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Welcome to our March emailing!
Greetings, birding friends! The vernal equinox has arrived, and we can finally start putting away the snow shovels and start thinking about tuning up the lawn mowers and getting the garden ready. Along with those flowers and lawns that need mowing comes the return of our spring and summer birds. Some have already started showing up, but soon they'll all be here. Before they do arrive, now is a good time to plan some birding adventures and book some travel. In this emailing we've got a whole variety of robust tours for you to ponder, with suggestions in Africa, Asia, and a pioneering new tour in South America.
Aside from the tours, we have a few sections about ourselves and our friends. We'll tell you about our 2024 support of conservation efforts around the globe. We've got a bit about guide Megan Edwards Crewe and her fantastic garden in England. A couple of our dear friends were given posthumous awards recently, and we'll tell you about that, too. Of course we also have our regular Recent Photos Gallery, with 150 images from tours to ten countries on four continents. You'll also find a link to our Field Guides Store, where you can order some merch to spice up your summer attire. There's our roster of upcoming tours with available spaces for the next six months, plus a baker's dozen of triplists and eight itineraries for upcoming tours.
We'd like to thank participant Kirsten Tucker for the image above of the Southern Emerald-Toucanet from our recent Colombia's Cloudforests: The Western & Central Andes tour.
Our thanks, too, to participant Diane Morton for the image below of the Enga Highlands in Papua New Guinea during last year's New Guinea & Australia tour. This, one of two tours we offer to the exciting island of New Guinea, is a combination tour with Australia. The other is a more extensive survey that you can read about below.
As always, we appreciate you opening and reading through this emailing, and if a tour seems interesting and you'd like to find out more, just contact our office and we'll help you get on your way.
| | South Africa is the endpoint of a continent, where oceans literally collide, and East meets West. These influences have helped create an avifaunal palette that is home to some 100 endemic and near-endemic species—including two endemic families, the Rockjumpers and Sugarbirds. The country also boasts an impressive array of bustards, larks, rock-thrushes, chats, scrub-robins, and sunbirds. In fact, South Africa is home to more endemic birds than any other country on the continent. Add to these many more typical and widespread African birds such as raptors, hornbills, barbets, mousebirds, bushshrikes, weavers, and bishops, and there's even a penguin and an ostrich! South Africa also possesses some of the best safari destinations on the continent, and we'll journey through iconic Kruger National Park and other areas to find Africa's marquee mammals in their natural environment, including Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard, Buffalo, Giraffe, and Zebra. Please read about our two distinctive tours to South Africa below. | | |
Our South Africa: Birds, Wines & Wildflowers tour is the perfect blend of world-class birdwatching and exquisite wines on an unforgettable journey through South Africa’s scenic splendor. Our in-house wine expert and guide Marcelo Padua is joined by African native and South Africa resident guide Tarry Butcher to lead the way while we explore from lush vineyards of the Cape Winelands to bird-rich wetlands and fynbos-clad mountains and extraordinary wildflowers. This tour is slower-paced and not as comprehensive as our three-week tour listed below, but we'll still seek those African birds that you've heard about, such as Secretarybird, Saddle-billed Stork, Lilac-breasted Roller, Hamerkop, Kori Bustard, African Penguin, Blue Crane, and many more. Breathtaking landscapes, floral magic, iconic birds and mammals—all with a great glass of wine!
Our other itinerary to the region is our South Africa tour, a comprehensive visit that lasts more than three weeks. Guides Tarry Butcher & Jesse Fagan are at the helm—Tarry a resident of South Africa, and Jesse having guided this tour several times. This is one of our longest and most thorough tours to any destination, and for good reason. Our itinerary has been specially designed to give us an opportunity to see as many of the South African endemics as possible in three weeks while surveying a diversity of scenery and habitat. We even pop into Lesotho while at Sani Pass. All of the birds and wildlife mentioned above are among the birds and mammals we expect to find, with well over 460 species of birds typical. Beyond the birds and landscapes, an additional draw of the tour is of course the unique and spectacular flora for which South Africa is famous. There is no shortage of fantastic wildlife and scenery to be found on this tour.
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Another African experience we offer is our Essential Short Uganda tour. This itinerary showcases the breathtaking beauty of Uganda—a land of diverse landscapes, rich culture, and incredible wildlife. We'll trek through the lush Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest to see the majestic mountain gorillas, float along Mabama Swamp seeking Shoebills (what for many is a birding highlight of a lifetime), and we'll visit Kibale Forest for Chimpanzees. This two-week tour is a great chance to see all the Ugandan birding and mammal highlights, including African Finfoot, Bateleur, African Fish-Eagle, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Red-necked Francolin, Harlequin Quail, Small Buttonquail, Hippos, African Elephant, Burchell's Zebra, Impala, Topi, Kob, and a dozen primates.
