(Still) On The Road

This is day 87 of almost continuos back to back trips. It began in Kenya sometime in late February where I successfully completed my professional safari guides exam prior to scouting out some new locations. That was around the time of my last blog! An amazing 3 week tour in Northern Tanzania and Coastal Kenya followed. Highlights were many, but where does one start when we came across 500 birds and 75 mammals including a Leopard (below) in the Serengeti. Yes, that is species and not individuals. You can find out more about this trip at our website www.EastAfricanWildlifeSafaris.com

By the beginning of April I was back in the US for a couple of 10 day ‘chicken odysseys’ in Colorado. The weather was less than kind on the second trip which lead to revamping the itinerary as a 40 inch spring snow storm hit the Rockies turning it into a winter wonderland. The Georgetown Inn is pictured below. Three days later it was almost all gone and everything worked out fine in the end when we got the White-tailed Ptarmigan!

Somehow spring passerine migration seemed to miss us during our Southern Florida tour. Nevertheless we managed to find all the specialities that this sub-tropical destination is known for, along with a Black Noddy in the Dry Tortugas and a stunning male Western Spindalis (below) in Key West.

May 9 was the day the World Series of Birding took place. It is a 24 hour event held throughout New Jersey and for a few days prior to the start of my Cape May tours I helped the DVOC / Nikon ‘Lagerhead Shrikes” scout the southern portion of their route. They prevailed on the day with an astonishing 229 species, taking 1st place – congratulations go out to Mike, Bert, Eric and Zach. More importantly it was wonderful to see so many youth teams taking part in the event.

Meanwhile as the “Lagerhead Shrikes” got to work I was quite happy getting some sleep and had a delightfully time with two San Diego Audubon groups showing them some of our eastern wood warblers and passerines. These included such beauties as Scarlet Tanager (below), Blackburnian, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided and Prothonotary but alas no Cape May! Shorebirds staged by the thousands and included a breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper. We take for granted some of our more common birds but for those from the west coast, Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, Red-bellied Woodpecker and even Cardinal were a novelty.

I’m now in Austin, Texas…..