MAY 2001

Hi folks!

I'm going to try to be more conscientious about my newsletters. I know, more junk mail! Well, maybe this isn't as bad as some. Anyway, I wanted to catch up on what we've been doing.

BELIZE/TIKAL

We completed a wonderful April trip to Belize and Tikal last week. Marcus England and I led the trip. Marcus is a superb tropical birder and was able to find us many birds that are on the most difficult-to-find list. He is particularly expert with the birds of Central America having spent the past four years conducting full-time research in Belize and Costa Rica.

We saw 327 species in our three-week trip, the large majority of them only seen in the Tropics. Of particular note were Pinnated Bittern (3

of them!), Agami Heron, Ornate Hawk-Eagle (on its nest), Orange-breasted Falcon, Ruddy Crake, Lovely Cotinga, Tody Motmot, and

many, many others.

We visited the Las Cuevas Research Station, operated by the British Museum, for three nights. The accommodations were quite comfortable, and we had hot water, good meals and, even, beer. We were picked up by Land Rovers in San Ignacio for the bumpy, three-hour drive to the station on the western side of the Maya Mountains.

Birders rarely visit this site, so it was quite a revelation. The number and diversity of species was awesome! We also had numerous flybys of Scarlet Macaws. Las Cuevas is the only reliable place in Belize to see these beautiful birds. We were treated to excellent looks at an Ocelot, furtively nosing around looking for leftovers outside of our quarters. Jaguar sightings are very common here as well, usually during the day. Unfortunately, we did not see any of these great cats. Maybe next year!

All the sites we visited brought something extra to the trip. Pook's Hill is somewhat more rustic than some of the other lodges, but its location nestled deep in the broad-leaf rainforest makes it very special. I saw my first Margay--another of the five jungle cats found in Belize--at Pook's Hill this year, Rum Point is a very relaxing inn on the

beach, and the staff there gave us a memorable boat trip up the Monkey River. We saw all five Kingfishers plus a nice-sized Morelet's Crocodile.

Lamanai Outpost is so beautifully managed, and its location on the New River Lagoon is especially nice. There is nothing quite like the

night spotlight cruise in their former British Special Boat Service watercraft. Silent, but blazingly fast! Its a wonderful opportunity to see Northern Potoo close-up, as well as numerous roosting birds that seem undisturbed by the boat or the spotlight.

There is really nothing like Tikal. The magnificence of the ruins there simply cannot be described. And, as a bonus, it is a fabulous birding site. Seeing Orange-breasted and Bat Falcons sitting on the temples is a sight you won't soon forget.

Chan Chich was a great place to end the trip. Wonderful pool and jacuzzi, not to mention the birds, e.g., nesting Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Lovely Cotinga, Crested Guan and numerous others.

So, enough accolades (almost). What impresses me so much about Belize is how well it has involved its people in preserving their natural treasures. All of the lodges in Belize maximize opportunities for bird and wildlife viewing. As a bonus, their management is superlative as well.

We plan to repeat this trip again next March, 2002. In addition, I will be offering a "luxury" trip to Belize in November. We will be visiting the top lodges in Belize including Blancaneuax (Francis Ford Coppola's treasure); Robert's Grove Inn, and Chan Chich. This will be an upscale and very comfortable trip in all respects. I will also have an extension to Tikal with lodging on Peten Lake at the Westin Hotel. Hope some of you can join us for one of these trips!

SONORA

Those of you who have been lucky enough to travel to Sonora with us know what a treasure it is. We will be offering several trips there again in 2002. We also have two more in September and October of this year.

We will be adding a special trip next year in February to Hacienda de los Santas--a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World--in Alamos. We will spend a week in Alamos at this elegant and charming example of old Mexico at its best. The superb restaurant, 200+ Tequilas in their bar, two swimming pools, spa, theater, and some of the finest suites you'll ever find combine to make the Hacienda a truly exquisite travel experience.

