Stephan and Yeray were tremendous guides and trip leaders. They were excellent in finding the birds and mammals and helping the whole group get eyes on them. Their knowledge about mammals, the local environment, etc was excellent as well. They were able to handle the few curveballs that came up and always communicated plans clearly. They were always pleasant and great at keeping the group relaxed and in good spirits. The tour logistics were excellent with good consideration for location, travel, birding time, etc. All of the accommodations were good to excellent – no issues at all.

Thanks for an excellent bird tour! AL

When a tour leader like Ryan Chenery represents your company, you know you’ve got a good thing going. Sometimes you run across a leader who knows the birds and their songs, handles the logistics seamlessly, is always upbeat and has a sense of humor. Ryan has all those attributes and exemplifies what I want in a leader. TC

The tour was full of high quality birds & fun. Paul is an excellent leader & worked well with the local guide to get us the best views possible. I look forward to another tour with him. I also recommend Cambodia with Angkor Wat as quite a backdrop for some great birds. MN

I would like to say the trip was outstanding A few small issues but nothing major. The guide , Paul Josop, who in my opinion as a professional naturalist myself who has done similar type trip leading in the USA and elsewhere for over 40 years, I would say he’s one of the best I’ve seen! I don’t feel there was any way he could be improved upon because his amazing ability to spot birds and animals of all types and identify on the move was second to none . His knowledge of the area and enthusiasm was contagious! I consider myself very skilled but his abilities for the East Africa region were off the charts! Also his ability to always be friendly , handling any personality differences in the group were first class and he always was concerned about the clients and what their needs and wants were above all else. He literally made the trip unforgettable for all of us , and we agreed, and I don’t think I would personally want to go with another guide after this trip with him. And I told him that in person. but would love to have this passed on to him and the owners of the business should hear this. He truly deserves it and as much work as you can provide him. Your clients will appreciate it! Please feel free to call me if you would like to discuss any more details concerning the trip. Thank you and to Paul for a memorable and life-changing trip! GK

This was my first ever birding tour, so my expectations were not based on any previous experience. I found the birding aspect to be stellar, with many new species added to my life list. The tour leader and the tour guide were both superb. Transportation was very comfortable in vans with captain’s chairs. EA

What an amazing trip. Exhausting, but amazing. Very well researched, planned and executed. The hotels were all outstanding accommodations and the camping, while not “glamping” was as comfortable and easy as possible for people who’ve not camped in ages. The food exceeded my expectations from the hotels, to small restaurants to the campground and road-side dining. I love trying new local foods when I travel and am so glad that the Indian and Bhutanese cuisine was featured at most meals.

Keith and Glen are outstanding guides in every sense of the word—knowledgeable, skilled birders, good humored, fun loving and the patience of saints dealing with prickly guests. I’ve been to Kenya with Glen and he’s the one that “sold” me on Bhutan. Toss in Keith for their natural symbiotic relationship and it was a great time. I’d go anywhere with these two leading. Though they animatedly told me not to go on Cameroon or Philippines RJ Trips. Out of my comfort zone. They know me now.

We all know there are different types of birders—the casual, the hard core, the photographer-only type, etc. I feel like I’m a bit of a hybrid—love the birds and exotic locations, the outdoors and adventure, but also mixed with culture, good local food, beer and wine and a bit of down time in order to enjoy the fine accommodations and the local attractions. Our local guides in both Assam and Bhutan were kind, exceptional guides and generally lots of fun. Good job finding them. VG

Julian was a wonderful leader, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and attentive to our needs. The local guide, Bereket, was also excellent and worked particularly hard when we had to find accommodation at short notice. The cultural guide Frui was very knowledgeable and shared both his knowledge and his experience of Orthodox Christianity with us in a very helpful manner. We saw a lot of birds and a good variety of mammals. In addition the food was very interesting and the coffee outstanding. RL

Jehudy was a brilliant guide, always going above and beyond to find birds for us. His knowledge was superb and was always willing to share and educate us. Regarding the group, he managed us in an informal but very organised manner so the tour ran smoothly. He was kind, considerate and ready to listen. Pablo, the driver, was also wonderful with a smile and chat every morning. An excellent birder himself, he was always supporting Jehudy in the search for birds. Between them, they provided a tour that I will always remember. IW

