HIGH LONESOME BIRDTOURS
NEWSLETTER
Greetings!
I
just returned from my summer long odyssey. I drove just over 11,000 miles: Tucson Š Anchorage Š Wisconsin Š Rehobeth Beach, Md Š
Wisconsin - Tucson. What was
I thinking?? I hope everyone had a
great summer, and that you all got some good birding and outdoor time in.
UPCOMING VACANCIES!!
Oct 3 Š 12.
Birds of Sonora: Yecora, Sea
of Cortez, Colonial Alamos
Nov 12 Š 22.
Ecuador: East & West Slopes
of the Andes
Nov 22 Š 26. Sacha Lodge: EcuadorÕs
Amazon Basin
Nov 28 Š Dec 5: The Galapagos by Small Yacht
Dec
29 Š Jan 2: New YearÕs at Ramsey
Canyon Inn, Southeastern Arizona.
Jan
10 Š 18: Birding in Luxury at
Hacienda de los Santos, Alamos, Mexico
SONORA,
MEXICO
is always a great trip. Unfortunately,
weÕve had very little response to the hummingbird trip there. As a result, IÕm going to lead our
usual trip, spending a couple of nights in Yecora where the birding is always
fabulous, spending most of a day on Estero Tobari with its water bird
extravaganza, and then on to Alamos for 4 nights . The MacKayÕs hacienda is
unavailable during this trip, but Hacienda de los Santos has graciously offered
to put folks up at a substantial discount.. Hacienda is a member of the ŅSmall Luxury Hotels of the WorldÓ
and it is indeed luxurious. This is a great trip for those who havenÕt
spent much time in the Tropics. ItÕs
also an excellent opportunity for birders who have been to a number for
tropical locations to pick up Northwest Mexican endemics, e.g., the RUFOUS-BELLIED
CHACHALACA; RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT; PURPLISH-BACKED JAY; BLACK-THROATED
MAGPIE-JAY; MEXICAN PARROTLET; SINALOA, HAPPY and SPOTTED WRENS; among THE
numerous tropical species found in Tropical Deciduous Forest.
ECUADOR
currently
has four people signed on so it is a definite go. Juan Carlos Calvachi, Paul GreenfieldÕs Ecuadoran
partner, will be leading the trip. He is highly personable, speaks excellent English, and knows
the birds and their locations as well as anyone in Ecuador. There are 1700
species recorded in Ecuador including as many as 150 species of hummingbirds. We have averaged 60 species of
hummers per trip during the past two years, amongst the 500 + bird species we
have seen. Sheri Williamson will be leading as well if we are able to sign up four
more people.
The
core trip will run from November 12 Š 22, 10 nights. WeÕve made a slight change in the dates for Sacha and
Galapagos due to scheduling issues with our yacht. The 2nd leg will run from November 22 Š 26 with
lodging in the premier ecolodge in the Amazon region: SACHA LODGE.
Harpy Eagle is always a good possibility here as well as the prehistoric
Hoatzin and the Amazon Umbrellabird.
The canopy tower, 135 feet up, is unsurpassed for diversity of
rainforest species. The GALAPAGOS segment will run
from November 28 Š December 5.
Oh,
and donÕt forget NEW YEARÕS AT RAMSEY CANYON, December 28 Š January 2. We
had a number of disappointed folks last year who didnÕt sign up in time. We only have six rooms in the Inn, and
they fill fast. We
already filled Ramsey for our Hummingbird trip in August. The Inn is truly delightful, and youÕre
surrounded by the Ramsey Canyon Preserve.
You eat at great restaurants in the area, and we have really super time!
IÕm
offering the very popular HACIENDA DE LOS SANTOS tour again in Alamos
(January 10 -18). We had 12 people
last year, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves! This is a sublime tour. The Hacienda is truly luxurious, and Alamos offers a fine
example of colonial Mexican architecture.
