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Welcome to our May emailing!
Hello friends! How has spring migration been treating you? Sadly, most of us are on the back side of songbird migration, with just the last wave of arrivals still to come. Maybe they'll bring with them some surprises and overshoots. If you're lucky enough to live where shorebirds stop off, that should keep you entertained. But soon the birds are on to the business of making more birds.
We're busy here at Field Guides with the business of launching our spring adventures. As we type, we've got tours on the ground in Japan, Finland, Michigan, Arizona, and in a couple days we're starting one in Angola.
We're also busy (as might you be?) looking later in 2025, and we've got a whole bunch of great tours below that might catch your eye. If you'd like to experience Arizona's aptly named "second spring" (it's even better than the first!), we have two departures this summer. If getting to Peru this year sounds fun, we've got three distinctly different tours to tell you about. If you've ever wanted to experience Asian vagrancy on an Alaskan island or wanted to see Ross's Gull at the top of the continent, we've got you covered there as well. Those are our two fall Alaska tours, and we tell you about them below. We also have a special contribution from guide Bret Whitney that might entice you to consider joining him and Marcelo Barreiros on our Spectacular Southeast Brazil odyssey this fall. Lastly, we just added another December departure to Trinidad & Tobago. You could be the first to sign up!
We have a couple of travel bulletins to let you know about, and of course we have our regular features. There's a new Recent Photos Gallery, with 150 images from 14 tours to ten countries. We also have a couple short videos from recent tours that you might enjoy watching. There's our list of upcoming tours with available spaces for the next six months, a link to our Field Guides Store, and nine tour reports from recent tours and a half-dozen fresh itineraries for upcoming tours next year.
We'd like to thank guide Sam Wilson for contributing the photo above of a White-throated Mountain-gem that he took while co-leading our Costa Rica: Birding the Edges tour this past winter.
Our thanks, too, to guide Doug Gochfeld for the photo below of our group birding in Vietnam this past January.
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.
| | Our fall adventures to Alaska | | |
Each autumn we head way north to seek out Asian vagrants and other celebrated species of Alaska's Arctic Ocean. This is our two-parted Alaska Fall Goldmine tour.
Part One heads to St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs with hopes of finding Asian waifs that appear on this isolated outpost. A potpourri of highly sought rarities is possible in any given year—the variety and uncertainty of what might show up next is part of the excitement.
Part Two heads to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), where we spend a few days at the most northern reaches of mainland North America during the peak of Ross's Gull migration—we tallied over 1200 during a recent tour! Aside from these showstoppers, we also have a good chance at Spectacled, King, and Common eiders, Yellow-billed Loon, Snowy Owl, and perhaps even an Ivory Gull (last seen on tour in 2019). There's even a chance at seeing Polar Bears (we saw a couple of them in 2024).
These tours are designed to be taken either indivudually or combined.
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To sign up or get more information about any of these tours, please contact our office.
| | Southeast Brazil: It's Spectacular! | | |
Our guide Bret Whitney has contributed a fabulous description of birding in southeast Brazil below.
Would you describe hummers as some of the most fabulously brilliant and inspiring jewels in the natural world? Do you think cotingas are, shall we say, alluring? Are you easily thrilled by birding's simpler pleasures, like walking down a misty mountain trail at dawn, having no idea whether you're going to see a bamboowren, a bristlefront, or a streamcreeper next... or by the idea of a picnic dinner attended by owls and nightjars? And do you occasionally dream of being under a warm, tropical forest canopy after about the third hard freeze of autumn has numbed your neighborhood? If you answered "Yes!" to more than one of these, then you are likely to have the tropical birding time of your life on our Spectacular Southeast Brazil tours!
