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Another great day in outback Australia, 250km drive with no tarmac in sight! Bird of the day was Gilbert's Whistler and long may the name remain unchanged. Not sure if it was named after the wonderful singer Gilbert O'Sullivan or the great composers Gilbert and Sullivan but don't let 'authorities' in the US try to change names outside of North America.
Any day I get a lifer is a good day! Today it was Chestnut-crowned Babbler, the last of 4 species of babbler found in Australia. Two years ago we got Hall's Babbler, a somewhat tricky babbler to get good photos of as they seemed unusually shy compared to to commoner and more widespread Grey-crowned and White-browed Babblers. Well, Chestnut-crowned Babbler proved tricky to photograph as well, always nervous and continuously moving on. Patience was rewarded however for the limited-range inland Australian endemic.
Having read that Chestnut-rumped Heathwren was even more elusive than Shy Heathwren AND it was a wet miserable day I didn't fancy my chances of seeing one let alone photographing it. How wrong could I be!
Another species I was keen to see in southeast Australia was this. Not only because it is endemic to this part of Australia but also because it's challenging to find and photograph (only occurs in small numbers not big flocks) and can sit silently in thick leaves at the tops of trees. Also, it has a really cool quiff of a hair do and a rather silly name which reminds me of my boy scout days "ging gang goolie, goolie, goolie whatcher, ging gang goo, ging gang goo"! Gang-gang Cockatoo
A while back, I posted a back-of-camera image of a Red-ncked Stint taken in Nome, Alaska. Well, here is the finished version, not heavily photoshopped, just cropped!
One of the highlights in Barrow, Alaska for me was Snowy Owl, a species I had only seen once before on Fetlar in the Shetland Islands over 40 years ago. I've never 'twitched' one in the UK since although there have been several opportunities. They are not exactly common even in prime habitat up there as they are spread over vast areas of tundra with populations fluctuating depending on Leming populations. They are the most hardy of Arctic breeding species, wintering up to 82 degrees north in years when prey is available but also subject to irruptions further south in winter when prey is scarce. The most interesting thing from our observations was that there were 3 birds sat close to piles of snow around a Inuit cemetary waiting for Lemmings to be disturbed by a JCB clearing the tracks. We managed to get quite close to them as they were obviously pretty full of Lemmings but although the light was good there was a very bad cold haze so the only usable photographs were when the wind was blowing it away! This bird was unconcerned by our presence but, we were surprised when it flushed as our 'stalking' skills are very good but on turning around found another noisy group with no fieldcraft marching up towards us no doubt gossiping about birds they had seen on previous tours!
When I was young, I read Arthur Ransome books like Swallow and Amazons which sparked a interest in the outdoors and birdwatching. One of his books was called Great Northern? and was of course about a Great Northern Diver (Common Loon to our American friends), a bird I thought was so rare that it was near-mythical and I had no chance of seeing one. Roll on to 1977 and I saw my first one at Blagdon Lake in Somerset. They were brief distant views as it kept diving (funny that!) and resurfacing often 100's of metres away then dive again. Slowly, over the years I got better and better views and they became annual on my year list, mainly in Portland Harbour. They were all either adults in winter plumage or, first winter birds so I couldn't enjoy the finery of their breeding plumage until in the 1990's a saw one in Texas in full bredding plumage which totally blew my mind. I have lots of photos in winter plumage as they can be remarkably confiding but only a few from the US in breeding plumage when they were more distant, or the light was bad. In Anchorage, Alaska however, they were not only in breeding plumage but rediculously close so I couldn't resist the temptation of getting the 'money shot' photo.