WeÕll be taking our float trip down the Rio Mayo again with David
MacKay. And, weÕll be eating
fabulous food in Alamos at the Hacienda, and a couple of our other favorite
places. Not to discourage
singles, but this really is a wonderful, and (dare I mention) very romantic,
destination for couples.
Non-birding spouses love it! We can comfortably accommodate 12 guests, so donÕt get
left out! Sign up before October 1st,
and youÕll receive a $100 discount per person!
________________________
PRIVATE TRIPS
For
quite some time, IÕve been considering offering more private trips with small
groups of people who know each other and like to travel together. I have done this before, and I really
enjoy the intimacy of these small trips.
I
am going to continue offering our Alaska schedule with some expansions as well
as our Arizona and Mexico schedules.
I will offer some other Latin American destinations periodically.
I
would like to encourage our travelers to consider taking a private trip to any
of a number of destinations, including Alaska, Arizona, Mexico, Belize, and
Ecuador. I can customize these
trips in any manner you would like.
Obviously, the cost will be greater than if you were taking a larger,
group trip, but the advantages of doing what you want, when you want, and where
you want with people you know and like can certainly offset the cost
issue.
IÕd
like to remind folks that in 2004, we are also going begin providing access to
trips conducted by our international partner, Tropical Birding of South Africa. This outstanding birding company
conducts trips throughout the world and has highly expert local guides for each
area.
________________________
ALASKA
I
just wanted to remind people of the truly awesome year we had for Asian
vagrants in the Bering Sea. We had
an AWESOME year for Asian vagrants in the Bering Sea!! St. Paul had one of itÕs
most phenomenal Siberian fallouts ever. TUFTED DUCK, COMMON GREENSHANK, WOOD SANDPIPER, EYE-BROWED
THRUSH, OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT, HAWFINCH, DUSKY THRUSH including 2nd
North American record of NaumanniÕs race which may be split, MONGLOLIAN PLOVER,
WHITE WAGTAIL, and RED-THROATED PIPIT were among the 18 Asiatic species seen
while we were on the Island. Early
in June, after our departure, BEAN GOOSE, GRAY-SPOTTED FLYCATCHER and SIBERIAN
FLYCATCHER were seen as well.
Clearly, St Paul Island in the Pribilofs has become a very hot
spot. But then, weÕve known that
at High Lonesome for 8 years!
A
listing of the birds seen by our groups at Gambell should be sufficient to
underline the super year we had there:
ARCTIC LOON, YELLOW-BILLED LOON, EMPEROR GOOSE, SPECTACLED EIDER,
STELLERÕS EIDER, MONGOLIAN PLOVER, COMMON RINGED PLOVER, COMMON GREENSHANK,WOOD
SANDPIPER, GRAY-TAILED TATTLER, COMMON SANDPIPER, WHIMBREL (VARIEGATUS RACE);
GREAT KNOT, RED-NECKED STINT, BLACK-HEADED GULL, SLATY-BACKED GULL, DOVEKIE,
ARCTIC WARBLER, SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT, BLUETHROAT, NORTHERN WHEATEAR, (SIBERIAN)
STONECHAT (6th & 7th North American records),
EYEBROWED THRUSH, WHITE WAGTAL, OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT, RED-THROATED PIPIT, MCKAYÕS
BUNTING, BRAMBLING, HAWFINCH!
At
Nome, we had a SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT that perched up for over an hour. ARCTIC LOON,
|
SiberianRubythroat Nome,
June 2003 |
YELLOW-BILLED
LOON, SABINEÕS, SLATY-BACKED, BLACK-HEADED GULLS were also seen well on some
trips. BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEW
and BLUETHROAT were found on all Nome trips. Louise Zemaitis |
of
Wings spotted a falcon that was subsequently IdÕd by a British expert as a EURASIAN
HOBBY. Unfortunately, no one could
relocate it.
