Dartford Waffler

Independent Birding at Zaamin National Park | Birding in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a surprising country with a wide variety of landscapes, ancient historical monuments, some interesting food and drink as well as good infratructure that makes the country easy to travel in independently. However, my wife and I pushed this a little further than most travelers to the country by visiting Zaamin National Park where [...]

City Park Bird Abundance | Birding in Thailand

For those of us lucky enough to travel internationally to see birds it quickly becomes apparent that in some countries birds are abundant while in others birders have to work harder to see a wide range of species. This was brought home to me most recently spending a morning at Sri Nakorn Kuean Khan Park [...]

Touristing & Birding at Petra | Birding in Jordan

For those of us who travel with non-birding partners it can sometimes be tricky to balance enjoying time together somewhere interesting and the craving to maximise the opportunity to see new birds in new places. Personally, having a good holiday with my wife is the most important thing when planning trips together but doing some [...]

Rainy Season Birding at Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre | Birding in Thailand

There can be times of the year when bird watching hits a trough because a lack of activity, unhelpful weather or overfamiliarity with a smaller selection of species than at other times. In Thailand these factors are all true in the rainy season with a large number of species absent, on their breeding grounds further [...]

Mountain Birding from Chimgan | Birding in Uzbekistan

I have always loved immersing myself in mountain landscapes but over recent years my opportunity to do so has been limited with much of my time spent in tropical forests and wetlands in Thailand so when the opportunity presented itself to spend some time birding in mountain habitats in Uzbekistan I took it without having [...]

Gunung Kerinci Birds | Birding Indonesia

October 1st, 2019

Nick

As the second highest mountain in Indonesia, Gunung Kerinci is well-known and a popular hiking destination but it is also one of the most accessible sites for a host of bird species that are endemic to the island of Sumatra. I recently returned from another visit to the forests on the slopes of this volcano which was one of the last sites on our West Java/Sumatra birding tour that I led from 5-25th September. Birding on Kerinci is not easy, involving walking up and down parts of the mountain in order to find the key species but patience is usually rewarded with some superb birds, particularly with the help of locals who know exactly where to go for some exciting species; thanks Dwi Wahyudi for your help.

We were not only able to see a lot of good birds on Gunung Kerinci but we were also presented with a lot of great photo opportunities so read on for photographs of Schneider’s Pitta, Rajah Scops Owl, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Sunda Bush Warbler, Shiny Whistlingthrush, Sumatran Trogon and Sumatran Frogmouth.

Join me on my next Sumatra, Java & Bali Birding Tour

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A Trip to Titchwell Bird Reserve | British Birding

August 8th, 2019

Nick

When I visit Norfolk one of my favourite places is RSPB Titchwell. Now I know not all birdwatchers will agree with me on this as Titchwell can get very busy with day-trippers and beginner birdwatchers that annoy some hard-core birders but what I like about this location is that there are always large numbers of birds to see and by spending time in the hides one can get really close to a number of species. These species include Pied Avocet which for birders of my age remains an exciting bird due to the fact that it was almost mythical when I started bird watching as a kid. Besides, I actually enjoy being able to pass on my experience to more novice bird watchers when scanning through the birds seen from the hides; one couple, for example, got really excited when I helped them identify a Ruff in eclipse plumage that was feeding in front of us. Spending time in the Island Hide a few weeks ago I was able to get the following photos of a variety of birds. Read more »

Tropical Shellness | British Birding

July 26th, 2019

Nick

One of my favourite locations when birding in UK is Shellness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Invariably I have the place more or less to myself and it is a remarkably wild place considering how close to London it is but the main attraction is the fact that it forms a high tide roost for large numbers of birds after they have been feeding on mud flats in the area including thousands of Oystercatchers along with large numbers of Black-tailed Godwits.

