We were up again at 4.00am for an early start in the rainforest. The first couple of sites produced some interesting birds but not the elusive ‘Hunter tick’ we were hoping for. Eventually, after a walk through ‘leech country’, near Buladelah – I picked up three in my sandals! – we struck gold. The well-named Australian Logrunner was running around on a mossy log in the dark depths of the forest. We eventually saw a couple of birds well, but photographing them at 1/5th second not surprisingly produced record shots only. Our second prize came in the form of Varied Triller. This is a species we’ve seen well before in Queensland but here, at Mungo Brush, it is approaching it’s southern limits. We saw three birds – probably a pair with a youngster in tow. On the way home a Square-tailed Kite obligingly drifted across the Pacific Highway – my third Hunter tick of the day – bringing my tally to a dozen for the trip so far!

Nowadays I normally spend New Year’s Day in the NENBC area, doing the club Birding Challenge. The challenge being to get out of bed, get birding and get my New Year’s list off to a good start. This year it’s been a bit different, as we’re down-under in Australia, visiting family. In a gesture of NENBC solidarity I decided to generally stick as close to the ‘rules’ as possible but, since celebrations on New Year’s Eve also involved Dan’s 40th birthday shindig, I opted for a later evening start – to coincide with UK time – followed by a morning session on the 2nd. In total we birded for about six hours, all of which was spent within the Newcastle LGA – essentially birding within the city limits. By the end of the evening session we’d seen around 65 species – this morning we managed to push that total to 106. This involved more ‘heard only’ ticks than I’m used to but Australian bush birding is like that. If I wasn’t sure, after listening to the audio track, then I didn’t count it. That probably cost me another dozen species. Most of the birds were the regular stuff, which we’ve been seeing since our arrival, but I did manage to add a couple of trip ticks. Unquestionably the bird(s) ‘of the day’ was the adult and young Powerful Owl we found this morning deep in a damp gully in Black Butt Reserve. It’s only the third time I’ve seen these monster birds – which mainly feed on Possum – once, about twelve years ago, in very nearly the same spot and once in the ‘go to’ location for UK birders – the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden. Tomorrow we’re off early to try to add a couple more rainforest species to my Hunter list.

On Thursday we had a big day out in the Hunter. We had left the house by 05.00 and didn’t return until nearly 11.00pm – visiting some of the most far-flung parts of the Hunter Bird Observers Club recording area. Our collective team efforts did not go unrewarded, with an impressive seven Hunter ticks – bringing my all-time total to 332. Most of the birds were either species on the extreme western edge of their range or birds with a particular habitat niche. Either way a lot of travelling was involved between ticks.

Yesterday was the Big Day – Dan’s 40th – but we began it in customary style but visiting woodlands in the Kurri Kurri / Cessnock area, to look for Regent Honeyeater. There are perhaps only around 250 – 300 wild birds left in the world and although there is an active captive breeding & release programme, this prince amongst honeyeaters remains on the brink of extinction. Thanks to a local birding friend they were reasonably easily located and safely observed. We saw at least half a dozen birds, including a fully fledged youngster and one of the two adult males recently fitted with a satellite tracker – in the hope that their still unknown wintering grounds might be located & protected.

By 3.00pm the birthday party was in full swing. It was a looong time before we could see the New Year in and fall into bed. A Happy 2022 to one and all.

Last time we were out here I managed to add a recent ‘split’ to my Aussie & Hunter list – Australian Gull-billed Tern, having been separated from Common Gull-billed Tern (Birdlife International). Yesterday we made our first visit to Stockton Sand-spit, in search of some waders. Although a number of the speciality waders were absent we still managed to add seven to the list. In amongst the godwit flock – mostly Bar-tailed with a few Black-tailed – were two terns. Turned out (pardon the pun) that they were one of each of the Gull-billed variety, with all of the distinguishing features being readily observable at close range. The Australian version being larger, paler backed, with distinct ‘highway-mans’ mask and symmetrical upper and lower mandible profile. Actually they look like two different birds!

Two shots, showing the open wing – first of the Australian, second the Common (which is an annual rarity in the Hunter)

Our first day free from covid restrictions was spent doing a circuit of the familiar Newcastle birding hotspots. What became increasingly apparent – due to the prevailing wet weather conditions, linked to El Nino, and changes in salinity on Hexham Swamp – is that there are very few waders about. Whereas, on previous trips, we may have seen hundreds of up to a dozen varieties, this time we’ve hardly seen any. Still, we did see some nice stuff, including Banded Lapwing – a specialist of the inland ‘lawn-turf’ fields and a more recent heron coloniser – the huge Jabiru or Black-necked Stork.