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 | | Southeast Brazil is an especially exciting place to bird because it has such a wealth of unusual endemics, many of which are among the rarest birds on the continent; some are on the lists of the most critically endangered species on Earth. Most of these endemics are montane, with only a couple restricted to the lowlands. The principal reason for this is that the high mountains of southeast Brazil, the Serra do Mar and associated ranges, are many millions of years older than the Andes. This ancient "world apart" on the South American continent—the Atlantic Forest biome—harbors numerous ancestral lineages of birds and other organisms. Sadly, a great many of these highly distinctive species have experienced drastic reductions in range due to loss of habitat, mainly during the past 70 years: Contemporary distributions of many endemic birds and mammals are mere vestiges of parental populations. But they are still out there, most are not extinct, and we want to see them all! The northern-hemisphere fall is beautiful springtime in Brazil, and we'll leave few bromeliads unscrutinized as we immerse ourselves in the Atlantic Forest in search of the approximately 170 species of birds that live only there (we regularly see over 160 of them). That's far more endemics within this one region than are found in any other South American country! Part of the fun, for sure, is meeting the enormous challenge of finding and seeing well all of these incredible birds.
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There are, of course, many species of more widespread distribution as well, and we'll enjoy plenty of these as we go. To maximize our chances of success while maintaining an allegro daily rhythm of travel, Field Guides' Spectacular Southeast Brazil program comprises two back-to-back tours which, together (not including international travel days), make for about a month in the field. They are split at the Tropic of Capricorn (about 23 degrees South latitude), the official division between the Tropics and the South Temperate Zone, and they are perfectly complementary whether taken separately or in tandem.
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Spectacular Southeast Brazil (Part I—"North of the Tropic"), at 18 days, takes you through the tiny but mighty (birdy, that is!) states of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro plus far northern São Paulo.
Spectacular Southeast Brazil (Part II—"South of the Capricorn") picks up from São Paulo and runs for 15 days south through the gaucho country of Rio Grande do Sul, a region settled by Italian and German immigrants so culturally different from the north that you may wonder if we are truly still in Brazil! Along the way, we'll stay in some charming places, revel in the beauty of mossy mountain forests, and enjoy some fabulous Brazilian cooking. So be sure your seat back is up and tray table stowed, and come on down to Rio!
(Above photo credits from Southeast Brazil participants: Golden-chevroned Tanager by Linda Rudolph; birding in the rain by Karen Walz; Frilled Coquette by Becky Hansen; Surucua Trogon by Steve Rannels. Below, buffet lunch by Suzi Cole.)
| | We've got three fantastic tours to Peru this summer, visiting the southern, central, and northern regions of the country. Each offers a distinctly different experience complete with different biomes and avifauna. If getting to Peru is on your wish list, check out these tours and please contact our office for more information or to book a space. | | |
Mountains of Manu, Peru, Jul 31-Aug 11 with Dan Lane & local guide
We visit the higher elevation reaches of the vast Manu Biosphere Reserve, a captivating wilderness which is home to over 1000 bird species, with many endemics among them. We're based at several comfortable lodges while seeking birds like Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Red-and-white Antpitta, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, White-collared Jay, Golden Tanager, and Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant (widely considered the smallest passerine on Earth). We follow this up with four days spent birding upper tropical rainforest, with great birds outside our rooms in the gardens, and an extensive trail system bringing us to various habitat types.
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Iquitos, Peru: Canopy Walkways & Ancient Forests, Aug 1-15 with Micah Riegner
Northern Peru is where you'll find Iquitos, a city so remote that it requires flying or floating to reach—yet it is home to half a million people. You'll also find the Peruvian Amazon, where some 600 species of birds have been recorded—many of them only known to science for the past quarter-century or so. We spend a few nights in a comfortable hotel in Iquitos, birding various refuges outside the city. We then boat down the Amazon, staying at a series of lodges, each with its own avian niche. During our journey we'll seek a variety of birds, such as Ladder-tailed Nightjar, Black-tailed Antbird, Black Bushbird, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Zigzag Heron, loads of puffbirds, antbirds—and a couple species of scarce river dolphins. Lastly, we'll also enjoy spellbinding canopy birding via the towers and walkways at the Amazon Conservatory of Tropical Studies (ACTS) lodge during our several days there, with a shot at the nearly mythical Nocturnal Curassow.
