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FG Feb 09 Newsletter FEBRUARY 2009 fieldguides® BIRDING TOURS WORLDWIDE Our New Website by Jan Pierson Have you been online with us lately? If not, there are some big changes. We’re excited about our completely re-designed website, which we launched in mid-December. What are some of its new features? First and foremost, we know you’ve wanted unfettered access online to our itineraries, and now you have it. Go to any tour page, AmazonianAmazonian Riches-Iquitos,Riches-Iquitos, click on the “ITINERARIES [PDF]” link in the right sidebar, and you’ll open another Peru:Peru: CanopyCanopy WalkwaysWalkways && window where you can download a current or previous itinerary for virtually any of our Ancient Forests tours. Ancient Forests Continued on page 7 by Dave Stejskal Impressive roots on tropical tree in Iquitos [Photo by guide Rose Ann Rowlett] otoring upstream in an aluminum speedboat from the river city of Iquitos, ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Peru on the huge Amazon, we’ve got some time to consider where we are 2 GuideLines and what makes this place and this tour so special. Looking to either side 2 Last Spaces of the river—a considerable distance from our boat’s position in the middle 3 Fresh From the Field Mof the river—we see a towering green wall of vegetation. Every so often we pass an island 9 Birding from the Canopy or two, some no more than mud and grass while others look as though a chunk of that 10 Upcoming Tours towering green wall had broken off and drifted into the water. That green wall looks to 11 Spring Forward be pretty uniform, but we know that’s deceiving. 12 Bird Buzz Continued on page 6 The gorgeous Chatham Albatross is critically Why I Love endangered. [Photo by guide George Armistead] Pelagic Birding by Alvaro Jaramillo fter birding for a while, my first male Resplendent Quetzal, where I live, we you begin to realize there a gorgeous bird I’d seen in books, routinely see some are different “birding magazines, TV shows—even on the wonderful personalities.” Some of us Guatemalan currency—but seeing seabirds ranging enjoy birds mainly for their the real thing was absolutely fantastic. from Rhinoceros beautyA and are content sitting by a feeder Returning from the trail, I was humming Auklets and watching Northern Cardinals; others are a happy tune (probably Roll Out the Buller’s Shearwaters attracted to the excitement of a new bird, Barrel, as this is what tends to be playing to South Polar Skuas and Black-footed perhaps one we’ve seen in books for years in my head) thinking—“Oh my goodness, Albatross, but chat on the boat always and have dreamed of seeing in life. But I just saw a quetzal. The Quetzal!” turns to the big bird stories. “Remember for most of us it’s a combination of the For all the birding I’ve done, though, I that Bodega trip when the Light Mantled two that makes birding so appealing. I must admit that pelagic trips are the most Sooty Albatross showed up! Oh man.” remember a few years ago being at Los thrilling. It’s partly because of the realm Or, “How about Great-winged Petrel or Andes reserve in Guatemala where I saw of possibilities. In northern California Continued on page 8 800-728-4953 / www.fieldguides.com birding jaunt to Sanibel Island on the west coast of Florida helped GuideLines change this when I convinced my dad to buy me a copy of with Mitch Lysinger Ridgely’s Birds of Panama I saw on the shelf of a small bookstore; little did he know what he was getting himself into. All of a Picking Ecuador’s ‘Tanager-ines’ sudden, names like Bay-headed, Emerald, and Scarlet-browed tanagers were leaping off the pages, as if beckoning me. I studied rowing up as a kid birder in South Florida, I often felt them relentlessly and knew that somehow I had to see them. A disadvantaged…but not because there weren’t enough couple of trips to Ecuador and Venezuela in my late teens had birds to see. Why then? Well, sure, I got to see a nice me hooked…this could indeed be a way of life, and now is. sampling of all of those neat migrants from the north, I’ve since “evolved” into a lover of antbirds, tyrannids, and any- Gbut I felt like I still deserved to know them better and soak in thing else confusing, but I have to confess that it was the tanager things like nesting (and singing!) cuckoos, warblers, orioles, and plates that stole my heart in the beginning, and even still the sight sparrows; summer was a birding bore for the most part—all the of a radiant Vermilion or Flame-faced Tanager (this one pecks at birds were