Bohemian Waxwing by Adam Riley, White-tailed Robin by Shailesh Pinto, Chinese Monal by David Hoddinott

Adam Walleyn – Japanese Night Heron

My highlight sighting of the year so far is an easy pick – Japanese Night Heron. A species that I had narrowly missed in three countries, it became a bird that I just thought I would never see. I recently led the Japan – Spring Highlights tour, but the bird wasn’t really even on my radar. Even though it is essentially a breeding endemic to Japan, it is never seen there on birding tours, and any breeding locations are kept top secret.

However, while finishing up a night drive on Amami I noticed a big bird sitting up in a tree. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a heron. Assuming it would be a young Black-crowned Night Heron, it was with absolute delight that we realized it was a Japanese Night Heron, a species that supposedly has not previously been recorded from the island at this time of year. What a shocker! And, equally amazingly, we found another two the following morning in broad daylight foraging along a different forest track. The whole thing was a bit surreal.

André Bernon – White-winged Duck

With a dwindling worldwide population, said to be anything from 350 – 1,500 individuals as estimated by the IUCN, finding the sought-after White-winged Duck was a definite highlight for the entire tour group that joined our Assam Extension in extreme north-east India.

We looked for this shy duck in Nameri National Park. After crossing the beautiful Jia Bhorelli River, we started our trek into this pristine forest. With Asian Elephants, Leopards and even Tigers abounding, we were escorted to the best areas for the duck by our trusted park rangers. Trying to filter through the many other bird species abundant in each area, we kept our focus on new species before arriving at the main haunt for the duck. This species is extremely shy and very prone to disturbance, so we had to keep dead quiet and stay a good distance from the algae-covered forested ponds. But there it was, a single female bird roosting under some tangles near the pond edge. Even well-trained eyes struggled to spot her. We enjoyed good looks before leaving her in peace and wishing the species well on its recovery back from near extinction.

Dušan Brinkhuizen – Imperial Snipe

In March, I got a very special request to target the three Gallinago snipe in the high Andes of Ecuador. We could certainly try and search for Andean, Noble and Imperial Snipe, but there were no guarantees! None of these cryptic and elusive creatures are easily observed, especially not Imperial Snipe, which still remains quite mythical. We had three days to tackle this incredibly challenging quest. Based in Quito, we had quick access to both the east and west slope of the Andes. I decided to start with the rarest and trickiest species first: the Imperial, or Banded, Snipe (Gallinago imperialis). It was discovered in Ecuador only as recently as 1990, and before that it was practically unknown (apart from the 19th-century specimen from Colombia and some sightings in Peru).

Erik Forsyth – Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

My favorite sighting recently is without a doubt a Yellow-rumped (Korean) Flycatcher, which I saw on migration on the Chinese coast south of Shanghai. I have longed for a sighting of this species in its wintering grounds of South-east Asia, but was always leading tours to those areas when the birds were back at their breeding grounds in Northern China and Siberia.

The migration was in full swing, and rainy weather had kept the birds down in a coastal forest. Thrushes, buntings, flycatchers and warblers were everywhere and, suddenly, I connected with an unmistakable male just meters away, catching insects. I feasted on the sight of this bird for several minutes, before it moved off and left me in a state of ecstasy.

Forrest Rowland – Blue-eyed Ground Dove

My best bird sighting this past May was the famous Blue-eyed Ground Dove. After its recent rediscovery in 2017, this colorful species, known locally as Rolinha-da-cerrado, has become the poster bird for conservation efforts in the Neotropics. Thought extinct, with the last confirmed sighting of the species over 75 years ago, the Blue-eyed Ground Dove was discovered by an environmental consultant conducting surveys in Minas Gerais for eucalyptus plantations. During one of his surveys he heard the distinct, odd call of the dove! After some effort, he was able to confirm the existence of this critically endangered species in a bizarre remnant, sandy-soil cerrado habitat in the rocky outcrop mountains near Botumirim. It was my pleasure to accompany conservation champion, Bernard Master, to this remote part of Brazil in search of the Blue-eyed Ground Dove, along with many other rare beauties. We had an ethereal experience with a singing male that posed spectacularly for views and photos. Only 20 individuals have been found during surveys over the past two years, making this one of the rarest birds on Earth.

Not only did we get this fantastic species, but we managed to find a litany of Brazil’s special and endemic birds. In fact, this tour yielded an incredible 25 new species for the ‘Rockjumper Lifer List’.

