ECUADOR | Tuesday, 19 Mar 2019 | Views [356]
THE FIRST OF THE JOCOTOCO LODGES, CASA SIMPSON is back up at 8000 feet in the Andean foothills Reserva Tapichalaca. It is a simple and cozy chalet with both wi-fi and a much needed laundry service. It owes its existence to the Jocotoco Antpitta ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Thursday, 14 Mar 2019 | Views [261]
THE JOCOTOCO RUN LODGE AT COPALINGA is a gem. Secluded on a forested hillside, you can easily forget you are only minutes from town. The cabins are clean, well-lighted and have plenty of hot water. Maria and her staff make wonderful ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Tuesday, 12 Mar 2019 | Views [242]
BIRDERS HAVE THEIR OWN LINGO. THEY toss around words like gorgets, lores and superciliaries like salt on french fries. Today’s word was mega or mega bird — one you never expected to see. AKA a “Super Lifer.”... Read more >
ECUADOR | Monday, 11 Mar 2019 | Views [296]
THE BLUE-THROATED HILLSTAR MAY BE THE RAREST BIRD on the planet. It is certainly the rarest hummingbird with only an estimated 200 individuals. It lives at 12,000 feet elevation and feeds exclusively on the chuguirrigua plant which is being ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Sunday, 10 Mar 2019 | Views [201]
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT A SMALL, NON-DESCRIPT BIRD could cause a conservation movement. But that’s just what the Pale-headed Brush Finch has done. Once believed extinct due to habitat destruction and predation by shiny cowbirds, ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Saturday, 9 Mar 2019 | Views [171]
WE MET UP WITH OUR FELLOW TRAVELERS AT DINNER last night. Kathy is a California native, Stan is from Long Island with an accent to prove it and Laurie — ♂️ — hails from Australia, mate. Dusan — the ‘h’ is ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Friday, 8 Mar 2019 | Views [226]
GUAYAQUIL, ON THE WEST COAST OF ECUADOR, lies on the Pacific Ocean. Fort Lauderdale is on Florida’s Atlantic coast. So in what direction should JetBlue fly from Fort Lauderdale to Guayaquil? Wrong! Actually, Guayaquil is ... Read more >
ECUADOR | Friday, 8 Mar 2019 | Photo Gallery
Birding and more
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USA | Friday, 1 Mar 2019 | Views [228]
ROD AND LOIS ARE OLD FRIENDS WHO HAVE appeared in these musings before. They split the year between their beach house in NJ and their place in Rockledge FL. We missed them on the Atlantic coast of Florida in November but had a chance to ... Read more >
USA | Tuesday, 19 Feb 2019 | Views [249]
MY FAIR LADY, THE MOVIE, IS 55 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR. For Connie’s — my own fair lady — birthday today (and, no, I wouldn't dare tell which one) we went to see Audrey and Rex on the big screen, one of those Turner Classics shown ... Read more >
USA | Saturday, 16 Feb 2019 | Views [228]
WE’VE BEEN BACK STATESIDE FOR A WHILE now and easily slipped into our old routine. Despite the tasty and plentiful food on the cruise, neither of us gained a pound. Besides our birding hikes and forays around ports-of-call, Connie ... Read more >
MARTINIQUE | Wednesday, 6 Feb 2019 | Views [178]
JUST LIKE REUNION ISLAND, MARTINIQUE IS "un petit peu de" France complete with EU license plates and €uros. There is only one bird on the island that Connie needs, a rarely seen oriole, so based on our recent success rate we gave birding ... Read more >
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES | Monday, 4 Feb 2019 | Views [200]
DESPITE CONNIE’S RESEARCH AND IAN’S E-bird beta, birding on St. Vincent was even more disappointing than Granada. Samuel charged us the going rate for a round-trip from the harbor to the Parrot Sanctuary — $120 including 3 hours ... Read more >
BARBADOS | Sunday, 3 Feb 2019 | Views [189]
AFTER ALL MY ANTICIPATION, IT WAS RAINING WHEN we docked in Barbados. We weren’t really interested in going to the beach anyway, but we did want to look around UNESCO Bridgetown. Dozens of Barbados bullfinches, the only bird endemic ... Read more >
GRENADA | Saturday, 2 Feb 2019 | Views [181]
IAN RETURNED WHILE I WAS CHATTING UP Heather on the sundeck yesterday. It was pretty obvious he was a birder — who else would wear a shirt with a photo of a seldom heard and even more rarely seen Columbian tapaculo? They are from northern ... Read more >
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