Wide World Nature Blog

Yellow-throated Warbler

These Yellow-throated Warblers were catching insects around the buildings at Birds Eye View Lodge in Crooked Tree, Belize.

Yellow-throated Warbler

Yucatan Jay-Crooked Tree

We encountered small flocks of Yucatan Jay flying quickly through the Pine Forests in Crooked Tree. On our second day we got close to a flock attracted to an army ant swarm.  Along with the jays we had amazing views of Grey-headed Tanager, Red-throated Ant-tanager, and Tawny-winged Woodcreeper.

The first few nights (January 22-26 2011) of the Portland Audubon Tour to Belize were at the comfortable and clean Birds Eye View Lodge.  This pleasant beginning allowed us to really get to know the area and gave us a chance to see some amazing birds.  This lodge is right on the edge of a lagoon with lots of birds. We found Blue-winged Teal, American Coot, Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Snail Kite, Great Black Hawk, Ringed Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Mangrove Vireo, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, and more just around the lake.  From this lodge we made excursions to see the amazing Mayan Temples at Altun Ha and Lamanai.

American Kestrel

We had another successful count on January 2nd 2011.  We found 62 species in a very urban part of the count circle that is surrounded on 3 sides by freeways and by the Columbia slough to the north.  Highlights were a Merlin, Western Meadowlarks and we were the only group in the northern part of the count circle to find Purple Finch and amazingly Ring-necked Ducks.  The northern section of the count circle broke the all time record at 110 species.  A Black Scoter was found which was a first for the county.  For 2011 the overall Portland CBC found a record breaking 120 species.  A fantastic day for being at or below freezing and windy for most of the day.

We are collaborating with Habitats Peru to offer a fantastic tour of Northern Peru. We will search for many species of birds with a special effort to find regional endemics.  However, we will take time to learn about the great cultures that once inhabited this region.  This tour will take you from Chiclayo along the coast and east over the Andes to Tarapoto in the Amazon Basin. We will search for the unusual Peruvian Plantcutter near Chiclayo and make an effort to find the White-winged Guan, once thought to be extinct. Of course, we can’t resist a stop at the pre-incan ruins of Kuelap. A highlight of any trip through this part of Peru is the now famous Marvelous Spatuletail, one of the most unusual and stunning of all hummingbirds. We’ll make an evening excursion to try for the enigmatic Long-whiskered Owlet. This part of Peru is wild and unique and is not crowded with tourist. For the itinerary click here Northern Peru

The tour is from October 22 to November 2 2011

Cost $2995

Cusco to Machu Picchu extension

Cost $1950

For more questions email us at info@wideworldnaturetours.com

The Columbia Sport Timberlines are the most superior binoculars for the price. I recommend the 8 power for the brightness. They are available at the Audubon Society of Portland for $99.00. A little heavy at 3.2 lbs but possibly better than the Vortex Crossfires.

For the traveler and birder to Costa Rica and Panama there are some great books to help you identify the birds and some of the trees in these countries.

Both the birds of Costa Rica and Panama are field worthy guides that are easy to use and well done. The excellent illustrations are by Robert Dean, who is a musician that lives in Costa Rica.  Richard Garrigues is the author of the texts and maps,  he and his son are both guides in Costa Rica.  I will be working with Leo Garrigues on future birding tours to this wonderful country.   George Angehr is the author of the Birds of Panama.  He works for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.   If you ever have a chance to visit the Smithsonians Barro Colorado, it is a wonderful and fascinating place in the middle of the Panama Canal.

Perhaps the most thorough botanical guide to use is the Field Guide to the Plants of Costa Rica. This one covers 850 species and organizes them by tree, shrub, herbaceous, color etc.

Tropical Plants of Costa Rica is another great guide to cover the diverse botanical live of this country. Possibly the easiest guide to use, this one is arranged by major habitat type or by plant types. The photographs are large and it’s full of great natural history facts.

The Trees of Panama and Costa Rica is full of digitally enhance pictures of branches with leaves, often including a photo of the tree trunk.  This one is probably the most difficult to use and may require the user to be somewhat familiar with tropical plant families.  The main focus of this guide is Panama, since the range maps are of Panama.

Here is a link to a list of Christmas Bird Counts by state or province

Christmas Bird Counts

Here are a couple more that in states that border Oregon

Idaho

California

Make sure you participate in a Christmas Bird Count this year. Add to the database of winter birds populations and help in one of the oldest citizen science projects.

If you live in Oregon and Washington you will find links below to all the CBC’s in those states

Oregon

Washington

I remember the first pair of binoculars I got. They were Bushnell Falcons porro prisms, purchased at JAFCO for about $30.00 in 1983. I broke them that first year when I crashed my bike. Binoculars have come a long way. The Vortex Crossfires are fully multi-coated, waterproof binoculars and they are amazingly bright and comfortable. They are available in both 8X and 10X magnifications and 32mm and 42mm objective lens. The eye relief is 19mm on the 8X and 16mm on the 10X, which means if you wear glasses you will get the full field of view, they also seam to be less strainful to the eyes. They are very light weight at 22oz. They are the perfect gift for a budding birder or to keep an extra pair in your car or next to your table at home. These don’t replace the top glass like Swarovski, but I don’t think that you can find a better pair of binoculars for the price.