July 2020 Newsletter

The devastaing effects of the corona virus forced us to cancel all of our tours from early spring through to early autumn, and make full refunds or transfer the booking to tours in 2021. At the time of writing we still do not know when we will be able to start travelling again but we remain optimistic. To that end you will find a full set of tour dates for 2021 in the centre pages and we are pleased to be receiving bookings already - indeed some 2021 tours are already full. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to travelling with you again in 2021, if not before.

This superb photo of an Egyptian Plover was taken by Dick Forsman on our recent tour to . Read more about this tour inside.

Also inside:

2021 Calender New Tours 3003 Lockdown tales - what leaders get up to when they cannot lead

www.sunbirdtours.co.uk Email: [email protected] Sunbird, 26B The Market Square, Potton, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2NP Tel: 01767 262522 RECENTSENEGAL TOUR - FEBRUARY 2020 One of the undoubted highlights of the tour was this roosting Golden Nightjar, its intricate markings blending beautifully with its surroundings.

We began our new tour to Senegal by heading north from the capital Dakar to the Sahel region. New came thick and fast and a large gathering of vultures at a carcass included a lot of Eurasian Griffons. Our destination was Richard Toll on the south side of the Senegal River with just on the other side. From here we explored the northern region in search of some special birds, which we encountered one after the other. Little Grey Woodpecker was one of the first ‘key’ birds with a female posing for us for several minutes. This was later joined by a couple of Sennar Penduline Tits, which in turn were followed by a very obliging Cricket Warbler. After stopping to look at a small colony of Horus Swifts, a well out of its normal range, we set about trying to find one of the star birds of the Sahel - the mythical Golden Nightjar. - and before long we were watching a beautifully camouflaged roosting bird.The Sahel is famous as a wintering ground for birds from Europe and we came across plenty of Western Subalpine, Western Bonelli’s, Western Orphean and Western Olivaceous Warblers on our travels.

Our birding here was interrupted slightly by the arrival of the Saharan wind that reduced visibility to a few yards and turned the air orange. But this soon passed and we were on our way to the famous wetland of the Djoudj which provided the spectacle of thousands of nesting Great White Pelicans, huge numbers of White-faced Whistling Ducks, more than 1000 Garganey, 50 Marbled Ducks, masses of Greater Flamingos, 30 or so Black Crowned Cranes, and a flock of 200 Zebra Waxbills. Other special birds here included the range-restricted River Prinia, the local race of African Stonechat, Greater Swamp Warbler, several Greater Painted Snipe, and an unexpected Baillon’s Crake.

Moving to the south we had several sites to visit. The famous Scissor-tailed Kite roost at Kaolack, while not as massive as it can be, was still a sight to behold and gave us some great views of this graceful raptor. Savile’s Bustards also showed well here. Moving east we spent a pleasant few days at Wassadou where Egyptian Plovers showed remarkably well, as did lots of Adamawa Turtle Doves. There were plenty of African Finfoots on the river and a boat trip put us nice and close to breeding Northern Carmine and Red- throated Bee-eaters. Other highlights included Western Banded Snake-eagle, several White-backed Night Herons, Swamp Flycatcher, African Blue Flycatcher, Giant and Blue-breasted Kingfishers, a two female Black-faced Firefinches and a riot of Purple Glossy Starlings. Right in the south-east corner of the country we had arguably some of the best birding of the tour. Probably the main target here was Kulikuro or Firefinch. We did spectacularly well for this species, with great views in one location and around 50 individuals drinking at a small spring elsewhere. These were joined by Lavender Waxbills, Magpie Mannikins, Mocking Cliff Chats (of the localised race bambarae), a pair of Neumann’s Starlings, and three Gosling’s Buntings. And this was at the end of a day that had included several Sun Larks, Four-banded Sandgrouse with chicks, Fox Kestrel, Violet Turacos, Narina’s Trogon, and Willcock’s Honeyguide. As the tour drew to a close, one very special bird was still to be found. Senegal is perhaps the best place to see the strange Quail-plover and the wonderful views we had provided a very fitting end to a successful tour.

