Back from Western Cape tour

I'm just back to Cape Town after guiding a group of eight Japanese birders around the Western Cape. This was my second time guiding a Japanese group, and once again they were a lot of fun. I took them to sushi for dinner one night in Cape Town. I thought it was delicious; they weren't impressed. Nonetheless, the tour went great and the birding was very good (as it should be in spring!).

Highlights of the tour included all of the possible bustards, three of which are endemic: Ludwig's (with a very small chick) and Denham's Bustards, and Karoo and Southern Black Korhaans; an amazing pelagic experience with a truly astounding number of birds, plus great looks at Soft-plumaged Petrel, Northern and Southern Giant Petrels, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, and thousands of the beautiful Pintado Petrel; great looks at Cinnamon-breasted Warbler; the rare African Crowned Eagle; great looks at Cape Rockjumper; and of course much more. A few photos from the tour (click on them for larger images):

Cape Rockjumper is one of the most sought-after Cape endemics. This banded bird is an often-viewed individual, resident at Sir Lowery's Pass, just east of Cape Town.

Black-headed Canary is a nomadic Karoo endemic. It was
particularly numerous this trip in the Tankwa Karoo.

Ecuador ABA conference

I'm just back from Ecuador, a country very close to my heart, where I was guiding for the American Birding Association international conference that Tropical Birding hosted. The conference went incredibly well and everyone--hosts, ABA, guides and--most importantly--the participants left extremely happy. The total conference bird list ended up at 460+--not bad for six days of birding based out of Quito, Ecuador's high altitude capital.

My own trip began with a nearly three day journey from Tulear, Madagascar, to Sacha Lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. There I helped out on a trip led by my friend Olger Licuy.
I then returned to Quito, where I guided day trips at the conference; I was fortunate to guide to four different places in five days: Papallacta, Milpe, Antisana and Rio Silanche. The day trips were grueling--very early mornings, long days and ending with a social hour for all the participants and guides, but it was great meeting new people every day and getting back to sites that I was very familiar with from my time living and guiding in Ecuador. After the conference I co-guided an awesome trip to Sacha Lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon with Marcelo Andy, where we recorded about 270 species, actually seeing almost 250 of them. I personally saw over 400 species in my nearly three weeks in the country. Here are a couple photos from the Sacha post-trip, with more to come.

Tody-flycatchers and tody-tyrants are among my favorite birds, and certainly favorite among the huge flycatcher family. This Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher was nesting in the giant kapok tree around which Sacha's wooden canopy tower is built.

White-lored Tyrannulet is a canopy species that is difficult to see from the ground. This photo was taken from Sacha's fabulous canopy walkway. From this photo it is clear the bird is very misnamed--its lores are entirely black! It would be better named White-browed Tyrannulet.


Pygmy Marmosets are among the world's smallest monkeys and are a highlight of every visit to Sacha.

This anole lizard was munching an aptly-named 88 butterfly while we were enjoying our own picnic lunch.