Moravia... Next March...

I am just finishing off some arrangements for a trip to South Moravia, the southernmost region of the Czech Republic. From March 4 - 7, 2010 we will be looking for a good mix of late winter and early spring birds, including 7 woodpecker species such as Black, Grey-headed, Middle Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Syrian, Hawfinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Long-eared Owls in roosts, Eagle Owl, Eastern Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Red Kite, Smew, Red-crested Pochard, Tundra and Taiga Bean and White-fronted Geese. Last March we also saw some Red-breasted Geese there, too. South Moravia really is a favourite birding area and one I visit every year. The visit coincides with a local wine-festival, too, for those who like that sort of thing! Drop me an email if you'd like more info on this trip and might want to come along.

Back to Summer... Again !

So just when I thought it was save "to go back into the water" I look through another batch of summer photos and remember the sun. It is now wet and miserable here, and the winter tyres are on the the car in preparation for ice and snow. So here is a photo (thanks again to John Pitts) of some of the "keen" lepidopterists I took around Croatia last summer. What a trip that was! I can tell you that it is a myth that all birders are mad keen twitchers whilst butterfly-watchers carefully pick their way around the countryside. When a real rarity was found it was like a rugby scrum... well, almost... not quite...

Romania: A Birding Holiday

It's winter and next summer seems far off, but I am fully into the arrangements for several tours I will be guiding then. One I do every summer is Romania, to be precise the Danube Delta, Dobrudja and the Black Sea Coast. Dates next year are August 21-28, 2010. It is a bird-filled trip. A comfortable trip, too, cruising the Delta on boats, sipping drinks as you watch flights of White Pelicans flat over, herons exploding from the reedbeds, shorebirds on the lagoons and European Rollers sitting in the bare tops of trees. Really special birds here include Dalmatian Pelican Levant Sparrowhawk and Caspian Gull. Non-birding partners always enjoy this trip and photographers are in heaven! Drop me a line if this appeals to you...

Woodpecker versus Snake

I came across this amazing video on YouTube. I am sure the person who shot it in Peru won't mind me linking to it here. Now, as you might know, I am keen on woodpeckers, and I like snakes, too. So, ladies and gentleman, here it is... Olive Whipsnake versus Crimson-crested Woodpecker! Enjoy.

Last Summer...

Well, actually, the summer just gone. It seems so far away now as it is getting colder here by the day.But John Pitts just reminded me of it, in particular our butterfly tour to Croatia in June, by sending me a CD of photos. Here is one, from up in the Velebits, that is all blue skies!

Absolute Nuts!

As I walked down a street in Buda this morning, I heard the sound of something falling on the road behind me. I turned to look and there was a Hooded Crow pecking at a walnut in the road. The bird then picked up the nut and flew up to the top of a telephone pole from where he took off and dropped the nut. As the nut hit the tarmac it's shell cracked this time and the crow quickly ate some of it before hopping off the road as a car approached. Another crow then flew from a garden with a walnut in its beak up to a metal gutter on a house. There it started to hammer the walnut against the hard gutter. So.. intelligence. These crows were using the hard road and the hard metal to crack a problem.

A New Blog To check Out...

I'd like to point you in the direction of a new blog: Wildlife & Birding Destinations It's focuses on the great places around the globe where you can watch wildlife or go birding as well as highlighting travel and wildlife guide books. There are also, of course, photos on wildlife. Take a look.