Southeast Arizona Bird Guide, Birding Tours SE AZ: Welcome to Fun Birding Tours in AZ with Richard Fray » scenery

Goldilocks and…

Richard — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:07:52 +0000

We only really had time to take a leisurely drive through Yosemite with a few photo stops before we had to be on our way. I wanted to go back to Olmsted Point in the early morning light, and it didn’t disappoint.

I’d asked Bruce about the possibility of seeing bears. Yosemite is obviously a good [...]

Yo!semite

Richard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:20:41 +0000

Everyone I talked to before the trip said the same thing on discovering where I wanted to go – you’ll LOVE Yosemite! And what wise friends I have – they were not wrong.

Bruce, Brenda and I set off early, crossed the Central Valley and arrived at the Yosemite gates around midday. Our first destination on [...]

Avenue of the Giants

Richard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:22:09 +0000

I had a down day between boat trips, but I only had a week in California and was determined to make the most of it. There are so many sights in the USA that I’m desperate to see but still haven’t, so a free day in northern California gave me the opportunity to knock one [...]

Golden Gate

Richard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:25:54 +0000

After a great trip last year, it was time for me to get out onto the ocean once more. This year I had two boat trips booked, both from Bodega Bay in California, so I flew up to San Jose, rented a car and stayed the night with my friends Bruce and Brenda.

I had a [...]

Ecuador 16: Gracias y Adios

Richard — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:00:04 +0000

[thumb:4018:r]The last full day, and much of it was to be spent travelling. After marvelling at the Turquoise Jays around the patio before light, we took an early breakfast, fed the antpitta again, and hit the road.

We headed back over the Papallacta Pass, and once more we were in luck; the weather [...]

Ecuador 11: Papallacta Pass

Richard — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:27:06 +0000

A change of scenery was on the cards today as we set off from Quito early and headed towards our next destination, San Isidro. En route we would take in our highest birding of the trip, the paramo habitat of Papallacta Pass. Reaching an elevation of more than 14,000 feet, we would be at the [...]

Ecuador 9: Quebrada Honda

Richard — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:53:42 +0000

A bit like the day after Angel Paz, today was going to have a hard time living up to yesterday. But we were going to give it a good go anyway.

We spent the morning birding the famous Quebrada Honda trail. It was hard work! A Slate-crowned Antpitta was calling and Mr. Schofield led Rob and Micky [...]

Ecuador 7: Tapichalaca

Richard — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:09:29 +0000

We left the hotel early, took a taxi to the airport and caught a flight to Loja in southern Ecuador. En route we had superb views of the iconic volcano Cotopaxi as dawn broke above the clouds.

The legendary Mr. Schofield had arranged for a 4×4 pickup to take us for an incredibly [...]

Ecuador 6: Yanacocha

Richard — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:09:00 +0000

[thumb:3639:r]It was time to leave Mindo and progress to the next exciting section of the trip. Today was going to be about travelling, with our first high elevation birding en route. We had an early breakfast, said our goodbyes to the lovely staff at Sachatamia Lodge, and headed back up the Old [...]

Ecuador 5: Silanche is golden

Richard — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:00:24 +0000

[thumb:3661:r]Today couldn’t possibly live up to yesterday, could it?

No. But never mind, it was still good. We left the lodge early and drove to Rio Silanche, another great cloud forest reserve. We started at the tower, where our view of the canopy wasn’t interupted by much bird action, although we did see both [...]