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Central Peruvian Endemics: The High Andes, Oct 4-20 with Dan Lane
We've designed this tour to find the many endemic inhabitants of the upper-elevation of the central Peruvian Andes. While doing that, we'll be surrounded by some of the most enthralling mountain scenery to be had anywhere. We'll spend a good portion of the tour over 10,000 feet, with a couple days spent at close to 16,000. We start our ascent on the arid slopes above Lima—hopefully ticking Great Inca-Finch, Bronze-tailed Comet, and Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch as we continue up. We visit Huascaran National Park, with nearly a million acres of preserved wilderness and home to Huascaran—Peru's tallest peak. From here we'll explore the Carpish Mountains and Bosque Unchog. We'll bird the famous Paty Trail looking for east-Andean forest specialties. At Bosque Unchog we'll camp for a couple days—the only way to find local endemics like Pardusco, Bay-vented Cotinga, and Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, among others. There is much, much more to this adventure than space here allows, so please click the link above to learn more.
(Above photo credits: Huascaran looming over the Llanganuco Valley by guide Dan Lane; Brown Capuchin Monkey from Manu by guide Jesse Fagan; Paradise Jacamar, Iquitos, by participant Eric VanderWerf.)
| | Added departure to Trinidad & Tobago | | |
We have just scheduled a second departure to Trinidad & Tobago (which is actually departing before the other departure). Micah Riegner is guiding this added tour to these wonderful and friendly islands. The first six nights are spent at the recently remodeled and comfortable Asa Wright Nature Centre, followed by two nights at Blue Waters Inn on Tobago. "T&T" is a perfect introduction to birding South America. Just about ten miles off the coast of Venezuela, it hosts many of those exotic families found on mainland South America, including motmots, jacamars, toucans, woodcreepers, ovenbirds, antbirds, cotingas, and manakins.
For more information or to book a space, please contact our office.
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U.S. birders, from their earliest birding days, are often asked: "Have you birded Arizona yet?" This is for good reason, as southeastern Arizona is one of the most prized birding regions in the country and home to a whole battery of species that are impossible or difficult to find elsewhere. Typically, the prevailing winds of late summer ferry moisture and rains—the annual monsoon—to Arizona's thirsty desert and grasslands. It's a delightful time, and we call it Arizona's Second Spring. A few local birds take advantage of this phenomenon to begin their nesting season. This has also proven to be a great time of year for Mexican vagrants, such as Eared Quetzal, White-eared Hummingbird, Rufous-capped Warbler, Flame-colored Tanager, and Streak-backed Oriole.
We have two offerings of our Arizona's Second Spring tour, both listed below. Sign up soon if you want to go this year, as these tours depart in just a couple of months.
To sign up or get more information about any of these tours, please contact our office.
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REAL ID requirements are now in effect: After many delays, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that the REAL ID requirements at all airport Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints are now in effect. For more information, you can visit the DHS REAL ID website by clicking here.
Ecuador's Yellow Fever Requirement: Recently, Ecuador started requiring travelers from Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil to present a valid Yellow Fever vaccination certificate to enter the country. This also applies to certain-aged U.S. citizens who have spent more than ten days just prior to entry in any of those four countries. For complete details, you can read the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador's full statement by clicking here.
| | Short videos from recent tours | | |
Many of our tour reports contain highlight videos from the tour that might showcase the birds, the scenery, the culture, other wildlife, or any combination thereof.
Our first video is highlights from our Vietnam tour, guided by Doug Gochfeld last January. Click here or on the White-throated Rock-Thrush below to watch the video.