There was a fantastic selection of waders in Alaska but one in particular I was very keen to see was Red Phalarope (Grey Phalarope to we Brits as we normally see them in drab grey winter plumages). I wasn't disappointed as they were in every roadside pond in Barrow and totally fearless of man just like their Red-necked cousins. Their breeding plumage is simply stunning and their lifestyle is pretty impressive as well spending up to eight months of the year far out in the oceans of the world enduring the high seas and unrelenting storms, a miracle for such a fragile bird. There is a third species of phalarope; Wilson's, but that is the 'landlubber' of the family breeding further south in prairie ponds, wintering in South America and avoiding the open ocean. Phalaropes are polyandrous birds, the females are more brightly-coloured to attract males, then lay their eggs in the males nest and leave to find another male! The male then does all the work of incubating and bringing up the young.
We were fortunate to see both species of Tattler in Alaska; Wandering is a breeding species on rocky streams of Alaska, British Colombia and Siberia whilst Grey-tailed is a rare vagrant, mainly to the Bering Sea islands and occupies Tundra habitat in Russia. The differences are obvious in breeding plumage but are more difficult to tell apart in winter plumage.
Chasing rarities in the UK is of course very popular, especially waders in the late summer/autumn especially when the likes of annual Buff-breasted, Pectoral and White-rumped Sandpipers start to pass though but with the hopes of something rarer like Least or Semi-palmated Sandpiper or megas like Solitary and Upland Sandpipers. On the other side of the pond the same things happen but with the likes of Common Snipe and Curlew Sandpiper. Personally, I have seen 3 Curlew Sandpipers in the US but never in breeding plumage and I have only seen a handful of birds in this plumage in the UK with the norm being scraggy failed breeders or pristine juveniles. The chase was on in Barrow, Alaska for a pair of Curlew Sandpipers seemingly settling down to breed and it would have been rude not to look at them especially as it was the first breeding-plumaged birds I had ever photographed.
It's that time of year again! Come and see us in Swallow marquee stands 20-21, you can't miss us, we're very yellow 😊
There was a huge irruption of White-winged (Two-barred) Crossbills shortly before our arrival in Anchorage with many flocks of over 100 in various forests. We could hear them calling as they were flying over all the time but tracking them down to a feeding site was difficult with most perching at the tops of trees as they moved around. Eventually, after many hours, we found a flock of around 70 feeding on fallen cones which gave us the perfect photographic opportunity. I have seen them in the UK a couple of times and in Russia but never been able to photograph them, if they split them from the Eurasian sub-species I will need to try again when the next ones arrive in the UK!
It's going to be a long job sorting my Alaska photos especially as I have to prepare for the Birdfair next week. I've chosen the four best photos to put on our stand but you're going to have to visit us to see them! In the meantime this is an image of Brown Creeper, a species I've not been able to photograph before as despite being common and widespread, it tends to inhabit thick woodland with poor light. It is the sole member of the Certhia family in North America and is very similar to the two species in Europe with the rest of the family being in Asia.
Well, that's it, sat in Anchorage airport awaiting a rescheduled flight and looking at images of the last new bird seen on our Alaska tour, a fantastic Northern Hawk Owl.
Northern Goshawk was split into American & Eurasian Goshawks quite recently so that meant that I needed another new bird from North America! American Goshawks are however, not easy to see so I was delighted to see this immature female in a park in Homer, Alaska. This huge bird was still calling for food from it's parents but should be independant soon.
Although a common breeding bird of the nothern Russian tundra, wintering in southeast Asia and Australasia, Red-necked Stint is an uncommon/rare breeder in Alaska. This breeding-plumaged male photgraphed on the tundra near Nome, Alaska was with a smalk mixed non-breeding plumaged birds which included Semipalmated & Western Sandpipers.
It's not just the birds that are fantastic in Alaska, the scenery is simply stunning. Photo taken from near Smith's Longspur site.
