As everyone knows by now the eastern United States was hammered yesterday by a classic nor’easter which created blizzard conditions for much of the eastern seaboard.  New York City, where I live and work, was no exception.  My office near Port Authority was technically closed but I (was) volunteered to man the phones for the [...]

The 2010 International Bird Watching Encounter in Guatemala is just drawing to an end. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the Encounters in 2008 and 2009, both of which stand out among my most cherished travel experiences. Alas, I couldn’t make it this year so instead, I’m sitting on the sidelines waiting to hear whether [...]

Despite its epic species diversity, Ecuador possesses but a pittance of mainland endemics to its name. Sure, the Galapagos Islands own a veritable franchise in the business of speciation but the continental birds seem to recognize few borders. This is why Endemic Bird Areas (EBA), as described by BirdLife International, are so useful in understanding [...]

Some readers may have noticed that I haven’t been myself lately, that my blogging output has diminished, to say the least. While the safe money on why my brain is a bit mushy would certainly be on an excess of book reviews in December, I have a much more reasonable explanation: I am going to [...]

I can see it now.  A lush, green, rainforest.  Myriad birdcalls and songs echoing from the trees while multihued butterflies flutter from flower to flower.  The steam from a recent rain rising into the air and the sweat running off my brow as I enjoy the first day of an eight-day trip through lowland tropical [...]

Charyn Canyon, sometimes spelled Sharyn Canyon, is very large canyon in southeastern Kazakhstan, a couple of hundred kilometers east of Almaty, near the Chinese border.  The eighty kilometer-long canyon is sometimes referred to Dolina Zamkov, or “Valley of the Castles” because some of the oddly shaped rock formations look like battlements and towers.  On our [...]

May was ‘Puerto Rico Month‘ on 10,000 Birds and - hopefully - we managed to provide some quality and interesting content (we certainly tried anyway). I guess we’d probably be fooling ourselves though if we didn’t admit that the most exciting feature of ‘PR Month’ was the offer of a FREE ‘Endemic Dash’ holiday on [...]

It has been four months since I returned from Honduras and I just realized that I stopped blogging about the trip rather abruptly.  Consider this a coda on what I like to believe was a fine series of posts about my trip to Honduras for the Mesoamerican Birding Festival.  Below you will find links to [...]

Yes, we’ve procrastinated long enough, and as part of our month-long celebration of Puerto Rico’s biodiversity it’s now time to give away a superb “endemic bird dash” around Puerto Rico worth about 2500USD courtesy of Kevin Loughlin of Wildside Nature Tours (actually we kind of hoped if we delayed for long enough readers might forget [...]

The title of this blog post is a title I never anticipated using when I started blogging a little over two years ago but am I ever glad that I have the opportunity to use it!  And no, this is not some Borat-like put on, I actually am in Kazakhstan (I wrote this post several [...]

Seeing ancient Mayan ruins is a mind-bending experience, especially for someone, like me, who has not seen the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, or other similarly old and impressive architectural marvels.  I was fascinated by the combination of lush, organic elements like trees and vines with the solid and inorganic stone.  Standing [...]

The man who did more than anyone else to put together both the first ever Mesoamerican Birding Festival and the familiarity trip after the birding festival, Robert Gallardo, does more than organize and lead birding tours (though that is certainly a full-time job in and of itself).  He also runs, with his lovely wife, Irma, [...]

For many, the name “Antigua” conjures visions of posh resorts and crystal coves in the Caribbean. For me, the word will always take me back to the charming, challenging colonial capital of Guatemala.

Antigua is a gorgeous little city about 45 kilometers from Guatemala City. Its inimitable character derives from its rich history as the former [...]

They say that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. I don’t know how this month will end but we’ll be roaring right into it. After my unforgettable week in Guatemala and Corey’s extended odyssey in Honduras, we’ll be unpacking our Neotropical adventures for the foreseeable future. And yet, just because [...]

That’s right, I’m going to the First Annual Mesoamerican Birding Festival.  Now while Mike has enjoyed birding the neotropics (the sub-tropical and tropical parts of the New World) and Charlie has birded, well, pretty much everywhere, I have never birded outside of the temperate zone.  While I am set in terms of the field guides [...]

Over the last two days of ‘Parrot Month’ (which, sadly - from my point-of-view anyway - is drawing to a close, though we still have about a week’s worth of posts to go yet!) we’ve been running a ‘theme within a theme’ looking at the parrots of Guyana and the work done by Foster Parrots [...]

The birding south of the U.S. border and north of the equator is always exceptional. This February, the mind-boggling birding splendors of Central America will be wide open for international indulgence. Check out these incredible events:

The Neotropical nation nearest and dearest to my heart is Guatemala. If you’re not exactly sure why a country the [...]

In response to the BIRD: The Definitive Visual Guide giveaway, three great birding bloggers have recommended three great birding sites. If you’re looking for ideas for your next U.S. birding excursion, here are some inspired possibilities…
Liza Lee Miller of The Egret’s Nest loves Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California:
My favorite birding place is an [...]

…Tokyo. Or more exactly an hour’s drive to the north of Tokyo in Narita, the city where the hotels (and airline crews) that service Japan’s main international airport are located. Yes, my new roster was posted online yesterday, and the question you’ve all been asking - where will Charlie be starting his Old friends…World Tour [...]

“Charlie,” said Mike and Corey, “we know you’ve had a little trouble lately what with being flu-ridden, your 30D breaking down - twice, and now your long lens in at the repair shop, so why not go to Hong Kong on us, stroll around, take a few photos with that new 40D, and stick them [...]