Red Hill Birding

04/12/2024

Are you looking for a short birding getaway this winter? How about one that visits to a warm and sunny part of the US that also happens to be home to some of our most range-restricted birds? Look no farther than our Condors & Corvids Tour that we are operating in collaboration with the San Diego Bird Festival! You don't need to be attending the festival to join, but that sure would be a bonus for you!

Join tour leader Steve Huggins to search for birds like California Condor, Yellow-billed Magpie, Island Scrub Jay (and Island Fox), LeConte's Thrasher, Bell's Sparrow, Black-vented Shearwater, and many other California specialties over five days. There are just three spots remaining on this small group tour, and part of your registration fee supports the festival! https://www.redhillbirding.com/shortsocal

02/12/2024

The monks had departed Tharpaling Monastery for the winter, towards lower elevations and higher temperatures, but one woman stays, continuing to feed the Himalayan Monals that come every morning and evening to eat rice. It's an extraordinary experience to drive up the bumpy, windy, narrow road, in the early morning darkness, higher and higher until the road ends at the monastery, 3,600m (11,800ft) in elevation. At first there's one monal and great excitement among the group, then two monals, then more. We ultimately spent a couple of hours, and ate our breakfast, and took thousands of photos, in the company of over a dozen of these spectacular pheasants. It's no wonder that it was voted the Bird of the Trip. Photos by tour leader Josh Engel.

www.redhillbirding.com/bhutan

28/11/2024

Thanksgiving is here, and at Red Hill Birding, there is much to be thankful for. We are thankful for all of you that have travelled with us and trusted us with your birding experiences from downtown Chicago to downtown Taipei. We are thankful for the many local guides and agencies we collaborate with across the world. We are not only helping provide for local families and communities, but we are saying that birds, and their conservation, have tangible value. And of course, we are thankful for birds and birding; the conduit through which many of us most closely relate to the world around us. Birding together has fostered lasting friendships, created wonderful memories, and given us many a reason for joy and thanks.

-Josh, Adam, Steve & all the Red Hill Birding team

26/11/2024

I still remember, back when I was leading my first tour to Bhutan in 2008, learning that the rare nocturnal bird Hodgson's Frogmouth was found in the country for the first time, in a place called Deothang, near the Indian border. My group just happened to be going there a few days later, but not knowing the exact location of the sighting, we failed to find it.

Some years later, the species was found in the country's most famous birding area, Phrumsingla National Park, far from Deothang. This is still the only place in Bhutan where it is regularly found, and it's where we had such an incredible experience with one on my recent tour there that it ended up being voted the #2 Bird of the Trip. -Josh

www.redhillbirding.com/bhutan

18/11/2024

UPDATE FROM THE FIELD:

Steve Huggins is currently guiding in the Bahamas and the birding has been excellent so far! The islands of North Andros and New Providence were inundated by migrant North American warblers, but the stars of the show have been the "Bahama _______" birds! Here are some of the endemics they've picked up: Bahama Woodstar, Bahama Mockingbird, Bahama Swallow, Bahama Yellowthroat, and Bahama Oriole! More to come as the group moves on to the Island of Abaco this week.

15/11/2024

Adam ran our final scheduled fall half-day trip this morning to Lake County in search of waterfowl. Ultimately, they had over 20 species of waterfowl, including an inland Surf Scoter and 3 Red-throated Loons!

Thank you to everyone who joined us on a half-day trip this fall and be on the lookout for spring trip announcements later this winter.

Want to go birding with us before then? We can set up local tours for individuals or groups anytime!

https://www.redhillbirding.com/chicagobirding

14/11/2024

FROM THE FIELD: Every day of the Bhutan tour has been spectacular, but today was one for the ages, bookended by two spectacular birds. It started with no fewer than 12 Himalayan Monals, including the displaying male in the video. And it ended with a group of Black-necked Cranes, including this displaying individual. Thanks to participant Kitt Wolfenden for the impressive digibinned videos.

- Josh Engel

05/11/2024

Travel to the Brazilian Pantanal isn't complete without a search for South America's top predator, the jaguar. We had continued success on our October tour this year, with jaguars seen daily along the Cuiabá River! Here, a mother surveys the Cuiabá with her young cub. Photo taken on this year's tour by guide Adam Sell

https://www.redhillbirding.com/brazilpantanal

30/10/2024

Going to the San Diego Bird Festival this year? Want to see even MORE birds? Join us on a special pre-festival tour! Registration for the festival opens on FRIDAY, but you can register for our pre-tour TODAY!

