As a fun year-end post, I though I would write about what my year working as a bird guide entailed.
In 2007 I took 56 flights, visiting 24 different airports. I visited 10 countries (not counting layovers in Dubai and Addis Ababa) on 5 continents. June was the only month in which I didn't fly and the only month spent entirely in one country (South Africa). I saw 1464 species of birds. I guided 95 paying participants (including 57 in three weeks at the American Birding Association international conference in Ecuador) on a total of 139 days in five countries. Tips accounted for 13% of my total year's income and were received in three different currencies. Between 8 November and 19 December I drove 13,800km (or about 8550 miles, greater than the distance from New York to Los Angeles, back to NY, and back again to LA).
What will 2008 bring?
Monday, December 31, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Big Tree revisited
Another month, another tour. This one rocked South Africa. We saw 530 birds (and heard a few more) and saw 58 mammals.
Now I'm off to Namibia, Ethiopia (briefly), Thailand, Ethiopia (ditto), Namibia and South Africa before finally coming back to Cape Town at the beginning of February. I'll try to write a blog post in there somewhere.
Here are a couple non-bird photos from the latest tour when we visited the famous Big Tree. Famous both for being appropriately named and for its Mottled Spinetail roost. It came through on both counts. We had a charming local guide Simon who gave us the adult tour, showing off ALL of the images in the tree's knots and branches, featuring, among other things, a rhino, a penguin, both male and female genitalia and an ostrich foot. Some were more believable than others.
Compare the tree in summer in these photos with what it looked like in winter in this blog post from August. One of the best things about guiding is visiting sites multiple times, allowing me to see how they change over time. This area was at the end of a drought the last time I visited in August and entirely brown, so seeing it in summer so green was a very stark contrast.
These are the trip participants, Jonathan (left) and Michael.
A closer view of the tree and the group.
Now I'm off to Namibia, Ethiopia (briefly), Thailand, Ethiopia (ditto), Namibia and South Africa before finally coming back to Cape Town at the beginning of February. I'll try to write a blog post in there somewhere.
Here are a couple non-bird photos from the latest tour when we visited the famous Big Tree. Famous both for being appropriately named and for its Mottled Spinetail roost. It came through on both counts. We had a charming local guide Simon who gave us the adult tour, showing off ALL of the images in the tree's knots and branches, featuring, among other things, a rhino, a penguin, both male and female genitalia and an ostrich foot. Some were more believable than others.
Compare the tree in summer in these photos with what it looked like in winter in this blog post from August. One of the best things about guiding is visiting sites multiple times, allowing me to see how they change over time. This area was at the end of a drought the last time I visited in August and entirely brown, so seeing it in summer so green was a very stark contrast.
These are the trip participants, Jonathan (left) and Michael.
A closer view of the tree and the group.
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