Greg did a great job leading the tour, communicating clearly with participants and getting everyone onto the birds as best that could be done. The local guide Paul was equally excellent and a great complimentary foil for Greg. A very smoothly run tour ! Thanks also to Crystal, Hayley and Sarah for making the whole admin process so simple; much appreciated. MM

The leadership on this trip was great! Glen Valentine was fantastic as usual. He is very responsive to everyone’s needs, and constantly adjusting in response to even casual comments. He is wonderful at spotting and hearing birds up, down, far away, in the dark – wherever they are. I especially appreciated his wizardry with a scope – getting us great views of many birds through impossibly think vegetation. He makes everyone feel comfortable. The local guide Ashoka was absolutely fantastic at spotting, at local expertise, and general natural history background. Some amazing examples, he spotted an Indian Pitta in dark thicket from a moving jeep, and found a clear view of the head of a Legge’s Hawk Eagle through thick vegetation that eluded all the rest of us – and then Glen got it in the scope in seconds! Glen and Ashoka were a great team. Ashoka speaks great English and was able to keep in mind what everyone had seen or missed, just as Glen does. Ashoka had great background knowledge on other animals and plants, and was enthusiastic to share. DH

Erik is a fantastic leader and guide, with a great sense of humour and empathy. His knowledge and experience was first class, and he was entirely on top of the logistics throughout. All of which made this trip of a lifetime a total joy. Thank you! DF

Andre Bernon

Golden-winged Laughingthrush in Vietnam. We missed it on the first tour. Luckily, with a lot of effort and dedication we managed to find a pair much higher up, on the second tour! Sadly no photo, but very happy with our sighting and another RJ lifer!!!

Adam Riley

This year I undertook my 4th trip to Borneo and my most wanted bird was the Bornean Ground Cuckoo. When I first started visiting Borneo over 20 years ago, this was truly a mythical species seen by just a few lucky people, and I wasn’t part of that exclusive club! This year my good friend, and Rockjumper co-founder, Jonathan Rossouw and I decided to do a Borneo tour with a difference: we’d take along our wives and young children. Obviously, we had to spend a lot of time looking at mammals and bugs, and doing fun kids’ activities, but we still planned to squeeze in some birding, and the ground cuckoo was the main target. I decided to throw another handicap into the equation when I slipped on a trail and ruptured my quad tendon. This required some pretty significant surgery in Kota Kinabalu, but thanks to an excellent surgeon and hospital I was back on my feet in days, albeit at a much slower pace with crutches! Finally the time came for our reckoning with the Bornean Ground Cuckoo and fortunately we had a break, and it came easy. In fact way too easy in all probability, but we weren’t complaining. At a bird hide in Tabin Wildlife Reserve a shamelessly brazen Bornean Ground Cuckoo paraded in front of us for 3 mornings in a row, expressing his disgust with strident churrs when his meal worms ran out! In fact most of the time I couldn’t even photograph this incredible bird because it was just too close….An extra special sighting shared with my buddy Jon and our families!

Clayton Burne

My bird of the year is not terribly flashy, nor exiting but it’s a species that has proven elusive to me for far too long. To be fair, I’ve never put a huge amount of effort into finding it, it’s one of those species I simply expected to find along the way whilst birding for ‘more important’ species. As it happens, ‘along the way’ hadn’t worked, and with a dwindling list of potential new species for our southern African sub-region list, Southern Hyliota took on far greater importance as Meg, Kai and I headed to Mozambique and Zimbabwe for a short clean up tour.

The lowland forests of central Mozambique are hardly prime habitat for Southern Hyliota, but our few days birding Coutada 12 and the Zambezi Valley did turn up most of the anticipated specials such as East Coast Akalat, Livingstone’s Flycatcher, Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrike, Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Black-headed Apalis and Bohm’s Bee-eater. We then headed across to Zimbabwe to bird the wetlands and extensive miombo woodlands for a smattering of key species. We found our first target quickly, with a few Yellow-mantled Widowbirds in transition before spending the rest of a morning at the famous Gosho Park. Not atypically in miombo habitats, the birding started very slowly – barely a bird called or moved for nearly 20minutes until we hit a flock. I was barely out of the car when a Southern Hyliota jumped down from its perch to grab a caterpillar! Hyliotas in general are canopy dwellers, so you rarely get head high views from the ground. The bird indeed reverted to form very quickly and moved back up into the canopy by the time I had gotten my camera out. A few shots were all I had time for, as the wispy calls of African Spotted Creeper emanated from nearby – a sighting that resulted in us finding a nest with a chick, indeed a sighting that is a story in its own right. Eastern Miombo Sunbird, Whyte’s Barbet. Miombo Tit, and Black-eared Seedeater rounded up our time in Gosho. We had enough time to find our last sub-regional target in Miombo Blue-eared Starling and even a bonus, Boulder Chat in the late afternoon courtesy of Reece.