We’re in Australia to spend Christmas & New Year with Dan, Morgan & the Boys. Despite all the Omnicron uncertainty of the past few weeks we did manage to get a relatively trouble-free flight with Cathay Pacific on Tuesday, arriving 30 hours after departing from St. Neots. It did involve a lot of additional paper-work, pre-flight PCR’s, etc and it’s a long time to wear a face mask – but it does prove it’s possible! Having gone to bed at around midnight (in Australia) we were up early to get our first ‘test to release’ PCR, with results expected within 24-48 hours – certainly in plenty of time for us to enjoy a family Christmas meal in a Newcastle restaurant. As I write this, four days after the test, I’ve just got my results through – NEGATIVE! and an end to self-isolation. Although our Christmas dinner was a couple of sausage rolls, it’s been lovely to be here with the kids and we look forward to New Year’s Eve – celebrating Dan’s 40th. Still, on the birding front, it’s not been at all bad. Living literally across the street from a RAMSAR wetland has it’s advantages and we’ve manage to see / hear over 70 species so far – including three eagle species. Last night we did an impromptu survey of birds returning to the Wetlands Centre to roost. We counted over a thousand birds – mostly Great, Intermediate & Cattle Egret, Australian White Ibis, Royal Spoonbill and the smaller cormorants. Today, with our new-found freedom, we’re off in pursuit of my first Hunter tick!

With constant sunshine and unseasonably warm weather we’ve had a fabulous week birding here in the Cornish valleys. Although migrant passerines have been very few and far between, with the help of an occasional sea-watch and spending time studying the comings and goings on the Hayle estuary, we’ve managed to accumulate a reasonable list. Personally I’ve seen 109 species since we arrived, missing only a couple of things seen by other members of our party. The undoubted highlight has been daily views of the Semipalmated Sandpiper, but raptors have also been a real feature including: Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Merlin, Buzzard, Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl. A second Siberian Chiffchaff – yesterday at Porthgwarra – with a late Yellow Wagtail, a couple of Black Redstart and that obliging Snow Bunting making for a reasonable supporting cast of ‘bush birds’. All three egrets at Drift, providing a backdrop for the Black-necked Grebe, also deserve a mention. There are few better places to spend an autumn week birding – we’ll be back.

We’ve been down in Cornwall for the Global Bird Weekend. Our team of seven managed to rack up a total of 92 species – in the process of which, raising £140 for international conservation. The highlights included: Ring-necked Duck, Rosy Starling, Cattle Egret, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chough and Black-necked Grebe.

Further additions to our trip list so far have included: Siberian Chiffchaff, seen in Kenidjack yesterday afternoon and, just on our way back to our accommodation in Hayle, a superb juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper (Carnsew Basin).

Today has produced a most interesting ‘autumn double’. At Drift Reservoir we stumbled across a lovely and most obliging Snow Bunting. Then, in the afternoon, in Degibna Wood east of Loe Pool, we came across a couple of very late Spotted Flycatcher. Our Trip List has increased to 100.

We’ve recently returned from a flying visit to meet up with family staying in Spain. We had a room in the delightful Can Rosich farmhouse B&B, set in wooded gardens, a couple of miles from the coast, at Santa Susanna. Two days were spent absorbing the architectural delights of Barcelona – following in the footsteps of Antoni Gaudí I Cornet – and the walled city of Girona, with one days birding on the lower slopes of the Pyrenees, in the Núria valley, north of Queralbs. Garden birds included Golden Oriole, Black Redstart, Hawfinch, Cirl Bunting, Western Bonelli’s Warbler and Red-rumped Swallow. Best of the Alpine species: Griffon Vulture, Citril Finch, both Chough and Water Pipit, plus several nice butterflies. Once you get your head round the covid testing requirements, and complete the voluminous paperwork, the actual ‘re-entry’ process into the UK is pretty straightforward. A lot of effort for just a few days but it was nice to get away, explore somewhere new and get reacquainted with Spanish birding… and architecture.

