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Showing posts from 2023

Just Announced: Tour to the Pantanal and Jardim da Amazonia, Brazil - Sep 2024

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I am very excited to be returning to Brazil's Pantanal in 2024, this time as a guide for Sunrise Birding . This will be my third tour to this must-see region. For those not familiar, the Pantanal is the world's largest freshwater wetland and is THE place to see Jaguar in the wild. In addition to other fascinating mammals such as Tapir, Giant Otter, Maned Wolf and Giant Anteater, the area boasts several hundred species of birds in beautiful open savannah and riverine habitat. The birds there are not shy and tend to be quite photogenic in fact. Join us on what promises to be an unforgettable adventure. CLICK HERE for more information. Hope to see you there! In the meantime, here are a few images from my most recent visit, with Connecticut Audubon Society.  - Nick

Norwegian Double Dip! March 2022 and June 2023 (Part 2 of 2: June 2023)

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It did not take long after the March 2022 visit to plan a return trip to Varanger for the breeding season. This time I teamed up with Mike Sylvia, former Massachusetts birder who is currently residing in Ireland. Having been to the area so recently, and having read through Biotope's fantastic "Birding Varanger" guidebook multiple times, planning was pretty easy. The one big change this time would be doing our forest birding in northern Finland instead of the Pasvik Valley. The Finland leg increased our chances at a few target species such as Broad-billed Sandpiper and Parrot Crossbill, among others. There would be more driving this way, but I was game to see a new area. Otherwise the route was pretty similar to the March visit. We flew in and out of Kirkenes and rented from Hertz, who provided us our vehicle at the airport with easy pick-up and drop-off and no hidden fees or scams. We arrived on the evening of June 20, fetched the car, stocked up on groceries, checked int