The Hyliota family is endemic to Africa, and only has 4 members, from Yellow-bellied, Violet-backed and Southern which are reasonably widespread though never common, to Usambara Hyliota found only in Tanzania’s Usambara Mountains.

David Hoddinott

Wow, Bird of the Year 2024. It’s a very difficult choice for me this year with such amazing birds as Siberian Crane, Japanese Waxwing and Short-tailed Albatross all seen on our Japan in Winter tour in February this year. However after careful thought and as Bustards are a particular favourite family of mine, I have to go with Little Brown Bustard! What a cracking bird it is and to hear the pair duetting is a real treat. I’d been wanting to see this species for a very long time and so it was a dream come true to finally see it. Join us on an exciting adventure to Somaliland in September 2025 where we’ll have excellent chances to see this splendid, Little Brown Bustard and a whole host of other sought-after endemics.

Keith Valentine

Finding new birds on old stomping grounds is always thrilling as it usually means something very special. In August this year I had the privilege of co-leading (together with good friends Erik Forsyth and Forrest Rowland) a wonderful trip, through the exotic island of Borneo, with the American Birding Association. This was an epic 11 days as we immersed ourselves in the endemic hotspots of Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range while also spending ample time enjoying the sanctuary of the Danum Valley and Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Highlights were plentiful but everyone seeing the famous Whitehead’s trio of trogon, spiderhunter and broadbill over multiple days was very special. One of the groups even had all 3 Whiteheads birds in an hour! Mind-blowing for many of us who have been to the area before, as you typically feel extremely fortunate to connect with all 3 on any tour. Other major specials on the tour included Bornean Bristlehead, Helmeted and Rhinoceros Hornbills, Everett’s Thrush, Mountain Serpent Eagle, Jambu Fruit Dove, Green Broadbill, Blue-headed and Black-crowned Pittas, Sabah Partridge, Striped Wren-Babbler and many more. Our sightings of Orangutan in the Danum Valley were also incredible, and we enjoyed multiple individuals during our time in the area.

It was however on our day visit to Klias Peatswamp where my morning took an amazing turn. I have been visiting Malaysia and Borneo for almost 20 years now and there are only a handful of prized, rare or difficult species that I still haven’t seen in the region. One of those was Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker, a beautiful but rather low-density species that has proven to be extremely elusive for me over the years. Every time I return, I always feel I might have a chance but keep heading back to South Africa empty handed. This time however the tables were turned and despite there being very few recent records from Klias luck was on our side. We had reached almost the very end of the accessible boardwalk through the peatswamp forest when we had some good action with several birds suddenly present. Working through the variety on show a shout suddenly went up of Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker and almost immediately I was staring at a male, not in perfect plumage but close enough. An unmistakable eye-searing view. As is often the case flowerpeckers are rather active and being tiny they are not always the most photogenic. I did however manage to document the sighting with a few rather average pictures, on a day that will not be soon forgotten.

Nigel Redman

2024 was a busy year for me, with many highlights. But of the multitude of fabulous birds (and mammals) my two stand-out highlights were both on the same tour.

I first visited the Kinabatangan River in Sabah (Borneo) in 1987, at a time when almost no birders had ever been there and there wasn’t a single tourist lodge alongside the river. There was more primary rainforest then, but all the birds we saw all those years ago are still present today. But in the late 1980s, the Bornean Ground Cuckoo had not been discovered along the Kinabatangan River, and on a recent trip we failed to find this very shy species. So, in June this year, a really great sighting of a pair of these amazing birds was a huge relief. It was certainly worth the wait.

Another ‘mythical’ Bornean bird is the stunning Bornean Peacock-Pheasant, and until very recently, this bird had eluded almost everyone. Then, a few were found in Sabah in a remnant piece of forest at the edge of an oil-palm plantation. Thanks to protection from the local community, it is now possible to see this stunning species, and at the end of our tour, a few of us were lucky enough to spend several minutes watching an immaculate male at close range. It was a dream come true.