Clockwise from top left: Quail-plover, Cricket Warbler, Scissor-tailed Kite, birding on the Senegal River at Richard Toll, and Sennar Penduline Tit. Photos: Steve Rooke and Paul French

We have amended our itinerary for the 2021 tour and will be visiting the remote southwest corner of the country where highlights will include the distinctive Capuchin Babbler (right). The form here is a potential split - Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler - and we also have a very good chance of finding the little-known Turati’s Boubou along with a bunch of other birds not seen elsewhere in Senegal. We then cross into for a day where we’ll find some more localised species before flying home. The tour dates are 6 - 23 February with Paul French and a local guide leading. Our Calendar of tours for 2021

JANUARY APRIL 3 - 17 January China: Cranes in winter 5 - 15 April USA: Colorado: Lekking Grouse 4 - 12 January Mexico: San Blas 5 - 15/19 April Guatemala with Tikal extension 4 - 18 January Argentina: The South 6 - 15 April USA: Texas Rio Grande Valley 8 - 15 January Gambia 7 - 21 April Costa Rica 10 - 24 January Japan: Winter 8 - 15 April USA: Texas - Upper Coast 24 January - 7 February Myanmar 9 - 17 April Honduras 27 January - 9 February Cruise: The Tasman Sea 17 - 29 April Taiwan plus extensions - an Anitipodean Adventure 18 April - 3 May Philippines 27 January - 10 February Japan: Winter 19 - 29 April Portugal 29 January - 6 February Ecuador: Mindo and NW Andes 22 - 30 April Greece: Lesvos 23 - 29 April Georgia: The High Caucasus 24 April - 2 May Jamaica 25 April - 1 May Scotland 25 April - 2 May USA: Florida 28 April - 5 May Estonia FEBRUARY 5 - 18 February Namibia 6 - 13 February USA: New Mexico in Winter 6 - 23 February Senegal 7 - 15 February Ecuador: East slopes of the Andes MAY 7 - 20 February Lesser Antilles 8 - 22 February Thailand: The Northwest 3 - 9 May USA: Northwest Ohio 9 February - 1 March New Zealand 3 - 16 May Spain: The Grand Tour 13 - 28 February Sri Lanka 5 - 16 May USA: Midwest Migration 16 - 25 February Ecuador: Amazon Lowlands 1 5 - 20 May Central Asia: Birding the Silk Road 16 - 26 February Hawaii 6 - 19 May Japan: Spring 20 - 27 February Mexico: Baja California 7 - 15 May USA: Arizona - Owls and Warblers 22 February - 3 March Trinidad and Tobago 8 - 18 May France 22 February - 7 March Thailand: The South 13 - 24 May Oregon: Spring 24 February - 14 March India: The North 15 - 23 May Belarus 19 - 29 May France 22 May - 5 June Finland and Arctic Norway 28 May - 5 June USA: Minnesota and North Dakota 30 May - 15 June Mongolia MARCH 30 May - 18 June China: Sichuan 1 - 15 March Tanzania 5 - 16 March Belize Mexico: Lancandon Rainforest TBA JUNE 6 - 14 March Colombia: Santa Marta Mountains 6 - 21 March China: Yunnan 5 - 28 June Indonesia: West Papua 12 - 23 March Mexico: Oaxaca and Western Chiapas 9 - 18 June Iceland 15 - 26 March Morocco 13 - 20 June USA: Birding the American Civil War 16 - 29 March Nepal 13 - 25 June USA: Alaska: Majesty of the North 17 - 31 March Costa Rica: Spring from 9 June with Pribilofs pre-tour extension 18 - 26 March Dominican Republic to 28 June with Barrow post-tour extension 22 March - 13 April Vietnam 20 - 29 June Iceland 24 March - 10 April Bhutan 20 June - 9 July 26 March - 6 April Morocco 29 March - 4/9 April Panama: Canopy Tower in Spring

As well as all the tours listed above, don’t forget that our sister company WINGS in America operates a full programme of domestic tours within the United States. Details of these can be found on our website calendar and also on the WINGS website - www.wingsbirds.com Any of these tours can be booked through the Sunbird office. Our Calendar of tours for 2021 Be sure to check the website for updates

