It turns out that birding in central Tokyo’s parks and nature reserves was pretty tough work at the start of May. Yes, it’s spring, but that actually means that a lot of cool birds that spend the winter in Japan have mostly left. You might be lucky to find some spring migrants or winter-lingering birdsContinue reading “Birding Tokyo in Spring, 2026”
Category Archives: Trips
Birding in Bali and East Java
Bali! It’s a paradise in Indonesia known as “the Island of the Gods” and is well-touristed by many in the West, especially us Australians, because it’s only a (relatively) short flight away. If you can tear yourself away from the ancient temples and the spiritual/cultural side of things, you may wonder what birds you mayContinue reading “Birding in Bali and East Java”
Birding in the Auckland Region, New Zealand
You might find yourself in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, as part of an international flight extended stopover, or for a bunch of other reasons. If you’re curious what birds you might find in the region, and where to go, this blog post is for you. Long story short, there are some high-quality hotspots forContinue reading “Birding in the Auckland Region, New Zealand”
Birding at Chiloe Island and the Lakes District, Chile
After the wonders of South Georgia and Antarctica, we spent three weeks in the south of Chile, exploring Chiloe Island and the Chilean Lakes District (“Las Lagos”). It’s an intriguing area for birding, with quite a few interesting species to discover, and a decent amount of great scenery. There’s a lot in this blog post…Continue reading “Birding at Chiloe Island and the Lakes District, Chile”
Birding in Antarctica and South Georgia
Huge colonies of penguins. Gigantic icebergs. Dueling Elephant Seals. It’s all part and parcel of the experience of South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. I journeyed to South Georgia and Antarctica (sailing out of Punta Arenas, via the Falkland Islands, as noted in the last post) with the HX company on vessel MS Fram,Continue reading “Birding in Antarctica and South Georgia”
Birding in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands
If you go way down south in South America… like way, way down, you’ll eventually get to the near-mythical land of Patagonia. It’s a land of wild extremes, stunning scenery and fascinating birdlife. This blog post covers a handful of sites that are basically part of the well-worn tourist trail in the Chilean side ofContinue reading “Birding in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands”
Birding in the Mindo Region, Ecuador – part 2
The Mindo region of Ecuador! It’s world-renown for birds. We covered several hotspots in our previous post, so here’s some more. And another video, of course! These locations are more “off the beaten track” than the ones from the last post, requiring longer driving to get to and/or stretches of unsealed roads to cover. TheyContinue reading “Birding in the Mindo Region, Ecuador – part 2”
Birding in the Mindo Region, Ecuador – part 1
After the heady delights of our Andes East Slope tour (chronicled in part 1 and part 2), it was time to head west of Quito. About an hour and a half’s drive lies the biodiverse Mindo region, renowned as an amazing place to see and photograph many glorious neotropical bird species. And it’s a regionContinue reading “Birding in the Mindo Region, Ecuador – part 1”
Birding at WildSumaco, Ecuador
As part of a 10-day Andes East Slope birding tour (see last post), I stayed six nights at WildSumaco Lodge, which sits at 1500m in elevation and is around 4.5 hours east of Quito by road. With 675 bird species over all time according to eBird, it is the top hotspot by that measure inContinue reading “Birding at WildSumaco, Ecuador”
Birding the Andes East Slope, Ecuador
You might go birding in the lush rainforests of Ecuador’s Andes eastern slopes and end up saying to yourself: “Wow, what just happened?!” It’s that fabulous. The Andes East Slope refers to the range of the Andes mountains to the east of Quito, Ecuador’s capital city. The Andes rises from Quito’s 2800m elevation to overContinue reading “Birding the Andes East Slope, Ecuador”
Bird Spots 