Of course, we will also be travelling about the area with our partners, David and Jennifer MacKay, of Alamos. We'll spend a day rafting the lovely Mayo River. We'll boat through a mangrove estuary along the Sea of Cortez. We'll dine at a ranch/hacienda in the countryside. And, we'll have a meal at a 500 year old, gourmet restaurant in the old silver mining town of Aduana.

So, this is another of those trips for you folks who like your comforts, food and drink as much (more, even!?!) as you like your birds.

COSTA RICA

We will be offering a two-week trip to Costa Rica in 2002 with Marcus England, of Ornithology Expeditions. Marcus will also be joining us on our Belize trips. We plan to offer more trips with Ornithology Expeditions. This group has a strong commitment to conservation and research, and we feel that their goals are very compatible with our own.

BIRDS OF ECUADOR AND THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

We still have a few spaces on this trip for November. Don't miss as of a lifetime to Ecuador and Galapagos for those of you who have not been! Paul Greenfield, co-author the two-volume, Birds of Ecuador , will be leading. He is one of world's leading experts on the birds of Ecuador. You can't do any better than that! I will be accompanying you as well as a fine Ecuadorian guide, Juan Carlos Calvachi.

We will be covering the major habitats of Ecuador in an effort to see as many of the 1600 species that reside there as possible. This trip is limited to 10 people, so please sign up soon if you're interested. We have many people who have expressed interest, but haven't committed. I think it's that pesky stock market!

Our Galapagos trip has us flying to the islands, then boarding a 16-passenger private yacht. We will have no more than 12 of our guests aboard.

Other trips this year

We are again offering our Southeastern Arizona trips. Our 10-night July/August trip will include Ramsey Canyon Inn, Casa Bella B&B as well as our favorite Arizona restaurants. Our 7-night hummingbird trip at the end of August will be for the more budget-minded with lodging at the Windemere and Portal Lodge.

Of course, we are again offering our very popular, "New Year's at Ramsey Canyon Inn" December 28 to January 2, 2002. Make your reservations early! This one always fills up quickly.

Other News

I took the opportunity to try out my new Nikon CoolPix 990 digital camera on the Belize trip. My main interest was in seeing how well I could photograph through the scope. Lots of trial and error, but I did get some great photos. The ones I've included above are a few of the many that I took at distances or over 50'. The Orange-breasted Falcon was at least 200' away. The photos came out best when taken from 20 to 40 power on my Swarovski HD scope, with the camera on 3x optical digital. Birding ran an article in their last issue about using digital cameras with scopes for those interested.

Unfortunately, I managed to throw out some great pictures of a Laughing Falcon eating a "Thunder and Lightning" snake. Oh well. Can't win them all..

It is likely that we will discontinue partnering with ABA for trips. Lang Stevenson, their excellent Tour Coordinator for the past several years, retired in December. Since his retirement, ABA has introduced a number of changes in the program that make it much less desirable for us to participate.

Most important to us, the donations that we have always sent in for our clients to ABA have now been renamed a "commission".

We strongly believe that trip participants should receive a benefit as ABA members for taking an ABA trip. Not allowing them to designate a portion of the trip as a donation denies them any substantive benefit.

If you folks have any comments, please let ABA or me know. Perhaps, something will change with this, but in the meantime, I think we will do our trips without ABA partnership.

On a very sad note, many of you knew Chuck McDonaugh, our boat Captain in Bahia Kino. He died suddenly in his sleep of a heart attack late October. Ironically, he had just taken us out for his last trip two days before. On that trip, we were nearly capsized by a very large fin whale. Chuck said afterwards that he looked down as the boat went up to about a 45-degree angle and found he was looking directly into the eye of the whale. I don't know what it means exactly, but I do know that Chuck probably would have placed great significance on this event and in a positive light, I'm sure. He loved the Sea of Cortez, and I'm sure he'll find a way to captain another boat wherever he has gone.

On a final note, we are including our calendar through 2002. There may some minor changes, but this is pretty much what we expect to be offering next year.

So, that's it folks! We hope to see all again in the future, and we hope you have a great summer!

Best Regards,

Forrest Davis, President

Karen Michaud, Office Manager

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