JULY OCTOBER 2 - 10 July Ecuador: Mindo and NW Andes 4 - 17 October Australia: Queensland and NSW 12 - 26/30 July Brazil: Mato Grosso - The Pantanal 14/17 - 27 October Brazil: Bahia and Indigo Macaw 13 - 24 July Costa Rica 17 October - 6 November Indonesia: Sulawesi & Halmahera 17 - 30 July Peninsula Malaysia 28 October - 14/19 Nov. Ethiopia with cultural extension 22 - 29 July Canary Islands 28/29 July - 7 August Norway: Svalbard 31 July - 8 August Ecuador: Amazon Lowlands 2

NOVEMBER

1 - 17 November Chile AUGUST 3 - 13/17 Guatemala with Tikal extension 5 - 15 November Ecuador: Galapagos Islands 1 - 17 August 10 - 26 November 2 - 16 August Borneo: Sabah 11 - 27/30 November 9 - 28 August Colombia 13 - 25/27 November India: Goa plus Owlet ext. 12 - 21 August Romania 14 - 20 November Panama: Canopy Tower 16 - 24 August Borneo: Sarawak 16 - 27 November Oman 24 August - 1 September Georgia: Migration on the Black Sea 17 November - 1 December Tanzania 18 November - 2 December Guyana 19 - 28 November Panama: Western Highlands 24 November - 8 December Zambia 25 - 27 November India: Forest Owlet SEPTEMBER 26 November - 10 December Cambodia 27 November - 4 December Panama: Darien Lowlands 2 - 19 September Madagascar 28 November - 6 December Mexico: Yucatan & Cozumel 5 - 19 September South Africa: Kalahari to the Cape 29 November - 13/20 Dec. India: the South and Andamans 7 - 19 September USA: Arizona and Utah 8 - 18 September USA: California - The South 12 - 18 September Sweden: Migration at Falsterbo 16 - 27 September Peru: Machu Picchu and beyond 18 September - 4 October Australia: West and North 19 - 25 September Sweden: Migration at Falsterbo 24 September - 15 October Indonesia: Java and Sumatra 25 September - 9/13 October China: Snow Leopards and Lhasa 27 September - 8 October Peru: Lodges of the Madre de Dios NEW TOURS

ZAMBIA 24 November - 8 December 2021 with Ethan Kistler

Zambia is a wonderfully scenic country in the Choma for the endemic Chaplin’s Barbet, before middle of sub-Saharan Africa with spending time in the Lower Zambezi Valley. Here numerous parks and wild areas. It is also we’ll be looking for a variety of birds but in particular unusually diverse biologically, and - although the elusive African Pitta, one of Africa’s most sought- under-watched by birders - has one of the after species. Other highlights here could include the largest bird lists in Africa, surpassing 750 dainty Livingstone’s Flycatcher and African Broadbill. species. We’ll visit a range of habitats, each We end the tour with a visit to the spectacular with its own set of species, beginning in the Victoria Falls where the Zambezi River plummets extreme northwest corner on the border of into a vast gorge. The river and the lush forest that Angola and the Democratic Republic of the borders it can be great for birds with the likes of Congo. This remote area, rarely visited by African Finfoot, Half-collared Kingfisher, Collared tourists, offers a chance to see many Congo Palm Thrush and Rock Pratincole. We might even Basin species normally inaccessible to birders bump into a massive Pel’s Fishing Owl. and we’ll be on the look-out for such things as Forbes’s Plover, Spotted Thrush Babbler, Our tour coincides with the best time of year for Grimwood’s Longclaw, and Angola Lark to birding, and we should record a long list of species mention a few. From here we’ll travel south not typically found on other tours, with new species towards Kafue National Park, one of the even for frequent travellers to Africa. largest parks in Africa, with its extensive Above - the elusive African Pitta will be one of the Miombo woodlands interspersed with grassy tour highlights. Opposite top - a few of the many depressions called ‘Dambos.’ Here we may special birds possible on this new tour. Clockwise see the highly localised Black-cheeked Love- from top left: Chaplin’s Barbet, Collared Palm bird as well as some of Africa’s iconic Thrush, Angola Lark, Livingstone’s Flycatcher. mammals. Continuing south we’ll stop near Photos by Frank Willems and David Fisher. CHINA: Snow Leopard in Qinghai. 25 September - 9 October with Lhasa extension to 13 October with Paul Holt and Wang Qingyu

