Nov 15 – We spent a wonderful few hours at the Ranthambhore Fort this morning. Standing 481 meters high, this hill fort was built in 944AD and is 7 1/2 square kilometers in size encompassing 27 temples, 1 palace and 5 lakes. At its peak it held 20,000 people!We made the slow and steady climb…

Nov 14 – Much to everyone’s delight, after the rough rides on Track 5, we were assigned a new route for this morning’s game drive, Track 2. However, it was not long before we were wishing we were on Track 5! In spite of the rocky ride it is another very scenic route through valleys,…

Nov 13 – For our morning in the park, we were back on the Track 5 where we all got another free massage courtesy of the bumpy road. Our goal was to locate the tiger pair but neither of the dozen canters or gypsy’s (small jeeps) on our track were able to,  in the three…

Nov 12 – It was a foggy start to our day in Ranthambhore Park but there was a bit of relief as it was less humid. We got Track 4 which leads to Malik Talao (lake) where the water level was high, leaving no muddy rim for any shorebirds. An Osprey was perched on a…

Nov 11 – We held up Pankaj, our guide at Ranthambhore National Park, shortly after breakfast as we were tracking down a Common Tailorbird in the garden. Once we managed to get into our canter we were on our way to the main park gate, only minutes away. Formalities, which means endless paperwork in this…

Nov 10 – The start to the day with overcast skies did not bode to well for the picturesque sunrise on the Palace of Winds that we were all hoping for. Though incredibly beautiful, we soon turned our attention to the snake charmers that were serenading a pair of cobras behind us. When one of…

The first moments of birding in a new country are always exciting. Especially during breakfast, when binoculars and cameras come out to the amazement of other guests, and birds take precedence over food! Colorful Rufous Treepies, a gang of Jungle Babblers, Red-vented Bulbul are first up, and even mundane species such as House Crows and…

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock  Today started early as we wanted to get to the Cock-of-the-Rock lek before sunrise. No worries, it is an easy 5 minute walt to the viewing blind from the lodge. This year we had to use the “old” blind as the newer one was washed away in a landslide along with a large…

Nov 8 – My flight arrived in New Delhi in the wee hours of the morning. By the time I had cleared customs, found my bag, and made it through traffic the short distance to the hotel, I was finally got to bed at 3:30am! Roaming the hotel grounds in the mid-day heat I found…

Bar-winged Cinclodes As we began our drive along the Manu Road, high in the Andes, we passed many wonderful scenes. The birds seemed scarce for a while until we came across a Bar-winged Cinclodes blending into the roadside. He was vibrating his wings in a display and we eventually saw another cinclodes watching from a…

After a morning flight from Lima to Cusco we began our birding at the Huacarpay Lakes in search waterfowl and more. We found Puna Teal, Speckled Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Andean (Ruddy) Duck, Andean Coot and White-tufted Grebe. Plumbeous Rail and Black-crowned Night Heron were nice additions as were Yellow-winged Blackbird, Wren-like Rushbird and Many-colored Rush-tyrant,…

We awoke to the last full day of the trip, October 7. After another lovely, lakeside breakfast, we visited one of our favorite sites, Ruiz Cortines. Up until recently, access was limited by a half day of hiking or impossibly difficult dirt roads. A new paved road now allows easy access into the cloud forest…