The rarest  bird we saw – Surucua Trogon. Only a couple of pairs breed on the Uruguayan side of the border with Brazil

We’ve spent the last ten days discovering the delights of Uruguay – its landscapes, birds and people. At 68,000 sq miles (England – 94,000 sq miles) it’s the second smallest country in South America, sandwiched between Argentina and Brazil, with the great River Plate forming its western boundary, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. More than half the country’s total population of 3.5 million people live in the capital Montevideo, with the rest thinly distributed across the gentle rolling hilly grasslands, woods and coastal lowlands. With its relatively small bird list of 455, Uruguay wouldn’t be most people’s first-choice birding destination in South America (cf. Colombia – 1958, Peru – 1818 or Ecuador – 1634), but with relatively short distances to travel, good infrastructure and roads, a strong sense of personal safety and very hospitable people, it’s a great location for our style of ‘do it yourself’ birding holidays. Unsurprisingly, the birdlife reflects that of its neighbouring countries, with species from the Atlantic rainforests of Brazil in the north and pampas birds from Argentina to the south and west making up the bulk of the bird list. The 400 miles of coastline, dotted with marshes and coastal lagoons and innumerable inland ponds and lakes providing habitat for many interesting wetland and water birds.

We started our trip with a few days at the Wyndham Gardens hotel on the eastern edge of Montevideo, with its own lagoon and wooded park close by – a good place to get to grips with the commoner species. Our stay here also included a day trip to the protected wetland areas around Santiago Vazquez and the outstanding Colonia Wilson road. We then headed north-east to another protected area, that of Quebrada da los Cuervos – staying at the well-equipped eco-lodge of El Capricho, before continuing east to the Brazilian border at Paso del Centurion. This location has been pioneered by Laura and husband Francisco who, working with the local community, have found a number of new birds for Uruguay here – helping achieve ‘protected area’ designation – and laying the foundations of a sustainable community eco-tourism enterprise. Although our accommodation was pretty basic – it was essentially a ‘home stay’ – traditional food was provided by a kindly neighbour and Laura showed us around a number of private sites, with the permission of the land owners. This delightful and dedicated couple truly deserve to succeed in this significant Uruguayan conservation project. Our final stop was in the traditional beach-side holiday resort of La Paloma – combining birding with family holiday activities. So far, we’ve found and identified nearly 180 species, close on fifty being additions to my world list.

A somewhat random selection of our birds of Uruguay, beginning with the charming but common Saffron Finch – first seen on a work trip to Jamaica!

A reasonably common seedeater – this is Double-collared

More scarce and increasingly threatened, the Great Pampa-finch 

One of the dazzling monjita family (I always thought that was a Cuban drink!) – this one is White

Other grassland species included Savannah Hawk

Guira Cuckoo

The smallest of the tinamou family, at just 20cm – Spotted 

by contrast, Greater Rhea – measuring 1.8m in its ‘stockinged feet’!

and the always-endearing Burrowing Owl

Around the El Capricho eco-lodge several woodland-edge species. This is Tropical Parula – last seen in Texas on our Great American Birding RoAd Trip

This is Golden-crowned Warbler – hiding in deep cover

and the much more showy Red-crested Cardinal

The numerous inland ponds and coastal lagoons provided habitat for many interesting water birds. This Plumbeous Ibis had just caught an eel

Rufescent Tiger-heron – last observed at Regua – Brazil

Whistling Heron, perhaps the most lovely of them all

Courtesy of Laura and Francisco we got excellent views of Chotoy Spinetail

Rufous-capped Antshrike

Bran-coloured Flycatcher

and Freckle-breasted Thornbird

Other birds, found only around Paso del Centurion, included this Large-tailed Antshrike

the giant though elusive Planalto Woodcreeper

and White-winged Becard, which just has a toehold in Uruguay

The coastline of Uruguay provided plenty of interest too – this is Collared Plover at Laguna La Rocha

In the harbour at La Paloma – Snowy-crowned Tern

At La Barra, a very confiding Striated Heron

Whilst absorbing the detail of Cayenne Tern (South American Sandwich Tern) we noticed another tern (top right in the photo) – subtly different – could this possibly be an Elegant Tern? Any comments on id welcome. Now shown with inset of Royal Tern, taken at same location, for comparison

..and then this evening, we were just enjoying a beer at the beach bar when Joe called (in jest) ‘frigatebird’. I took a look through the binoculars and sure enough… an immature Magnificent Frigatebird!!

We fly back to Santiago on Saturday and then, after a couple of days R&R, we return to the UK – a different place from the one we left just after Christmas, in more ways than one. But we’ll take with us very fond memories of our first birding trip to Uruguay.