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Morocco
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October 2014 e-mailing
Greetings, all! We hope you've been enjoying great fall migration in your neck of the woods. It's been busy here with plans for winter tours to help us all escape from the coming cold! Below we have an extra Costa Rica tour, news on checklist updates and condors, and lots of fresh images from recent tours in our October Recent Photos gallery (samples at left). Also, recently posted triplists (more great pics), fresh itineraries, plus a listing of upcoming tours still open, including 3 single November spots (can you get away?) -- one each on Madagascar, New Zealand (roommate possible if you want one), and San Isidro, Ecuador. Good birding!
 
Added! Costa Rica III Dec-13-21 with Jay
Jay VanderGaastOur two other December departures of our Holiday Costa Rica: Rancho Naturalista tours are full, so we've added a third departure with guide Jay VanderGaast, Dec 13-21, 2014. At this time it's looking like it'll be a great small-group experience, so consider joining Jay for some exciting December birding!
Latest Clements update: splits, lumps & more
The latest Clements world checklist version, 6.9, came out recently, and we've incorporated all the changes into the field checklists we'll be using for our 2015 tours. If you haven't already seen what's new, you can find a summary of the changes on this page or on the ebird site, as well as download your own copy of the list. Browse through to see what's new -- you might discover a lifer or three! It's fun reading through the splits and new species for a geography refresher and a bit of armchair travel.
Bird news: those condors are countable!
Grand CanyonCalifornia CondorOur Northern Arizona's Canyons & Condors tour groups with Flagstaff-based Field Guide John Coons have been delighting in condors, but now it's official: word from on high (the ABA Recording Standards and Ethics Committee, that is) is that the California Condors at the Grand Canyon are "countable." Whatever the official math, John's counting on more good times on the 2015 tour!
Recently posted triplists from Peru to China
Our great guides make it all happen out in the field, and their illustrated post-tour triplists bring our myriad recent trip experiences to life. Here's the latest batch, with great photos and some video clips included:

Bearded Mountaineer Machu Picchu & Abra Malaga II with Jesse Fagan, Papua New Guinea with Jay VanderGaast, Montane Ecuador with Mitch Lysinger, Alaska II (Part One) with Megan Edwards Crewe, Newfoundland & Nova Scotia with Chris Benesh, China: Manchuria & Tibetan Plateau with Dave Stejskal & Jesper Hornskov, Serra dos Tucanos, Brazil with John Rowlett, Barrow, Alaska: The Search for Ross's Gull with Eric Hynes & Tom Reed, France: Camargue & Pyrenees with Megan Edwards Crewe & Jay VanderGaast, and Ecuador: Rainforest & Andes II with Rose Ann Rowlett.
Busy in the vans: Limericks en route
How do we pass the time while driving between birding sites? Some creative writing from the back of Megan and Jay's vans while traveling Camargue-to-Pyrenees on our recent France tour is one way to do it and made us smile. Just a tease here:

Upupa epops did flee,
from a bullying kestrel or three.
As it sat on the roof,
its raised crest was proof,
there were places that he'd rather be.


Upupa epops, you ask? Eurasian Hoopoe -- a great name for a great bird! For a little fun, check out the tour's triplist and see the rest of the poetic contributions on its last page...
 
November through February Field Guides
open tours
Above, Thanksgiving treats on our upcoming Holiday Ecuador tour: the view from San Isidro and one of its spectacular birds, Andean Cock-of-the-rock. One space left! (Photos by guide Rose Ann Rowlett & participant Don Taves)