We
easily found WHISKERED AUKLETS by the hundreds in Dutch Harbor. TUFTED DUCK and GYRFALCON were a treat
as well. We had to split the
group for the trips, and on our 2nd pelagic trip out to the shelf in the Bering
Sea, the first group ran into very rough seas, so we didnÕt have much luck with
the deeper sea species. The first
group did, however, spot a rare RED-LEGGED KITTIWAKE that flew around the boat
giving everyone an excellent look.
On the second trip, however, we saw SHORT-TAILED & SOOTY SHEARWATER,
a single LAYSAN ALBATROSS, and a very
suspicious-looking, very large sub-adult albatross that was not seen well
enough or long enough for me or anyone else to make a definitive conclusion as
to whether it was a subadult SHORT=TAILED ALBATROSS, or the more common BLACK-FOOTED
ALBATROSS. Ah well, just another
sp....
Our
Denali and Kenai trips went exceptionally well. The weather was fabulous for most of the time. We had the most beautiful day IÕve ever
seen in Denali Park on the trip with a wonderful couple from New York. We climbed up the ŅhillÓ across from Eiselson Vistor Center,
and we were treated with great looks down on GOLDEN EAGLE and a majestic DALL
SHEEP ram. We were especially delighted by GRIZZLY sow
and her three cubs that cavorted about within feet of the bus. This was not a good year for SMITHÕS
LONGSPUR because they nested so early and were not present when we got to
Denali Highway. NORTHERN HAWK-OWL
numbers according to Park Service were extremely low as well, and no one had
seen one in the part all year. We
did get a close-up view of a LONG-TAILED JAEGER harassing a gray-phase
GYRFALCON. Our trip to Kenai was,
as usual, highly rewarding. We saw
all of our target species, and we had great group of 9 who joined us. We have completed the new Alaska
schedule. I canÕt guarantee that
we will have the kind of great sightings next year that we had this year. On the other hand, it is quite possible
that next yearÕs list will exceed this yearÕs. It all depends upon the winds and the weather.
As
usual, we are offering some excellent deals, and a $100 early signup discount
for registering prior to January 1, 2004.
We have had numerous inquires already for 2004, and we think it will be
a banner year for Alaska bird tours.
Start planning now folks! Just a footnote: I had to turn away 12 people in the past several weeks for
Dutch Harbor this year because there were no airplane seats available, and
several for Kenai due to lack of lodging at a late date. And, this in spite of the fact that
2003 has been an off-year for Alaska tourism. Indications
are that this trend will not
continue for 2004. We already have
10 signups for our late May/early June trips, and many more requests.
We
are offering a new trip: BREEDING
BIRDS OF ALASKA, June 12 Š 24, 2004.
We will offer an extension to Dutch
Harbor. June 25 Š 29 as
well. Either David MacKay or I will lead the trip (both, if there are more than 6
signups). This is in response to
requests for shorter options to Denali and Kenai then we offer for our July
trips.
ADAK, The Aleutian Islands
Interest
in our proposed ADAK trip has been running very high. Adak Island offers the farthest western access to potential
Asiatic species since Attu closed down in 2000. The old 1987 checklist from Adak lists 34 Asiatic species,
but birding coverage in Adak has always been very sparse. The military controlled access
until they recently abandoned the island.
Most sightings are by US Fish & Wildlife biologists who are more
focused on seabird and mammal populations. I think it is safe to assume that there are many more
Asiatic species that visit Adak then have been recorded.
We
continue to work on the details.
The dates are tentatively set for mid-May, and we should know for sure
next month!
________________________
MEXICO 2004
Please
note on the schedule that we have a number of Mexico trips scheduled with David
MacKay of Solipaso including COLIMA & JALISCO, SAN BLAS, OAXACA AND
SONORA. David really has these
trips finely tuned. We stay
in great places in all of these locations, eat well, and see wonderful birds!
_______________________
Until
the next issue (or trip)É Adios!
Forrest Davis, President