Yesterday I checked the tide times which indicated that shorebirds would be heading to their roost at a time when, if I stood on the beach, they would be flying towards me with the light behind me; perfect for photography. The only complication being that the weather forecast was for it to be the hottest day of the year with temperatures of 35C plus. A pleasant sea breeze took the edge off of the heat and as well as Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits I saw Common Greenshank, Eurasian Curlew, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Redshank, Whimbrel, Common Ringed Plover as well as Mediterranean Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Gull and Common Tern all coming to the roost site. The following is a collection of photographs from the day. Read more »

Destruction and Fragmentation of Wildlife Habitats | British Birding

July 17th, 2019

Nick

A few days ago I saw an appeal to sign a petition to save a small area of wildlife habitat in my hometown of Dartford in England which has been described as a “wildlife gem” where birds such as Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler and Nightingale have occurred. There is precious little habitat for these species within the Borough of Dartford so it was disappointing to hear of this habitat being under threat. We have all read about rain forest destruction, poaching of endangered species and melting ice caps but conservation should start at home so considering how lots of wildlife habitat in this area is under threat from development and agricultural intensification, in the form of polytunnels, I was keen to take a look myself to see if I could do anything to help in the conservation local wildlife. Read more »

Top 5 Birds of Kazakhstan Birding Tour 2019 | Kazakhstan Birding

June 25th, 2019

Nick

My 2019 birding tour to Kazakhstan was one of the best I have led over the last few years; incredible landscapes and non-stop fantastic birds made it hard not to enjoy every moment. Species such as Asian Crimson-winged Finch, Eversmann’s Redstart, White-headed Duck, Black Lark, White-winged Lark, Sociable Lapwing, White-winged Woodpecker, White-capped Bunting, Asian Desert Warbler, Pallid Harrier, Pine Bunting and Upland Buzzard attest to the quality of the birding we were treated to from the first until the last day of the tour, yet none of these amazing birds made the group’s final top five species of the trip.

As with all the trips I lead I asked all participants, on the final night, to rank their top five birds of the trip. We flicked through our copies of Birds of Central Asia to remind ourselves of all the birds we saw and then we allocated a score 1-5 to the species we each chose and added up the scores from all the birds voted for. The following are our top five species from Kazakhstan 2019.

If you would like to join me on a birding trip in Kazakhstan take a look at the dates, itinerary and all the details of my next tour – Central Asia Birding Tour.

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Black-crowned Night Herons at Wat Phutta Bucha – Thailand Birding

June 22nd, 2019

Nick

Wat Phutta Bucha is a fairly typical Buddhist temple, similar to thousands of others around Thailand, but one that happens to be fairly close to where I live and with hidden secret around the back of the temple complex. A canal forms the boundary of the temple grounds at the rear and a group of around twenty Black-crowned Night Herons can always be seen at close quarters where they wait in trees, man-made perches and on overhead wires within a few metres of passers-by. What are they waiting for? Well one needs to understand the practice of releasing fish and other animals in order for people to “make merit”. The concept is that by releasing fish or frogs (and sometimes birds) into the wild, people get good karma for such a deed and at the back of Wat Phutta Bucha, these Night Herons have learned that there is a plentiful supply of fish and frogs being released. Many of these released creatures have been kept in oxygen-starved conditions for some time and are in a weakened state, so they are easy pickings for the Night Herons. Yesterday I spent a few hours taking photos and making some video clips of this population of Black-crowned Night Herons in action. Read more »

Hotel Grounds & Golf Course Birds – Thailand Birding

June 18th, 2019

Nick

Much gets written about the prime birding spots in Thailand such as Kaeng Krachan, Doi Lang, Pak Thale and others but there are a vast amount of other locations, both national parks and otherwise, that do not get talked about much. Many visitors to Thailand are accompanied by non-birding friends or family and cannot get to the best birding spots while others have been to all of the most-visited birding sites and enjoy getting to unusual locations to see what can be found; the latter is how I recently found myself birding, with David Scott, James Thomson-Glover and friends, at Novotel Chumphon Beach and Golf Resort. An afternoon birding around the grounds of this resort and the nearby beach turned up a number of species that proved that there is plenty of interesting birding to be had in what may first appear to be habitat with rather a low potential. Blue-throated Bee-eater, Malaysian Plover, Vinous-breasted Starling, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Pied Imperial Pigeon and resident maculatus subspecies of Black-naped Oriole were all nice birds to see along with plenty of others including some unseasonal migratory shorebirds. Read more »