In partnership with the festival, we will target some SoCal specialties not readily found in San Diego, including California Condor, Yellow-billed Magpie, LeConte's Thrasher, and more. This includes a boat trip to Santa Cruz Island to seek out Island Scrub-Jay!

https://www.sandiegobirdfestival.org/pre-festival-trip

24/10/2024

The Red Hill Birding life list passed 3400 species on Adam's recent Brazil tour. The milestone was crossed during a walk in the spectacular Atlantic Rainforest of Iguaçu Falls National Park with the amazing Marcelo da Rocha guiding. #3400 could have been one of these two, the itty bitty Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant or the spectacular Blonde-crested Woodpecker, both of which are only found in the this part of the world. Thanks to participants Keith McMullen and Tamima Itani for the photos!

Come on a Red Hill Birding tour and let the guide do the eBirding for you! You can see the list for the walk here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S198831788

www.redhillbirding.com/brazilpantanal

17/10/2024

We have several local half day trips going out this weekend and in the coming weeks as raptor and sparrow migration hit their peak and waterfowl numbers ramp up. Josh's trip to the Downtown Chicago lakefront is full, but Lisa's trip to Boone Creek Conservation area in McHenry Country on Sunday still has a few spots available. So if you want to explore a beautiful area on the fringes of the Chicago metro area, with glorious fall weather and fall colors predicted, click on the link to register.

Check out our upcoming schedule of day trips and programs in the Chicago area!

14/10/2024

FROM THE FIELD: Adam and his Brazil group are currently in Iguaçu Falls, but he sent through a couple of photo highlights from their 11 days in the Pantanal and Cerrado. It's a great pair of species given how similar their structures are, with those chunky bodies, short tails, long, thick, straight bills, and short legs. But they aren't really closely related at all and they live in vastly different habitats. Click on the photos to see what the birds are.

https://www.redhillbirding.com/brazilpantanal

10/10/2024

The Western Great Lakes region is in the midst of an unprecedented irruption of Harris's Sparrows. We have three spots left on a half-day trip this Saturday to Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve, where you can be sure that Jeff Bilsky will be trying to find one for the group! Details and registration at www.redhillbirding.com/localtrips.

Photo by Josh Engel.

10/10/2024

Not Just a Hobby (https://notjustahobby.com/) visited The Urban Birding Festival here in Chicago a couple of weekends back to make a video all about birding and why it's just a darn fun hobby. Check out their video and you just might seen someone you know!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=734KrHxMZVk

Read more: https://notjustahobby.com/hobbies/bird-watchingBirding festivals are an opportunity for bird watching and birding hobbyists to come together and s...

09/10/2024

Steve guided our annual Hawk Ridge Fall Migration tour at the end of September. There aren't many birding tour companies that offer tours to this area in the fall, which is prime time for extreme migration events. The weather was perfect for people on this tour--not a cloud in the sky for five days!--but not so great for migration. Nonetheless, they did see some excellent migration and they saw some great Northwoods resident species as well, like this Canada Jay.

08/10/2024

Our tour in the Pantanal is about half-way through and is still going strong. As is so often the case there, mammals are stealing the show (as evidenced by these back-of-the-camera photos that Adam has sent through). The birding is always great there, of course, but it's hard to beat up close and personal experiences with Ocelots, Giant Anteaters, and Jaguars! We can't wait to see the full photos!

26/09/2024

Due to a cancellation, we have one spot available on our Southeast Arizona in Winter tour this coming January. Josh will be leading this six day tour, which stays in wonderful local hotels close to great birding and offers a sunny and bird-filled break from the winter doldrums. The combination of wintering western species, desert residents, and Sky Island specialties makes for a fantastic getaway.

One spot is available for woman who would like to share a room, or you can choose a single room. Check the link or message us if you have any questions about this tour!

2025 January 15-20, 2025 Price: $2475 per person sharing Single room supplement: $540. Guide: Josh Engel Maximum of 7 participants

24/09/2024

Steve Huggins just led our final Midwest Weekend tour of the year, to a beautiful stretch along the Mississippi River around the historic town of Nauvoo and the surrounding areas of Hancock and Henderson Counties. Far from any interstate, this seldom-visited part of the state is full of great bird habitat. They racked up 119 species, including 18 species of warblers, 9 species of shorebirds, 7 species of woodpeckers, and, perhaps most remarkably, a wayward White Ibis. Check out the eBird trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/277239

Our 2025 Midwest Weekends will feature a return to the land of breeding Kirtland's Warbler and Whooping Crane in Central Wisconsin and at least one to an as-yet-undecided part of Illinois. STAY TUNED.