We’ve operated dozens of tours to the fantastic Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and on this radically revised itinerary we’ll explore some truly remote parts of the ‘Roof of the World’ in search of Snow Leopard. Stunningly attractive, rare and notoriously elusive, some would even say mythical, the Snow Leopard inhabits some of the highest, most remote and isolated parts of our planet. Solitary for much of the year, they Paul Holt managed this quick snap of a Snow live in essentially impenetrable mountain terrain. In Leopard whilst carrying out the scout for this tour. summer they venture high above the tree line, but in autumn they descend to lower altitudes in search of food – and it is at this time that we have our best chances of seeing one and, although a sighting of such a rare creature can never be guaranteed, we have a very good chance. Indeed China is rapidly becoming ‘the’ place to see this rare cat.

We start with several days birding on the edge of the mighty Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau where we not only get to see some really exciting birds, but where we also get to acclimatise to the altitude before venturing higher onto the plateau, a very important and necessary step. We also offer an extension to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region and to get there we take one of the world’s great train journeys across the roof of the world. Leaders on lockdown - Spring is normally a very busy time for our leaders, so with no tours running they have had a lot of time on their hands. We checked on what some of them have been up to. As Paul Holt’s tour to North India came to a close the virus was really taking hold preventing him from returning to China so he ended up coming back to the UK where he remains. Some very local birding in East Lancashire has given him a chance to reacquaint himself with many of the common birds of his youth. In between various chores he’s been busy sound recording several commoner species in the garden.

With the Sunbird office being much quieter than usual, and with cancelled tours, Steve Rooke has spent a lot of time at home. He is normally away in May, so as well as limited local birding he was able to devote time to his garden and various other projects. These included redecorating the house and getting to grips with making sourdough bread, something he had not had much luck with before. Sourdough needs time and with plenty of that available he was successful. He also had a go at making his own mozzarella cheese with what he describes as ‘limited success’ but good enough to make a few sourdough pizzas! Left - one of Steve’s sourdough loaves!

For Stephen Menzie its been a time of change. In early March, he moved from the UK to southernJaguar Sweden - Brazil where Photo he began work as the new manager of Falsterbo Bird Observatory, an area he knows well from previous work there as a ringer. He managed to take up his post a week before the borders were closed and has been enjoying a busy spring with well over 3000 birds ringed so far.

KillianPitta-like Mullarney Ground is currently Roller working - Madagascar on a new book - a Sound Approach guide to shorebirds - and a sample of his work for that is shown here. Having tours to Lesvos and Finland & Norway cancelled he has had more time to devote to this project, but of course he has also found time to get out birding, with a possible Cayenne Tern providing some excitment and much discussion. Killian’s local patch is Tacumshin where this spring he has enjoyed a gathering of over 5000 Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitcher, two Bonaparte’s Gulls, two American Golden Plovers, a Tundra Bean Goose and a Semiplalmated Sandpiper.

Since lockdown began Paul French has been spending far more time than usual staring out of the window and watching the comings and goings of his garden birds. Living right next to Spurn Bird Observatory means he never knows what is going to turn up. His lush garden is designed to be bird-friendly and already has has an impressive list which includes some rarities. Seven new garden ticks this spring were topped by an all too brief Red-rumped Swallow that he found nearby whilst taking a walk, which evolved very quickly into an exercise sprint back to the house just in time to see it hawking over the garden with Barn Swallows and House Martins.

Social distancing meant that Howard Vaughan had time off from his role as Visitor Experience Officer at Rainham Marshes Reserve. This allowed plenty of time to explore his local area, and detail his findings in his excellent blog https://blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com Among many fascinating plants, birds and insects Howard encountered was this stunning Purple Emperor butterfly.

Visit our website www.sunbirdtours.co.uk for full details of all the tours covered here