The second clip is a highlight video from our recent South Texas Rarities tour, guided by Chris Benesh & Alex Sundvall. You can view this video by clicking here or on the Great Kiskadee below.
| | 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. | | Reports from recent tours | | We have annotated and illustrated reports from recently completed 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. | | |
“Willy Perez has a magnetic personality. He's a great birder, and his knowledge of the terrain and the locations adds tremendous value to his ability to find the birds. His people skills are unusually good. He makes you feel comfortable as soon as you meet him, and he goes out of his way to help in whatever way he can. Willy is a wonderful storyteller and held court most nights with funny, interesting, and heartwarming tales of his life as a guide in Ecuador. As soon as I arrived home from the trip, I began looking at his tour schedule to find another trip with him that would be a good fit for me. I am eager to tour with Willy again soon. I go on at least two international tours per year, and he stands out as a guide who made the difference between a good experience and a great experience. Please keep giving him a great selection of locations which allow for new and different birds, and repeat customers. The service of the tour manager and your office staff was excellent. Nicole Cannon was quick to answer emails and to provide help with questions. She is cheerful and friendly and does her job well.” J.T., Southeast Ecuador: Orange-throated Tanager & Foothill Specialties 2025
“I've wanted to go to Southern India for a long time and Field Guides is always my first choice. Terry Stevenson being the guide was an added bonus. Terry is a wonderful guide and birder who takes excellent care of his group. It would be my pleasure to travel with him anytime, anywhere. The tour was excellent. Accommodations and transportation were very good. We had several guides at various locations, so everyone in the small group had help finding birds if/when needed. Having several 2-3 night stays gave us ample time to cover each destination and minimized the shuffling around that can become chaotic and tiring with one-night stays. Many of the hotels exceeded expectations, and all hotels were warm and welcoming places to stay. Having tour manager Sharon Mackie along was an absolute delight! She added so much to the tour experience. She proved to be an excellent spotter, having been the first to locate some of our target species. She was kind and helpful in so many ways both in the field and at the hotels. She is a lovely, enthusiastic, and fun person to spend time with.” D.R., Southern India: Western Ghats Endemics, 2024
| | Tours with openings through November | | 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). | | |
South Africa is home to an astounding diversity of birds, mammals, and flora, and so much of it is familiar to nature enthusiasts. We have two very different tours to this endemic-rich country this year, each certain to generate a lifetime of fond memories. Our flagship South Africa tour spends three weeks surveying as much of the country as possible with guides Tarry Butcher & Jesse Fagan. It departs in early October. Our slimmed-down South Africa: Birds, Wines & Wildflowers itinerary is shorter, and adds the element of sampling this region's renowned viticulture. Marcelo Padua & Tarry Butcher lead the way on this tour, which departs August 30th. (Photo of Burchell's Zebras by participant Kevin Watson.) For more information or to book a space, please contact our office.
SOUTH AMERICA
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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 (1 space)
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Amazonian Ecuador: Sacha Lodge, Jul 3-12 with Willy Perez & local guide
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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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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 (1 space)
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Rio Negro Paradise: Manaus, Brazil, Sep 13-28 with Marcelo Barreiros & Bret Whitney (1 space)
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Safari Brazil: The Pantanal & More, Sep 20-Oct 5 with Marcelo Padua
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Central Peruvian Endemics: The High Andes, Oct 4-20 with Dan Lane
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NEW TOUR! Bolivia's Lowland Lodges: Blue-throated Macaws & Beyond, Oct 5-18 with Micah Riegner
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Spectacular Southeast Brazil (Part I), Oct 17- Nov 3 with Bret Whitney & Marcelo Barreiros
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Antarctica, South Georgia, & the Falklands, Oct 20- Nov 12 with Doug Gochfeld
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Brazil: Atlantic Forest Getaway, Oct 23-Nov 2 with Marcelo Padua
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Spectacular Southeast Brazil (Part II), Nov 1-14 with Bret Whitney & Marcelo Barreiros
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Chile: The Classic Tour, Nov 3-23 with Willy Perez & local guide
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Colombia's Inirida: Land of Many Waters, Nov 24-Dec 1 with Jesse Fagan & local guide (1 space)
NORTH AMERICA
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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
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Alaska Fall Goldmine: Ross's Gull in Barrow Oct 9-13 with Sam Wilson
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Louisiana: Yellow Rails & Crawfish Tails, Oct 23-27 with Dan Lane & Alex Sundvall
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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