We have much more thorough information about these tours on our website—including triplists and itineraries, so please have a look by clicking their respective links above. For additional details about any of these tours or to book a space, please contact our office.
| | Bolivia, including a new tour this fall! | | When people think of Bolivia, they often picture its stunning landscapes, towering snow-covered peaks in the Andes Mountains, a rich Indigenous culture, and colorful markets in the cities. While Bolivia is known for its high-altitude geography—including Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world—there’s much more to this species-rich and seldom-birded country. What few folks know is that Bolivia is home to more than 1400 bird species and supports 40 percent of the birdlife found in South America. | |
 | | For decades, we’ve run our Bolivia’s Avian Riches tour, a montane itinerary focused on Bolivia’s Andes. Bolivia has a lot more to offer, however, and for this new route we delve into Bolivia's Lowland Lodges (with the tour subtitle Blue-throated Macaws & Beyond). On tap will be a rich variety of birds ranging from seldom-seen or range-restricted specialties (think endangered Blue-throated Macaws; Great-billed Seed-Finch; or the Masked Antpitta, with a known population of only 500 or so) to a wonderful array of cerrado-associated birds such as Chaco Eagle, Ocellated Crake, Horned Sungem, Rufous-sided Scrub-Tyrant, Cock-tailed, Sharp-tailed and Streamer-tailed tyrants, and Black- masked Finch, plus an as-yet undescribed greenlet. Then our birding finale will be at Sadiri Lodge, Bolivia’s richest eBird hotspot (550+ species!), where Subtropical Pygmy-Owl, Scaled Fruiteater, Butterfly Coquette, Bolivian Recurvebill, Western Striolated Puffbird, and Hairy-crested Antbird await, and even Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo is possible. Interest piqued? Check out the itinerary here, and contact our office to hold a space.
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Our other tour to the "Tibet of the Americas" is our stalwart Bolivia's Avian Riches. This tour has a decided focus on higher elevations and the specialty birds that make their homes there.
Birding in Bolivia’s highlands is a breathtaking experience. From the towering Andes to the mystical cloud forests, this diverse landscape is home to an incredible array of sought-after and rare species, including the critically endangered Red-fronted Macaw, Black-hooded Sunbeam, the tiny and elusive Diademed Tapaculo (photo by participant Sid England), and Andean Condor against a spectacular backdrop. Bolivia’s highlands remain one of South America’s most rewarding and under-explored birding destinations and offer an exciting chance to be truly immersed in the marvelous bird life of the heart of South America.
To sign up or get more information about any of these tours, please contact our office.
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We're thrilled to be operating our Papua New Guinea tour for the first time since 2019—and we still have a few spaces available. The tour starts July 16, and while that is just a little less than four months from now, we're hoping a few of you have the time and inclination to join guides Doug Gochfeld and Jesse Fagan to visit one of the most remarkable avifaunal destinations on earth. We should find in excess of 300 bird species during our 19-day tour—with well over 100 endemics.
Our tour centers around locating a fantastic variety of birds-of-paradise, including some of the most highly prized birds on the planet: King-of-Saxony, Twelve-wired, Raggiana, and Blue birds-of-paradise, the lovely Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, and the huge Brown Sicklebill. We'll also look for a handful of different bowerbirds, including the spectacular Flame Bowerbird pictured above (courtesy of participant Randy Siebert). Often people have the impression that Papua New Guinea is exotic and mysterious, and that a birding tour there must be unusually demanding or uncomfortable. For all of Papua New Guinea’s remoteness, travel is surprisingly easy and food and accommodations are mostly good to very good. While we spend some time in the humid lowlands, more than half of our birding is done in the wonderfully comfortable foothills and highlands, with cool nights and pleasant days.
With breathtaking landscapes, rich indigenous culture, and some of the most interesting birds in the world, this is quite possibly the adventure of a lifetime. If you'd like more information, please contact our office.
