Zoothera Birding

The Zoothera Birding Yunnan tour in China has just visited one of the most amazing places it has been our privilege to visit. The photo blinds and feeding stations at Baihualing in the Gaoligong Mountains offers unparallelled opportunities to see a wide variety of shy 'mountain' species at very close range. Species that would otherwise be really hard to see well on the trails. here's just a few photos so far.....

Our Yunnan tour in China is certainly producing some great sightings with Red Panda, Wallcreeper, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Himalayan Cutia, Brown-winged, Great and Brown Parrotbills, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Black-faced & Assam Laughingthrushes, Crimson-browed Finch, and both Dark-rumped & Sharpe's Rosefinches just a few of the highlights in the Gaoligong Mountains.

More great birds seen on Day 2 of our Yunnan Adventure: Manipur Fulvetta showed well, a flock of 30+ Bramblings, Himalayan and Chestnut Thrushes, White-crowned Forktail, Spectacled Fulvetta, Black-faced and Pallas's Warblers, Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Yellow-cheeked Tit, White-collared Yuhina and Yunnan Fulvetta.

Our Yunnan (China) tour has got off to a flyer with Yunnan Nuthatch and Giant Nuthatch being seen in the first 10 minutes. Other goodies from our first two days included Black-bibbed Tit, Black-headed Sibia, Black-headed Greenfinch, Black-browed Bushtit and a superb Chinese Thrush.

Our South Korea tour is a wrap. Great work by Nick, Nial & Lee. Red-crowned Crane was voted as one of the top 5 birds of the trip - nice choice! #Zootherabirding. Nick Upton Nial Moores and Lee Collins.

When 19000 Baikal Teal take off from the Geum River, #SouthKorea it looks something like this. Awesome! #Zootherabirding. Nick Upton

Hooded Cranes at Suncheon Bay, #SouthKorea. If you like Cranes then you should come to South Korea, it is as simple as that. Over 1700 Hooded Cranes, 5 Sandhill Cranes and 2 Common Cranes today, following c250 White-naped Cranes yesterday & Red-crowned Cranes earlier in the trip. We are not just ticking them off a list, we are experiencing huge numbers of them at close quarters; the sight and sound is amazing.If you are interested in joining myself and Nial Moores on the next #Zootherbirding winter tour here, get in touch and I will give you all the details. Nick Upton & Nial Moores

After watching a flock of 80+ Asian Rosy Finches foraging on a windswept mountain we finished our day with a lovely pair of Eurasian Bullfinches #SouthKorea Nick Upton

This is the beautiful villa we use on our spring migration birding trips in Ibiza. It's also available for a relaxing, family holiday on several dates between May and October. It's just 800m from the beach and set amidst secluded gardens with a fab pool, terraces and an outside bar. Sleeping up to 12, Villa Rosa has a spacious lounge and dining area and is close to all amenities.
Just let us know if you are interested in sharing our little slice of paradise via a direct message for more information.

Watching a pair of Hazel Grouse at Namhansanseong was a real treat today. Nick Upton

This adult Steller's Sea Eagle arriving in the early morning and later fighting over a meal with White-tailed Eagles was the undoubted highlight of the day on our third day in South Korea. Scaly-sided Merganser, Hooded Crane, Long-tailed Rosefinch, Siberian Accentor, Pallas's Reed Bunting, Chinese Penduline Tit, Saunders's Gull, Naumann's Thrush, Japanese Reed Bunting were an excellent supporting cast too. Nick Upton

We were waiting, looking at Japanese Wagtail when two Amur Leopard Cats emerged onto the ice, near Jeongok, S Korea today. What an amazing sighting. Nick Upton

Synchronized flying from Red-crowned Cranes near the South/North Korea border today. Hundreds of them flying out of the DMZ at dawn was amazing. At -15C very cold, but amazing. Nick Upton

The Flypast of the Cranes on our South Korea tour also included 500+ White-naped Cranes. I felt like I could reach out and grab a lift from some of them they were so close #SouthKorea. Nick Upton.

An afternoon at the National Arboretum was a lovely way to start the Zoothera Birding 2019 trip to South Korea. Solitary Snipe within minutes of arrival and then a nice afternoon enjoying species such as Varied Tit, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Bull-headed Shrike, Hawfinch, Marsh Tit, Black Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Cinereous Vulture and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. Lovely, and not too cold either. Nick Upton

Our Ecuador Antpitta Special tour is aimed at seeing a number antpittas as possible. These are the 'blue riband' birds of the Andes and are species every birder wants to see! With the relatively recent phenomenon of feeding stations we can get up close and personal with a number of these much-wanted birds. Beginning just outside Quito the famous Refugio Paz de las Aves usually has Giant, Yellow-breasted and Moustached Antpittas being seen regularly, plus Chestnut-crowned and ...Ochre-breasted Antpittas as well. We will also have great chances of Tawny and Rufous Antpittas amidst the higher elevations of Yanacocha and Antisana at either end of our tour. A short domestic flight will see us in the south of this amazing country and it is here that one of South America’s most iconic birds, Jocotoco Antpitta resides. And there's the added bonus of seeing Chestnut-naped Antpitta, which has recently begun to visit the same being station! With 8 species of antpitta highly possible, it would be great to get something a little more unexpected such as Crescent-faced or Undulated Antpitta as well. Of course there will be an amazing variety of other species such as Dark-backed Wood-Quail, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Toucan Barbet, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Giant Conebill, Golden-crowned Tanager, Black-chested Mountain-Tanager and many more are possible. Our time in the south of the country around the vast Podocarpus National Park will add many new species to our lists such as White-throated Quail-Dove, Andean Potoo, White-throated Screech-Owl, Golden-plumed and White-breasted Parakeets, Barred Antthrush, Marañon Thrush, White-capped, Black-faced and Red-hooded Tanagers and Paynter’s Brush-Finch. We will end our mini-Ecuadorian adventure at Antisana amidst stunning paramo scenery surrounded by snow-capped peaks where Andean Condors and the stunning Ecuadorian Hillstar reside.
See the full tour itinerary: https://www.zootherabirding.com/ecuador-a ntpitta-special.ht…
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The rainforest cloaked island of Borneo is truly amazing and provides some of the most memorable and exciting experiences possible on any birding/wildlife tour. There are just so many species of birds that are either endemic to this one island, or are truly rare anywhere in Asia. Combine this with a stunning selection of truly beautiful species that we usually get to see at quite close range, canopy walkways, numerous boat trips and exciting night drives in Danum Valley - this tour is a true adventure. We use remote lodges surrounded by jungle with a variety of wildlife present nearby such as Orang-Utan, Bornean Pygmy Elephants and bizarre-looking Proboscis Monkeys. You can see why we love Borneo so much.
You can view our full tour itinerary here: https://www.zootherabirding.com/sabah-bor neo-birding-tour-2…