have seen our Senior Leaders guiding birdersin Arizona, Costa Rica, Mexico, and other sites around the world. Inaddition to flexible scheduling and even more personal attention, birderson private tours benefit from the leader’s ability to tailor the route anditinerary to the participants’ needs, whether that involves concentratingon a “target list” or taking the time for a complete natural history experi-ence. You can request your own private tour at any time, for yourself,your friends, or your bird club, by calling or e-mailing us here atWINGS.


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Documents

INSIDE Welcome - WINGS Birding Tours Worldwidewingsbirds.com/files/Spring-10.pdf · Welcome WINGS is delighted to bring you announcements of our upcom - ing new tours, along with