Birds in the News #78
I am a little late in posting this.
Issue #78 of Birds in the News can be found here.
It features:
- A wonderful photo of three Rhinoceros Hornbills
- News of many Common Murres and other birds washed ashore on the beaches of California, Oregon and Washington.
- A campaign to conserve Columbia’s wax palms and the Yellow-Eared Parrots.
- The success of the captive Kiwi breeding programme at Auckland Zoo.
- Australian twitchers descending upon Darwin to tick a rare occurance of a Javan Pond Heron.
- A Bar-Tailed Godwit has been tracked by satellite – and set a new long-distance non-stop flight record of 10,200 km.
- And much more.
Link:
Puffins
No Comments »28th April, 2007; Category: Non-Australian birds
Last Thursday we travelled to Adelaide International Airport to pick up our daughter. She had just been for a two and a half week stay in Ireland. On her way home she proudly announced that she had seen some Puffins while there.
Ouch.
I would love to add any of the Puffin species to my life list. It was a shame I didn’t go with her on this trip because she had a great time. I just didn’t like the extra baggage she took with her – sixteen teenagers from the school where she teaches here in South Australia.
This trip was organised by my daughter as a school exchange with a high school in county Clare, Ireland, which is most appropriate because she teaches at Clare High School in the mid-north of South Australia.
Birding in Israel
2 Comments »21st April, 2007; Category: Non-Australian birds
Unlike a friend of mine, I’ve never been to Israel, either as a tourist or a birder. I can get a good feel for the birds of this country, however, from the site called Birdwatching and Birding Tours of Israel.
It has plenty of photos of birds to enjoy, along with trip reports and details of birding tours of the country.
Birding in Nepal – some frustrations
Feral Pigeon in Kathmandu
One of the aspects of visiting Nepal in 2006 that excited me was the propect of seeing many birds for the very first time. This was my first trip overseas and for months before I studied field guides to help me identify the birds, first in Thailand and then in Nepal.
At first I was quite disappointed with the birding I was able to do. I soon realised that watching birds was not my main purpose in visiting these countries, so any birds I did see were a bonus. Secondly, I realised very quickly that identifying birds in a strange country is not easy. Even though I had studied the field guides for many months, getting an ID for some birds was very hard. Third, trying to identify and photograph a bird from the back of a moving elephant, or in the lurching back seat of a 4WD or bus, or while gasping for air when staggering up the track towards Mt Everest IS NOT EASY.
So, in that context, the photo above was a bonus. This Feral Pigeon (Rock Dove) posed for me beautifully on a the ledge of part of a temple in Kathmandu. Still, I didn’t exactly travel a third of the way around the world to see and photograph a common bird I can see just by stepping out my front door at home. [Sigh]
What would I do differently?
The next time I go overseas I will go with different plans and different expectations. I will not expect to be able to identify every bird I see. That takes much experience and knowledge. I will also schedule in more times to just go quietly and not in a rush – certainly not on the back of an elephant – though that is a handy place to be when confronted by a tiger (which I didn’t see) or a rhino (which I did see).
Professional Guides:
While I did have the expertise of a professional birding guide for some of the time at Chitwan National Park, most of the time I was left on my own when birding. In many Asian countries, birding guides are relatively cheap to employ for a morning or even for a day. Their local knowledge is vital, plus you have the bonus of helping to give employment to a local person which in turn helps a struggling economy.
Related articles from my travel blog:
- Himalayan Monal – national bird of Nepal.
- Another rhinoceros – and some birds too
- Canoe trip – and many birds
- An early morning birding walk – it’s hard in the fog!
- Royal Chitwan National Park – complete with a list of birds I saw.
Link:
- Trevor’s Travels – my blog about my travels in Australia, Thailand and Nepal.
Bird Watching in Greece
I have never been to Greece and have no immediate plans to take a holiday there. However, if you would like to send me a return airline ticket to Greece I would be forced to consider changing any plans I have.
It certainly is one of those countries I would love to visit. At school I studied ancient history and so I know quite a deal about many aspects of Greek culture and their history. I enjoyed the coverage of the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the snippets of the countryside shown during that time. Several of our television networks here in Australia feature holiday destinations in Greece occasionally.
I must admit that my main interest in visiting Greece would have to be to visit historic sites, cultural sites and some of the beautiful islands. Until recently I hadn’t considered going there just to go birding. That was until I discovered the blog Birdwatching in Greece. This blog gives an excellent coverage of many of the birds found in Greece. It also features many wonderful photos of birds seen there by birders. Over a dozen trip reports are included in the archives. It also includes links to a number of Greek birding blogs and birding web sites.
This blog is worth a visit even if it is just to look at the photos.