18 years ago I visited the Denali Highway in Alaska to look for Smith's Longspur with a group and was successful seeing it but didn't manage a photograph. Fast forward 18 years and our group were on the highway again and after a 2km, one hour 'slog' across the tundra were successful again. This time however, I managed a photograph as it crept mouse-like through tussocks, regularly singing from semi-hidden clumps of Dwarf Birch. Fiedcraft ruled, no playback used and bird approached us. After admiring it for a while we left it to continue proclaiming it's territory. This is one of the hardest of the 4 longspurs to see ( others are Chestnut-collared, Lapland and McCown's) as they breed in remote tundra and winter in the prairie states in big, shy, mobile flocks.
One of 3 Grizzly Bears seen in Denali N.P. today although the real highlight was a Lynx!
New world sparrows are actually more closely-related to old world Buntings and there are a bewildering array of them in North America! One of the easiest to identify is Golden-crowned Sparrow, a species that breeds widely in Alaska wintering further south on the west coast as far as Mexico.
It's been such an incredible day that it's difficult to know where to start. Non avian highlights shortly after breakfast included a minimum of 5 Polar Bears, a Walrus out on the ice pack and White-billed Diver and Sabin's Gulls flying past. Telescope views were good but photography difficult through a cold haze but in perfect sunny weather. Could it get better? But of course as next followed vagrant Common Ringed Plover and Red-necked Stint followed by amazingly close views of a stunning male Snowy Owl unconcerned by our presence as he digested lemmings disturbed by a snowplough! After lunch back in the field looking for better views of Spectacled Eiders and oh boy, did we get them!
I am always interested in other forms of wildlife but my knowledge is sadly lacking; too many birds in the world I still need to learn about! One reptile I found fascinating in Azerbaijan was this Glass Lizard. On the face of it looks like a snake but in fact it's a huge legless lizard, around 1 metre long. They were quite common in one area and usually quickly diappeared down holes but this one adopted an aggresive posture although it was all bluff!
A number of species of bird have different plumage morphs or phases. This doesn't mean that they are different sub-species but they can nevertheless cause confusion as for example, dark and pale phase skua species, blue and white phase Snow Geese etc. Eastern Black-eared Wheatear is a monotypic species (no sub-species) but nevertheless, there are two forms (or morphs), black-throated and pale-throated. This is further complicated by the dark-throated form looking very similar to Finsch's Wheatear (structure and tail-pattern differs) and then there is the thorny subject of hybrids with Eastern Black-eared and Pied Wheatears doing so in zones of overlap. Nevertheless, the photos below show typical pale-throated morph and seem to show a typical dark-throated morph of Eastern Black-eared Wheatear although the ingression of Pied Wheatear genes cannot be completely ruled ruled out with the latter. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Every time I lead a tour to a new country I enjoy the different scenery and culture as well as the wildlife. Azerbaijan was extremely enjoyable in that respect with stunning scenery and excellent birding. Although the only new possible bird for me was Caspian Tit and the only new 'photographic tick' was See-see Partridge, it was great to enjoy birds that I had not seen for a long time since Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. The variety of raptors was impressive with 4 species of vultures, 5 species of eagles, 5 species of falcon and 2 species of accipiters seen. One particular highlight for me was seeing four species of vultures in the air above us at the same time, a most impressive sight. We never saw any carcases for them to feed on so I'm wondering if they were waiting for me to expire climbing the mountain!
I've seen so many AI generated images of birds recently that it makes me why bother as we already have spectacular birds in this world like this Painted Bunting taken on our recent Texas tour.
On our 2022 Texas tour you couldn't buy a Greater Roadrunner for 'love nor money' as the saying goes. We visited numerous sites without success even going to one in San Antonio which was a 'slam dunk sure' according to locals. This year they were everywhere which just shows that nothing is guaranteed in birding!
Very interesting to see where I've birded around the world, not even halfway there yet!
And how many countries have you visited?
This Red-shouldered Spinetail is neither a rare nor special bird in Brazil BUT, it is very special for me as it's the 5,500th species I have photgraphed in the world or half of the species in the world. Onwards to 6,000!
OMG, every birders dream bird, Araripe Manakin in Brazil today, what else can I say!
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