Peter Kaestner 

My bird of the year is the easiest in a long, long time. The Orange-tufted Spiderhunter, a relatively drab bird that it restricted to the islands of southern Philippines, became species number 10,000 on my life list when I observed it in eastern Mindanao on February 9, 2024.  It was the culmination of a lifetime quest that has taken me to 193 eBird countries and territories on all seven continents.  In addition to finding my milestone bird, I used the visit to check out a new part of the Philippines in preparation of leading a successful Rockjumper Endangered Endemics tour of the Philippines in March.

Paul Varney

Wow, 2024 was an incredible year for me guiding for Rockjumper. I visited Cambodia, China, Finland and Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia and Borneo so, as you can imagine, I saw some pretty nice birds.

Several species stand out…. Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo in Cambodia, White-browed Tit-Warbler and adult Pallas’s Gull in China, summer plumage White-billed Diver (or Yellow-billed Loon if you prefer) in Norway, although I did love the Long-tailed Skuas too. Blue-headed Pitta, Helmeted Hornbill and displaying Great Argus in Borneo are right up there but two birds really stand out for me. Blue-back Kingfisher near Sorong in West Papua is the most stunning Kingfisher I have ever seen, the vividness of the colour is amazing. One bird however stands out – Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise. There is a lot of hype about this species but it truly lives up to it. The incredible colours and display of the male is visually stunning – bright scarlet on the back, with a gleaming yellow patch on the upper back and amazing bald cobalt blue head…. This is surely enough but no, it also has weird a lyre shaped blueish wire tail and then when the female approaches flares an amazing metallic bottle green gorget….. it truly is incredible specatcle. It was an amazing experience to sit and watch.

Paul Josop

After missing four consecutive pelagic birding trips last year and this year due to windy and rainy weather, I finally got my chance on this year’s SA – Cape Extension V tour! Thirty nautical miles South from Hout Bay harbour is where we found a trawling vessel inundated with sea bird activity!

Great numbers of White-chinned, Sooty, Great-winged and Cape Petrels, Sabine’s Gull, Great Shearwaters, Northern Giant Petrels, Shy, Black-browed, Atlantic Yellow-nosed, Indian Yellow-nosed and a Southern Royal Albatross’s were observed. The star however, was a Spectacled Petrel feeding amongst all the chaos as the vessel brought up its nets from down under!

Stu Elsom

Birding along a shaded forest trail in Chapadas dos Guimares in Brazil we were doing very well, lots of birds coming at us from all angles and many giving good views. As we approached a stream we heard the single ‘peep’ call of Fiery-capped Manakin, a tiny bird that is well known for whizzing through the forest but as I’d experienced before, not usually particularly obliging and often incredibly difficult to locate due to the ventriloquial nature of the calling male. Today, however we were extremely fortunate to locate a calling male perched at just above eye level on a single vine. What a stunning bird, replete with off-white underpart streaking, vivid yellow crown with bright red-orange crown stripe glowing at us. As we marvelled at this superb little bird, everybody in the group having unobscured close-range views, we felt so privileged to be treated to such an intimate experience  – definitely my bird of the year!

Wade Lee

It has taken me nearly 6 years to find this bird and eventually in August I managed to connect with 4 birds on a Tailor-made Western Endemics tour in South Africa. These birds drink constantly so with a bit of patience, waiting, and a wind powered water pump that was pumping water into a reservoir, we had 4 birds fly up and drink water right in front of us! Truly a day to remember.

Adam Walleyn

This year’s sighting of the year was a morning spent at a Crested Eagle nest deep into the rainforest in the Darien Panama. I had long wanted to see the rather rare dark morph Crested Eagle and when we got word that one had been building a nest we just had to make the long hike in to see it. Arriving shortly after daybreak the dark morph appeared right over our heads carrying a large snake which she eventually brought to the nest. The male then swooped in and they mated on the nest. An amazing experience deep inside the primary rainforest!

Daniel Danckwerts

Choosing a “Bird of the Year” is often a delightful challenge, but this time, the decision was surprisingly straightforward. For years, one of my top birding aspirations has been to see the three quintessential white seabirds: the Ivory Gull, White Tern, and Snow Petrel. This goal isn’t just about seeing these incredible species—it’s about the broader achievement of experiencing the world’s extremes, from the icy Arctic to the remote Southern Ocean, as each bird inhabits distinct latitudes (Arctic, tropical and Antarctic).