breeding up north—so butterflying became the best my San Isidro bedroom window every morning at 6:00 a.m. natural history show in town. sharp—better than a rooster)—still makes me feel lucky…no About the time I had gained some experience and was feeling matter how many times I see them. In montane Ecuador, where like a big gun in my neck of the woods (still not knowing any of frenzied tanager flocks swirl by and follow the misty clouds like a the northern songs!), a wave of Caribbean rarities started showing dream, our tours regularly pull down numbers upwards of 60 up more regularly, things that I’d only read and dreamed about, species, from colorful mountain-tanagers to the duller things I’d heard stories about from old timers I’d rubbed shoul- hemispingus. It’s never too late to pursue those ‘tanager-ine’ ders with. Visions of Key West Quail-Dove, Thick-billed Vireo, dreams, because they are still there, ripe for the picking. Bananaquit, and Stripe-headed Tanager danced in my head. I saw many of them over long drives to the Keys as Jimmy Buffett sang Mitch has lived in Ecuador since 1992. He and his family divide their tales of Calipso poets on the radio. Suddenly, birding south of the time between Quito and Cabanas San Isidro, their cloudforest lodge on the border seemed a lot more enticing. East slope of the Andes. Join Mitch for one of our upcoming MONTANE I knew nothing of the island birding just south of my stomping ECUADOR trips, where diverse Neotropical bird families—like tanagers grounds and still haven’t had the chance to bird there aside from a and hummers—make for one of the greatest shows on Earth. Dates are quick five-day stint in Jamaica. The deep Neotropics waiting just June 12-21 and July 30-August 8. Call our office or check our website for another hop further were even more of a mystery. A weekend a complete itinerary. The tanagers are a large and largely tropical American family of birds. Along with hummingbirds, they are among the prettiest and most colorful of the New World’s birds, and Ecuador is a paradise for this family. From left to right, these gems are: Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager, Golden Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, and Bay-headed Tanager. [Photos by participant Alan Wight (Black- chinned and Golden-naped) and guide George Armistead] Tour Updates Last Spaces With strong interest in both our Arizona Nightbirds & Philippines: Mar 7-29 with Dave Stejskal & Tim Fisher (2 spaces) More and Louisiana: Red Beans & Yellow Rails tours for Costa Rica: Mar 7-22 with Megan Crewe & Jay VanderGaast (2 spaces) 2009, we have added an extra departure for each to our schedule. Dates for all four departures are now: Hawaii: Mar 14-24 with George Armistead & John Coons (4 spaces) Spring in South Texas: Mar 28-Apr 5 with Chris Benesh (4 spaces) Arizona Nightbirds & More Bahamas: Birds & Butterflies: Mar 29-Apr 3 with Jesse Fagan (3 spaces) May 1-5, 2009 with Dave Stejskal & second guide May 7-11, 2009 with Dave Stejskal & Dan Lane Puerto Rico: Mar 29-Apr 4 with George Armistead & Dan Lane (1 space) Louisiana: Red Beans & Yellow Rails Nov 5-9, 2009 with Dan Lane Nov 12-16, 2009 with Dan Lane “Mitch Lysinger is phenomenal—give him a raise. He is not only an excellent bird guide, but a personable travel companion as well. Very good group experience.” And we’ve added a second departure for our popular Arizona’s Second Spring tour. Dates for it are Jeff Wert, Ecuador Rainforest & Andes 2008 August 7-16, 2009 and it will be guided by John Coons. 2 800-728-4953 / www.fieldguides.com FRESH FROM THE FIELD Reports from Recent Tours Costa Rica is a prime destination for those who want to immerse themselves in a tropical country that is both small, tourist friendly, and incredibly diverse. With a mix of very different Pacific and Caribbean slopes, the highlands, and even arid dry forest areas, it has a great many different habitats and birds to offer. During the holidays we offer a shorter tour focused on the very rich highland habitats, Holiday Costa Rica: Rancho Naturalista. Our guide Jesse Fagan’s experience and love for Central American birding is well known, but usually he is found guiding farther to the north in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, so it was great for him to guide a very successful holiday in Costa Rica tour this season. These are some of his photos from that trip. At top, Ivan Ace, our driver Champu, and local guide Cali during a break at La Mina trail near Rancho Naturalista.
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