I was very lucky recently to be invited by the Palau Visitors Authority to visit the Micronesian Island of Palau, from the 29th of May to the 1st of June. The invitation was part of an initiative to encourage bird-watching tours to visit the islands. A full programme was laid out for me, and I was kept busy...

With a bit of free time on hand, I decided to visit some familiar and new birding areas in South Africa. The trip started in Cape Town and ended in Durban. Western South Africa The first day of the trip took me along the West Coast, on the N7 – known as the Diamond Route; it was developed by De Beers as a way...

Rockjumper’s early summer tour of China (Yunnan and Sichuan) kicked off superbly with an immensely successful Yunnan Extension. The birding was excellent and the group managed to score a healthy number of range-restricted and rare species. Highlights included the scarce and impressive Giant Nuthatch, the...

The tiny Central American nation of Costa Rica has, since the revolution in the mid-1950s, been gearing itself heavily towards tourism, and has developed a superb infrastructure to service numerous visitors from all over the globe, catering to a variety of interests. If you want a relaxing beach vacation at a...

Saffron Toucanet was voted as number one bird of our Brazil & Argentina trip, which I led last year July. The trip covers the Amazon rainforest, Pantanal, Cerrado and Iguazú, which delivers a whole host of specials. However, how often do you get to see an entirely yellow toucan? We lucked into the species...