Gareth Robbins – Grey-necked Rockfowl

In March, I was very fortunate to get to lead a last-minute tailor-made tour to Cameroon. The biggest highlight of our trip was finding the prehistoric-looking Grey-necked Rockfowl. This species can be found in the hot and humid Campo Ma’an National Park in South Cameroon, bordering Equatorial Guinea. We had to spend one night in the park, in a basic shelter with no electricity, as the best time to look for the species is in the afternoon. Apparently, the birds are more active after rain, and about an hour before we visited the spot there was a heavy downpour. With the help of a local guide and park ranger, we finally arrived at the rocky inselberg located in the middle of the forest, and it only took us a couple of minutes to get our first sighting of one of these bizarre looking birds. We sat still for an hour and, every now and then, we got some great close views of the birds. Our local guide reckoned we saw at least eight individuals.

Stephan Lorenz – Henderson’s Ground Jay

After spending a windy afternoon walking the desert flats near Chaka Lake in eastern Tibet during our Qinghai Extension in China, we returned to town without having seen the hoped-for Henderson’s Ground Jay, and only glimpsed Pallas’s Sandgrouse. During dinner, we discussed our options for the final day of the tour, and everyone was more than happy to give it another try the following morning. With weather conditions much improved, we again set out on foot and soon found a single ground jay at a distance. A few moments later, we found a family group of two adults and a juvenile that allowed us to follow closely and really study this unique species. This special bird is fully adapted to the open, arid habitats of the Tibetan plateau, and can be surprisingly cryptic and nimble at running away, so this extended sighting counted as a definite highlight of a successful tour. In the end, even a Pallas’s Sandgrouse offered a satisfying flyby.

Rob Williams – Little Gull

Not a single bird, but a mass arrival. The Danube Delta had been cool on our first day of the Rare Bird Club Conservation Tour to Romania, and whilst we were enjoying great views of many resident species, it was clear that most migrants had not yet arrived. This all changed the second afternoon, when our boat rounded a corner and we entered a reed-fringed lake over which thousands of Little Gulls were frantically hawking insects. Most were adults, but about 15% were 1st and 2nd summer birds. As we watched, flocks of 50-100 dropped in to add to the masses. Scattered amongst them were smaller numbers of the three marsh terns: Black, White-winged and Whiskered. All birds most of us had seen before, and were ones I knew well, but witnessing such active migration and their ravenous refuelling on newly hatched insects was a highlight on a bird-filled tour.

Yoav Perlman – Pander’s Ground Jay

One very special bird we saw on the Uzbekistan leg of our Best of Central Asia tour was Pander’s Ground Jay, affectionately known as GJ. This unique and very localized bird lives deep in the Kyzylkum Desert, away from humans. It tends to ‘evaporate’ a few hours after dawn, so in order to see it we left Bukhara at 03:00. Our excellent local guide had up-to-date intel on where to find it, so by sunrise we were in position. I started scanning with my scope, and a few seconds later there it was in all its glory, sat on a bush, a male guarding his territory. Phew… After all the guests had managed good views, we considered approaching the bird for closer views without disturbing it, but there was no need. He started doing what GJ’s do – he walked on the ground, towards us. He picked grubs and beetles as he went, and allowed us to follow him on foot on his foraging march. What a special experience.

Rallid Quest

Never before in birding history has a trip as unique and daring as Rockjumper’s 2019 Rallid Quest been offered. This exhilarating new tour took us through South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia, where we targeted just about every possible crake, quail, buttonquail, flufftail, snipe and rail; arguably some of the world’s hardest birds to see. Our final total of 501 recorded bird species was impressive enough, but this included several mythical species rarely seen on any of our other tours.

The tour started in the highland town of Wakkerstroom, located in the grasslands that blanket eastern South Africa. Here we sought out the challenging (though often considered the easiest member of this difficult family!) Red-chested Flufftail. We employed several techniques and eventually found ourselves watching a gorgeous male darting between gaps in the bullrushes. Other notable distractions here included the endangered Rudd’s and Botha’s Larks, Yellow-breasted Pipit, African Swamphen, African Snipe and a host of wonderful waterfowl. From there we drove south towards the town of Hilton, Rockjumper’s homebase, set on the forested eastern escarpment of South Africa. Here we caught glimpses of a male Buff-spotted Flufftail in a carefully staged arena. Other highlights in this area included the near-endemic Bush Blackcap, Knysna Turaco, Red-capped Robin-chat, Orange Ground Thrush and the gorgeous Knysna Turaco. The next site was Ntsekeni, located in the foothills of the impressive Drakensberg Mountain range. Our main quarry here was the mythical Striped Flufftail, a species rarely seen even by local South African birdwatchers. These small rallids inhabit thick tussock montane grassland where they remain superbly well hidden, though calling almost constantly. It took a while but we eventually caught two males darting across a carefully constructed gap – a real treat even for us guides! The final part of the South African leg took us back through Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, where a famed wetland gave us the scarce and unpredictable Spotted Crake, as well as several more Red-chested Flufftails and the common Black Crake.