Ireland in Fall: Nov 6-16 with Terry & Karen McEneaney
Madagascar, Mauritius & Reunion: Nov 8-Dec 4 with Phil Gregory (1 space)
New Zealand: Nov 9-27 with Dan Lane & local guide (1 space)
Spectacular Southeastern Brazil (Part Two): Nov 14-30 with Bret Whitney & Marcelo Padua
Holiday at San Isidro, Ecuador: Nov 22-Dec 1 with Mitch Lysinger (1 space)
Jamaica: Dec 2-7 with Eric Hynes
Holiday Costa Rica: Rancho Naturalista III: Dec 13-21 with Jay VanderGaast
Holiday in Peru: Iquitos Canopy Walkways & Ancient Forests: Dec 20-31 with Pepe Rojas & Dan Lane (4 spaces)
Holiday in Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito: Dec 29-Jan 3 with Jesse Fagan
Yellowstone in Winter: Jan 3-11 with Terry & Karen McEneaney
Amazonian Ecuador: Sacha Lodge I: Jan 9-18 with Willy Perez (2 spaces)
South Texas Rarities I: Jan 17-23 with Chris Benesh (3 spaces)
Thailand: Jan 17-Feb 7 (ext. to Feb 13) with Dave Stejskal & Uthai Treesucon
Panama's Canopy Tower I: Jan 19-25 with John Coons
South Texas Rarities II: Jan 24-30 with Chris Benesh (3 spaces)
Oaxaca II: Jan 24-31 with Pepe Rojas & Dan Lane (1 space)
Panama's Canopy Camp: Jan 24-Feb 1 with John Coons (4 spaces)
Colombia: The Cauca Valley, Western & Central Andes: Feb 7-22 with Richard Webster (2 spaces)
Panama's Canopy Tower II: Feb 8-14 with John Rowlett (3 spaces)
Guatemala: Shade-grown Birding: Feb 12-21 with Jesse Fagan
Amazonian Ecuador: Sacha Lodge II: Feb 13-22 with Dan Lane (2 spaces)
Best of the Pacific Northwest: Feb 14-19 with Terry McEneaney
Birds & Wines of Chile and Argentina: Feb 14-28 with Marcelo Padua & John Coons
Panama's Canopy Tower III: Feb 21-27 with Chris Benesh (4 spaces)
Philippines: Feb 28-Mar 23 with Dave Stejskal
 

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Till next time, from all of us at Field Guides, good birding!

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Recently posted itineraries for upcoming tours
Recently posted itineraries include Jamaica (two departures: Dec 2-7 or Mar 3-8 with Eric Hynes), Bahamas: Abaco, Eleuthera & Kirtland's Warbler (Apr 4-9 with Jesse Fagan; Andros Extension to Apr 11), Uganda: Shoebill, Rift Endemics & Gorillas (May 23-Jun 12 with Jesse Fagan), Galapagos: An Intimate Look at Darwin's Island (two departures: Jun 13-23 with Willy Perez and July 11-21 with Jesse Fagan), Alta Floresta & the Northern Pantanal, Brazil (Jun 13-29 with Marcelo Padua), Newfoundland & Nova Scotia (Jun 25-Jul 5 with Chris Benesh), Kenya Highlights (Jul 1-19 with Terry Stevenson), Spitsbergen & Svalbard Archipelago: A Cruise to the Norwegian Arctic (Jul 2-14 with John Coons), Montane Ecuador (Jul 20-29 with Mitch Lysinger).

Cheat sheet
All photos at left are from our October recent photos. Enjoy!

  • Black-bellied Cuckoo, Brazil, by Marcelo Padua
  • Wire-tailed Manakin, Brazil, by Marcelo Padua
  • White-eared Puffbird, Brazil, by John Rowlett
  • Long-billed Woodcreeper, Brazil, by Marcelo Padua
  • Barred Fruiteater, Bolivia, by Dan Lane
  • Scribble-tailed Canastero, Bolivia, by Terry Baltimore
  • Harpy Eagle, Brazil, by Marcelo Padua
  • White-headed Woodpecker, California, by Chris DeCilio
  • Saw-billed Hermit, Brazil, by Gregg Recer
  • Rhinoceros Hornbill, Borneo, by Dave Stejskal
  • Crowned Sandgrouse, Morocco, by Jesse Fagan
  • Laysan Albatross, California, by Chris DeCilio
  • San Isidro view, Ecuador, by Rose Ann Rowlett
  • Red-crested Cotinga, Bolivia, by Terry Baltimore
  • Black-eared Wheatear, Morocco, by Sandy Paci
  • Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Ecuador, by Rose Ann Rowlett
  • Kori Bustard, Kenya, by Terry Stevenson