Guiding Statistics 2009

Unfortunately birding tours--believe it or not--are not always considered one of life's necessities. Thus my work, like that of many other people, was down in 2009 from what it had been over the previous three years. I guided fewer tours, traveled less, and saw fewer birds in 2009 than my previous years based in South Africa. On the other hand, with more spare time I got to participate in a Field Museum expedition to Malawi, something that I have always dreamed of doing. I also got to spend more time at home in Chicago as well as guiding extensively in the United States. For my 2007 statistics, click here, and for 2008, click here.

I guided only 99 days this year, down about 1/3 from 2007 and 2008. However, when you add in my 47-day Field Museum expedition to Malawi, it evens out. I saw 1113 species of birds of which 65 I had never seen before. I took 28 flights and visited 17 airports, both well down from previous years. I visited 10 countries, but of those only five (four in Africa plus the US) were for guiding. I guided in five countries (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and the US) and three American states (Texas, Ohio, and California). I slept in 74 different beds. I spent several entire months this year in a single country--all the US (and only in June didn't I fly)--but in December alone I visited six different countries (on three continents). Over 26% of my guiding income came from tips (thanks!). After spending 6 months between 2006-2008 in Madagascar, I didn't visit it in 2009, largely due to its recent (and ongoing) political instability.

As usual, I went to some amazing places. Among new places I visited, the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi was particularly spectacular. I enjoyed seeing Victoria Falls both at its peak in March and at its lowest in early December. Spending most of May at Magee Marsh in Ohio was eye-opening; warbler migration there was beyond anything I had expected or experienced. I also had a full day layover in Qatar, where I rented a car and had a thoroughly enjoyable and productive day of birding in the desert. My favorite hotel (that I hadn't stayed in before) was Matetsi Water Lodge on the south bank of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. Grootberg Lodge in northwest Namibia was also amazing and has one of the best settings of any hotel I've even stayed in; Nxamaseri Lodge on an island in the Okavango River in Botswana also deserves mention.

Bird highlights were, of course, many. A few standouts: Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird in Nyika, on my last day there, after spending a month searching; two much-anticipated LBJ lifers in South Africa--Bushveld Pipit in Nylsvlei Reserve in March and Monotonous Lark in the Free State in December; African Pitta (twice!) in Malawi and Zambia; a migration of Openbill Storks and other birds in Zambia; Hoopoe Lark in Qatar; Black-whiskered Vireo in Texas; Great Gray Owl in Yosemite. Black-lored Cisticola was pretty awesome, for a cisticola.

Likewise, I saw lots of great mammals over the course of the year. These included an up-close encounter with a leopard while walking in Malawi; humpback whales next to the boat in Monterey Bay; elephants wandering through the park office's yard in Vwaza Marsh, Malawi; finally seeing desert black rhino after an adventure-filled day in the Namib Desert; two different lion-killed giraffes, with the lions still in attendance--one in Kruger, South Africa and the other in Etosha, Namibia; and the many small mammals trapped during field work in Malawi.