The second leg of this unique tour took us to Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, where our time was equally distributed between several seasonally inundated grasslands and the endemic-rich miombo woodland. The wetlands delivered Streaky-breasted Flufftail and Striped Crake, two mythical species that many of our Africa-based guides still only dream to see, together with a supporting cast of the more common African and Corn Crakes. These ‘dambos’ (the local name given to such grasslands) supported several other notable species, including the impressive Black Coucal, and the beautiful Rosy-throated and Yellow-throated Longclaws. The woodlands were equally as good, and we quickly found several important miombo woodland endemics, including the Green-backed Honeybird, Black-eared Seedeater, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, African Spotted Creeper, White-crested Helmetshrike and Southern Hyliota.

We then departed Zimbabwe, traveling north into the neighboring country of Zambia. Our journey continued to the extreme north of the country, where we visited Mutinondo Wilderness; surely one of Africa’s top birding sites. Here we recorded the mythical Chestnut-headed Flufftail, together with Red-chested and Streaky-breasted Flufftails. We also completed the suite of miombo woodland endemics here, with such tricky species as the Western Miombo, Anchieta’s and Western Violet-backed Sunbirds, Bar-winged Weaver, Pale-billed Hornbill, Reichard’s Seedeater, Miombo Scrub Robin, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Rufous-bellied and Miombo Tits, and the scarce migratory Collared Flycatcher. Other highlights included the beautiful Ross’s and Schalow’s Turacos, Swamp Nightjar and Coppery-tailed Coucal.

This really was a trip like no other and we look forward to running this tour again in 2020!

This Rallid tour and others like Dusan’s Snipe quest or Forrest’s Brazil targeted mega trip are all wonderful examples of what our tailor-made team does on a regular basis. We can setup any tour of your desire to target a specific family or multiple difficult species within a family or country. Take PNG (Papua New Guinea) for example. With the recent family splits that have taken place, many people that have travelled to the country before are keen on returning to find the few families they still need, and we have setup many of these dedicated bird family tours in recent years. Our global knowledge is unrivalled and if you are after some very specific targets we know the best places and sites to try and find them.

Maryland Ornithological Society Convention   http://www.mosconvention.org/

This past May 31 – June 2, 2019 was the 72^nd annual convention of the Maryland Ornithological Society. Based in the cozy college town of Chestertown, centrally located in the marshes and meadows of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a great bunch of birders, nature enthusiasts, researchers and conservationists assembled.

We enjoyed a variety of field trips all along the low-lying Delmarva peninsula, visiting places like Poplar Island, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, and still other fabulous birding areas. The event itself was held at Washington College, where along with ZEISS Sports Optics, Bird-Watcher’s Digest and others, Rockjumper was honored to serve as a sponsor of the event. The American Birding Association was also present, and president Jeff Gordon was the keynote speaker. He spoke about the ABA’s 50^th Anniversary, which we enjoyed celebrating with our ABA friends at the ABA Colombia event Rockjumper hosted in July 2019. At the MOS Convention, Jeff Gordon and colleagues found the biggest surprise bird of the weekend when they located a singing Black Rail. It was all the more suprising that it sang consistently throughout the day for a number of us to enjoy. The 72^nd MOS Convention was a ton of fun, and we hope to return in the years ahead.

Indiana Dunes Birding Festival   https://indianaaudubon.org/event/indiana-dunes-birding-festival-2019/

Rockjumper played a major role as the only bird tour company sponsor of the May 16 – 19, 2019 Indiana Dunes Birding Festival. The busy 5-day event featured several dozen well-attended day-time and night field trips, throughout Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana Dunes State Park and the best adjacent birding locations. All activities were very well coordinated by Indiana Audubon Executive Director, Brad Bumgardner, with exemplary assistance from national and state park staff and numerous expert volunteers from nearby Chicago and other cities.

British BirdFair   https://birdfair.org.uk/

Birding’s biggest show is coming up shortly, and from August 16 – 18, thousands of birders from all over will gather in England at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve near Oakham. Hundreds of exhibitors will be present for the spectacle, and Adam Riley, Keith Valentine, Sue Anderson, Holly Faithfull, Mark Beevers, Nigel Redman, Stu Elsom, Yoav Perlman and Paul Varney will be among them, presenting talks and representing Rockjumper. It is always a fabulous event, and we sincerely enjoy all the new faces and old friends that we get to see every year. If you are planning on attending, please do pop around and say hi.