| | It is with marked sadness that we at Field Guides note the passing of friend and former colleague, Victor Emanuel. Our birding family extends heartfelt condolences to the VENT family. For more than 60 years, the "Warbler" inspired countless people, young and old, with his contagious love of birds. And we owe him no small gratitude for his vision of transforming the joy of incidentally sharing birds with others into an influential profession, thereby generating opportunities that did not previously exist. Many of us at Field Guides—some Victor's colleagues from VENT's beginnings—have benefitted from his undying enthusiasm, his visionary leadership, and his worthy competition. We continue to celebrate his extensive and long-lasting legacy. | | Megan's Half-Acre Project | | Some of the many new plantings that Megan and Mike have established in their Norfolk garden | |
| | | Way back in January of 2020, we introduced you to a fun project that guide Megan Edwards Crewe was up to at her home in Norfolk, England, along with her husband, Mike. It was called the Half-Acre Project, and it endeavored to document every species that they could discover in their rural, half-acre garden. This wasn't to be just a passive pursuit. They have methodically changed the landscape of their garden, from what was largely a plot of mown grass with a tree in the middle of it to a magical menagerie of meadows, hedges, pollinators, log piles—and even a pond. And they are still going strong, tallying all the plants, insects, fungi, invertebrates, and mollusks, along with all the "megafauna" like birds and mammals. When we last checked in with them, they were up to an impressive 850 species—with many new records for their patch of England. Their hard work has certainly paid off, as now they're at 1223 species, with a whopping one-third of them being moths—411 species identified so far! Their bird list stands at 63, and they have lots of bees and dragonflies as well. They've even caught the eye of the mighty Royal Society for the Protection of Birds—the U.K.'s largest nature conservation organization, with a recent four-page spread in their RSBP Magazine. Bully for Meegs and Mike!
| | Posthumous awards to Ned & Tom | |
The Field Guides family was proud and touched to see two of our good friends recognized by the American Birding Association in 2024. Ned Brinkley and Tom Johnson were recipients of two of the ABA's highest awards. Ned received their "Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology," recognizing Ned for his never-ending contributions to and furthering of the knowledge and understanding of birds in the Middle Atlantic region, especially Virginia. Tom was the recipient of the ABA's "Roger Tory Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award," recognizing Tom's prolific contributions to the birding and ornithological communities, as well as his pioneering spirit to find new ways to learn more about birds, and perhaps most importantly his innate graciousness that manifested in his always encouraging and supporting birders of all ages and abilities. Congratulations, gents! We sure do miss you both around here.
You can link to the ABA's announcement of these and other awards by clicking here.
| | 2024 Conservation Support Report | | |
As an international ecotourism company focused primarily on bird watching, Field Guides has been deeply concerned with environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. For many years it has been our practice to make an end-of-year financial contribution to organizations that are dedicated to preserving and protecting our natural world. Several of our donations last year went to help protect endangered psittaciforms, including two species of Hapalopsittaca parrots (including Red-faced Parrot, pictured). Please visit our Conservation Support page to see our updated report on the 2024 contributions Field Guides made.
| | Field Guides merch is available! We've got shirts, hats, hoodies, mugs, stickers, tote bags, and more—all a click away at our Field Guides Store. Fashionable and functional—sure to keep you comfortable and looking spiffy—check it all out at the store. | | Field Guides swag in the field! We received this fantastic photo of some members of the Uganda Women Birders club donning our 40th anniversary t-shirts in Uganda. You can learn more about this pioneering group of women by clicking here. | | Triplists from recent tours | | We have triplists from past tours linked below, each with some lovely images and some with video clips, and all with great texts by our guides. Enjoy! | | Comments from participants | |
We carefully read each post-tour evaluation we receive from our participants, so that we can continue to offer the best possible birding experiences and service on Field Guides birding tours. Here are two representative recent comments. From all of us at Field Guides, our thanks for all your valuable feedback. | | |
“We chose this tour because we had a good experience with our first tour to Iceland in July, and Cory Gregory was the guide on that tour, too. This looked interesting and allowed us to explore an area with which we were not familiar. The overall tour experience was wonderful! This has to be an understated tour—the thousands of migrating Sandhill Cranes and the associated wetland birds, the diversity of habitats, and the mornings in the canyons before the sun warmed the air. Without question we would travel with Cory again. He is knowledgeable about the birds of an area, he researches areas before he takes us there, he has a great background, and he works hard to help us learn about birds. He also has sharp eyes and ears. As always, the tour manager and office staff were helpful, accurate, and precise.” N.B., Arizona Winter Specialties, 2024
"My overall tour experience was wonderful! Our guides Jay VanderGaast and local guide Vernon Campos are incredibly skilled and knowledgeable birders. Both guides consistently made sure that I saw birds that were more challenging. Their skill in quickly locating birds in the scope really improved the experience for me. I am a novice birder, and this tour introduced me to how great a way this is to visit a country. I have always enjoyed being outdoors and seeing wildlife. This tour took it to the next level for me. It was exactly what I hoped it would be! Our tour manager, Caroline Lewis, was really great. All the communications were clear and helpful. I appreciated that she greatly assisted us in staying three more days in San Jose after the tour ended. This was my first birding tour, so I don’t have much to compare it to—but perhaps it's a good indicator that we signed up for another Field Guides tour a few days after returning from this trip!” J.D., Holiday Costa Rica: Rancho Naturalista I, 2024
| | Tours with openings through September | | Each month we list in this section the Field Guides departures over the next six months that still have at least two spaces available (unless otherwise noted). | |
| | | Have you ever wanted to bird Cape May, New Jersey with a guide who knows all the nooks and crannies and good spots to bird that the local birders don't want to tell the toursists about? Well, we can hook you up. Doug Gochfeld not only knows the spots, he helped discover them. You can join Doug for our Spring in Cape May tour this May 11-17 and get to know Cape May. This tour is limited to seven folks—and we only have two spots left. We stay in one comfortable beachfront hotel for the duration of the tour, and there are no long drives. While Cape May is better known for its autumn birding, spring can more than hold its own. The shorebird migration along Delaware bay is legendary. The marshes ring out with songs and calls of Saltmarsh Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, and Clapper Rails. The sharp-looking Yellow-crowned Night Heron (pictured) is expected, as are White Ibis and other waders. And there are more than 20 species of wood warbler breeding locally, with another dozen or so that might be seen during migration. Cape May is also known for the unexpected, even in spring. Southern species often overshoot their target and find themselves in Cape May, and there are often a few wintering gems like Purple Sandpiper still around. For more information or to book a space, please contact our office.