I’ve had the privilege of working with White Terns, and Snow Petrel was a strong contender for my 2022 Bird of the Year. But this year, the honor goes to the Ivory Gull, a bird that epitomizes the wild beauty of the far north. I had the privilege of bumping into several of these angelic birds on a two-week cruise around Svalbard, and they were seen mostly above 80 degrees north of latitude. In addition to Ivory Gull, this mind-blowing trip yielded the iconic Polar Bears and Walrus, not to mention immense colonies of alcids and large rafts of Common and King Eiders.

Glen Valentine

Collared Treepie has been a bogey bird for me for 15 years and I finally managed to put it to rest earlier this year. My last and probably the most spectacular of all the treepies, I’ve been desperate to lay eyes on this creature since I first visited their homeland in north-east India and Bhutan in 2008. A scarce and unobtrusive resident of dense lowland and foothill forest in NE India, southern Bhutan, NW Myanmar, NW Vietnam and extreme southern China (Yunnan), this handsome bird is tricky to connect with!

While birding along a beautiful stretch of road, meandering through semi-pristine hill forest in southern Bhutan on our second of back-to-back Bhutan trips earlier this year, a treepie flew across the road in front of us. It immediately struck me as different and I began shaking with excitement as my suspicions were quickly realised. I was, finally, gazing into the eyes of a Collared Treepie! The bird stuck around for a few minutes, showing beautifully and was soon joined by its mate. It was then discovered that the pair were actually nest-building! Incredible! Still a rare and seldom-reported species in Bhutan, the opening up of the extreme south of the country is certainly producing a lot more sightings and records of this once-mythical species in recent years and is very exciting indeed!

Stephan Lorenz

2024 was quite the year for birds with many exciting tours and adventures in North and South America, plus Asia and Papua New Guinea. Highlights were fortunately many with Black Tinamou, Wattled Brushturkey, Sumatran Ground-Cuckoo, New Britain Rail, Cinereous Owl, and Rio Negro Gnatcatcher all coming to mind. Add to that a fantastic array of rarely seen species in Papua New Guinea where Alpine Munia, White-eyed Robin, Eastern Parotia, and Streaked Bowerbird formed indelible birding memories. In the end, Long-bearded Honeyeater was the bird of the year for me. We enjoyed a grand adventure traveling to remote Mt. Wilhelm in central Papua New Guinea and trekked up to the base camp where after several hours of searching we found a single Long-bearded Honeyeater. This species has rarely been recorded by birders and we enjoyed great studies.

Reece Dodd

Of the many endemic and near endemic bird species that Angola has to offer, the striking White-headed Robin Chat was an easy choice for my bird of the year! This little-known species is found in only two small areas, one in northern Angola and the other in an inaccessible area of Democratic Republic of Congo. We managed extended views of this very active species as they explored the tangles and vines of the low canopy just in front of us.

Ryan Tyrer

My bird of the year had to be the massive Ivory-breasted Pitta. Amazingly, we were treated to incredible views close to a Standard-wing lek on Halmahera in Indonesia!

Greg de Klerk

Having seen this species in the past, soaring somewhere near Earth’s orbit, we were in for a surprise when two birds came in overhead thermaling low over the trees in Ranthambhore National Park. They seemed to fly into the distance a short while later but to our surprise, we located them a few moments later, perched in a dead tree, with a Tiger somewhere nearby roaring. Although we never saw the Tiger, these critically endangered Vultures provided excellent views for us, including the chance to clearly separate the sexes based on their eye colour.

Rob Williams

In a year of many great birds it is hard to pull out a favourite, but scratching a long-standing ornithological itch can make a special bird that bit more special. On the Ethiopian Endemics tour I finally got to see the Stresemann’s Bushcrow – a bird I had wanted to see since I was 18. Endemic to a tiny area of southern Ethiopia and considered globally endangered, I had visited the country before but not managed to get far enough south in an era of poor roads. Seeing a group of these fabulous grey and black birds flying through Acacia savanna and then dropping to the ground to feed was a fantastic experience. Their sharp grey and black plumage, the amazing eyelashes and blue facial skin making them look unlike anything else and highlighting their uncertain affinities. Their appeal heightened by their obvious social nature and interactions, their varied raucous calls and active nature. What a bird and my photo does not do it justice as I was nearly hypnotised just watching them. Thanks to all the people I have birded with this year for some amazing experiences, I hope to see some of you next year for more great birds.