We visited NE India for three weeks – tripreport in progress
NE India
Author Archives: Rob & Helen
Israel [2023]
To catch some early spring migration and target a few remaining lifers we decided on a long weekend trip to Israel in the first week of March. Main targets where Spotted Sandgrouse (seen multiple times), Desert Owl (known stakeout near Dead Sea), Temminck’s Lark (missed), Clamorous Reed Warbler (common), Black Scrub Robin (breeding at Kibbut Samar but not seen during our short visit in the heat of the day), Ruppell’s Warbler (one seen) and Cyprus Warbler (missed). We chose beginning of March to optimize our chances for Ruppell’s and Cyprus Warbler that migrate through Israel around this moment. In the end we were lucky with a beautiful male Ruppell’s Warbler but we did not see a Cyprus Warbler.
Overall it was a very fun trip and a joy to catch the first signs of spring migration. Next to the targets mentioned above, we encountered many European birds on their migration journey through the desert: Groups of Barn Swallows, Swifts, Bluethroats, Common Chiffchaffs, Isabelline Wheatears, Lesser Whitethroats, Steppe Eagles and Tawny Pipits were among the more numerous ones, but also single individuals of Woodchat Shrike, Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Booted Eagle, Red-throated Pipit, Common Quail and Eastern Olivaceous warblers were cool to encounter.
SE Brazil [2022]
In 2015 we first visited Brazil with a 3-week trip to the Northeast. After several other trips in South America it was time to return to Brazil and a trip in the Southeast seemed a good choice.
From São Paulo we made roundtrip visiting Itatiaia NP – Nova Friburgo – Mata dos Caetes – Santa Teresa – RN Vale – Santuario do Caraca – Cerro de Cipo – Montes Claros – Botumirim – Estrema – Pompeu – Serra da Canastra – Intervales. A very nice combination of Atlantic rainforest and some drier inland places (although given that it was the rainy season even inland places were wet). In total we saw 443 species, of which 138(!) were lifers.
Gran Canaria [2022]
This was not a dedicated birding trip but a week of remote working/ leisure combined with finding the last remaining lifer of the Canary Islands: the Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch (although the local Robin might also be split in the future). Given that we visited in November the bird activity was very low and it took us most of the day to find the Blue Chaffinch near El Juncal (first a female and on the way back a nice pair). The rest of the week was spent working, hiking, enjoying the food and some short birding stops along the coast.
Tanzania [2022]
Usambara, Uluguru, Udzungwa, Rubeho & Ukaguru – the names alone make you want to go there! Tanzania has a surprising number of country endemics within its borders due to islands of isolated forest mountains in the Eastern Arc chain stretching from Taita Hills (Kenya) to the Udzungwa mountains in Tanzania. With a short taste in Kenya earlier this year we couldn’t wait for more. Special thanks to Ross Gallardy for pre-trip information, David Moyer for contact with Elia and Elia Mulungu for his excellent guiding for a part of the trip.
Georgia [2022]
End of May we did a short 5-day trip to Georgia with the goal of seeing a handful of lifers in the Caucasus mountains. The best time to visit is earlier in the year (end of April/ beginning of May) when most birds are found lower down in the valleys because of the snow. Our late visit meant we had to hike higher up, but still we managed to find 5+ Caucasian Snowcocks (more were heard) and 8+ Caucasian Grouses on the ridges above us. Great Rosefinch and Güldenstädt’s Redstart turned out to be more tricky but we managed to find both (and luckily bright plumaged males). And with singing Mountain Chiffchaffs in the valley and an additional stop for Krüper’s Nuthatch near Tbilisi the trip ended with 6 lifers but also a long list of cool birds along the way: Ring Ouzels, Twites, Alpine Accentors, Common Rock Thrush, Bearded Vulture, singing Barred Warblers, Greenish Warblers and Common Rosefinches, and a nice roadside stop for Red-breasted and Semi-collared Flycatcher.
Kenya [2022]
It had been too long since we had been to Africa, and since Helen did not visit Ethiopia, East Africa was the biggest gap in her life list. Kenya was a perfect destination for a three-week self-driving trip in April, with a great variation in habitats, lots of species and a nice set of endemics.
Ibiza [2022]
With one new lifer to offer (Balearic Warbler), a short weekend trip to Ibiza was a perfect get-away to some Mediterranean sun at the end of the winter. We flew in on Friday night, easily found the Balearic Warbler on Saturday morning and then spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the beautiful island. Species such as Audouin’s Gull, Eurasian Hoopoe, Thekla’s Lark, Booted Eagle, Earasian Stone-curlew and singing European Serins everywhere were a nice bonus.
Ecuador [2021]
After a long hiatus we finally made it out of Europe again! We had two weeks around Christmas and chose South Ecuador for a nice mix of cool birds, easy travelling and nice lodges. It proved to be a terrific neotropical delight.
Madeira [2021]
Madeira was one of those short trips that we had talked about for years and given the uncertainty around Covid in most of the world during the summer of 2021 this trip within the EU was the best option. We really enjoyed our time at Madeira which was a nice combination of hard-core pelagic birding and some relaxing and exploring the island.
Penguinbirding 
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