SOUTH AMERICA
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Rainforest & Savanna: Alta Floresta & the Northern Pantanal, Brazil, Jun 9-24 with Marcelo Barreiros (1 space)
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Galapagos: An Intimate Look at Darwin's Islands I, Jun 14-24 with Mitch Lysinger & local guide
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Peru's Magnetic North: Spatuletails, Owlet Lodge & More, Jun 14-26 with Dan Lane & Jesse Fagan
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Brazil's Rio Roosevelt: Birding the River of Doubt, Jun 14-29 with Bret Whitney
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Machu Picchu & Abra Malaga, Peru, Jun 25-Jul 4 with Dan Lane
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Amazonian Ecuador: Sacha Lodge, Jul-3-12 with Willy Perez & local guide
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Jaguar Spotting in Brazil: Pantanal & Garden of the Amazon, Jul 5-16 with Marcelo Padua (1 space)
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Galapagos: An Intimate Look at Darwin's Islands II, Jul 12-22 with Willy Perez & local guide (1 space)
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Brazil's Madeira & Tapajos: Between Two Great Rivers, Jul 12-26 with Bret Whitney & Micah Riegner
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Mountains of Manu, Peru, Jul 31-Aug 11 with Dan Lane
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Brazil: Parrots & Cotingas: The Mouth of the Mighty Amazon, Aug 1-14 with Marcelo Padua
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Iquitos, Peru: Canopy Walkways & Ancient Forests, Aug 1-15 with Micah Riegner
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Bolivia's Avian Riches, Sep 5-21 with Dan Lane
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Rio Negro Paradise: Manaus, Brazil, Sep 13-28 with Marcelo Barreiros & Bret Whitney
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Safari Brazil: The Pantanal & More, Aug 1-14 with Marcelo Padua
NORTH AMERICA
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Colorado Grouse, Apr 11-22 with Micah Riegner & Alex Sundvall (1 space)
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Florida: Mangroves & Migrants, Apr 26-May 5 with Doug Gochfeld & Sam Wilson
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Arizona: Birding the Border, May 7-16 with Chris Benesh & Alex Sundvall
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Spring in Cape May, May 11-17 with Doug Gochfeld
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Arizona Nightbirds & More II, May 17-21 with Micah Riegner (1 space)
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Northern Arizona's Canyons & Condor, May 17-23 with John Coons & Sam Wilson (1 space)
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Alaska: No Place Like Nome, Jun 23-30 with Chris Benesh (1 space)
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Arizona's Second Spring I, Jul 19-28 with Chris Benesh (1 space)
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Arizona's Second Spring II, Jul 26-Aug 4 with Cory Gregory
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Oregon: From the Coast to the Cascades, Aug 30-Sep 10 with Cory Gregory
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Slice of California: Seabirds to Sierra I, Sep 4-13 with Chris Benesh
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Maine in Fall: Seabirds & Coastal Migrants, Sep 7-16 with Sam Wilson
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Slice of California: Seabirds to Sierra II, Sep 9-18 with Alex Sundvall (1 space)
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Fall for Cape May I, Sep 20-26 with Doug Gochfeld & Sam Wilson
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Fall for Cape May II, Sep 28-Oct 4 with Sam Wilson
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Alaska Fall Goldmine: Rarities on the Pribilofs, Sep 29-Oct 7 with Cory Gregory
MIDDLE AMERICA & WEST INDIES
AFRICA
EUROPE
ASIA & AUSTRALASIA
To learn more about any of these tours or to hold a space, please contact our office.
| | Recently posted upcoming itineraries | | Click on any image or link below to see the detailed itinerary for the following tours. All of these itineraries are packed with information (and have a few nice photos as well). | |
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