Important Wildlife Research Undertaken

The U.S. Geological Survey is studying the impacts of global warming on American wildlife. Some topics of special interest include: impact of melting Alaskan glaciers, rising ocean levels and the effect on island nesting birds, climate change in the already arid southwest, rising salt water levels in San Francisco estuary.

Six Good Reasons to Bird Ecuador With PIB and Neblina

All these fine pictures were taken on a recent PIB trip by Murray Cooper.  Cooper’s photos are as impressive as the birds themselves.

Top to bottom:

Masked Flowerpiercer

Long-wattled Umbrellabird

Capped Heron

Plate-mandibled Aracari

Pair of Orange-breasted Fruiteaters, female in foreground.

White-tipped Sicklebill, a hummingbird!

Uganda Could Be Your-ganda. You Bet!

This trip would be worthwhile just to see the Shoebill in Mabamba  Swamp.  After that it’s all gravy.  Here are the details of our PIB autumn trip to Uganda.

Not only does the Shoebill’s visage make an impression.  They stand four-five feet tall.  The wingspan, when they bother to open them for flight, can be over ten feet.  They can weigh more than fifteen pounds.  Though traditionally considered a stork relative, recent DNA evidence indicates they are closer to pelicans.  I say, let the beak speak.

One Shoebill is NOT going to appear as a vagrant at Cape May or Point Reyes.  So you gotta get out of your chair and go.

Of course, once you’ve seen the Shoebill, you could content yourself with over 350 other species you’re likely to see. I happen to be one of those birders who will go anywhere to see a crane.  So the Gray Cresated Cranes of Uganda are as magnetic to me as any mere five-foot mysterious swamp bird could ever be.

This picture of the Gray Crested Crane flock was taken by our super-guide, Johnnie Kamugisha. 

And the geography brings forth names to conjure: Kibale National Park, Semuliki Park, Budongo Forest.  To see the places and the birds, reserve your spot. Call: 1-888-203-7464.
Abd I am looking forward to going along as the PIB host.

–Harry Fuller

Brazilian Beauties

PIB is offering trips to Brazil.  Diverse, exciting, birdalicious trips.  For photogs, listers or simply the love of looking, Brazil is a birders’ wonderland.  Hundreds of species you will never see until you go there.  Click here to see what’s possible in the near future.

Last year we had a successful small group visit to the Pantanal and Matto Grasso.  We do all these Latin American trips with our partner, Neblina Forest Tours. Their ace guide, Lelis Navarette, led the Brazil trip and he took a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Top to bottom:

This little tyke is a juvenile Harpy Eagle.  Seen at Currupira das Araras,  Mato Grosso.

White Woodpecker. Pantanal.

Black Jacobin.  Taken at Zizo, Sao Paulo.

This big beaker is a Euler’s Flycatcher.  Seen at Zizo, Sao Paulo.

Cozy gang of Ccrimson-bellied Parakeets.  Found at Alta Floresta Hotel.

Some Northwest Pics From Janet Hyypio

TOP TO BOTTOM:

Blue Heron, NIsqually NWR, WA

Pelagic Cormorant and Glaucous-winged Gull at ferry terminal, Port Townsend, WA.

Sunrise at Astoria, OR.

Northern Shrike, also at Nisqually.

More Murray…You Shudda Been There

Eagles in aerial combat above Nisqually River at Nisqually NWR.  One eagle had a duck in its talons.  Two other eagles envied that.

Mew Gull (Left) and three Western Gulls.

Rhino Auklet in flight.

Part of the Varied Thrush flock we found along the road in Ft. Stevens Park near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon.

Red-necked Grebe.  There were many in Hood Canal, none near shore.

Pileated who flew around the treetops at Tolmie State Park, WA.

Red-throated Loon.

Still More of Murray’s Marvey Images

Black-bellied Plover on lawn, Whidbey Island.

All thee Pacific coastal cormorants on the dock next to Keystone Ferry Terminal, Whidbey Island.  The lone Brandt’s Cormorant is third from the right.  That species has become hard to find in lower 48 because of El Nino and the lack of upwelling and thus fish along the coast.  On a recent visit to San Francisco I saw ZERO Brandt’s though they traditionally cover the sides of Seal Rocks.

Three Harlequins, male on the right.  Off the beach at Whidbey Island, WA.

This bird needs no introduction, no caption.

Glaucous-winged Gull feeding at Sequim.

Surfbird on the rocks, Seaside, Oregon.

More great shots from birder Steve Murray

Top to bottom:

Black Turnstones on the ferryboat dock, Port Townsend, WA.

Bald Eagles over Nisqually NWR.

Horned Grebe on Hood Canal along the Olympic Peninsula, WA.

Red-winged Blackbird walks on shells, oyster shells.  Hood Canal.

How do they do that?

Two interesting recent discoveries on the nano-tech of bird biology.

The concentration of iron compounds in nerve endings  enables some birds to use megnetic “measurements” to help them navigate.

And then, how do shorebirds get those mouthfuls of food and water up the long thin beak without having to tilt their head back between each gulp? Ever watch a phalarope feeding on the water’s surface?  They use the physics of surface tension.