Jeff Blincow's Blog (Privacy Policy) Interesting records
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Spring in Finnmark - May 2022 A cold start, then a quick transition to a heat-wave. . |
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UK mammals - June 2021 Mammals from around and about. |
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Nebo, North Wales - May 2020 Highlights from Spring around Nebo. |
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Amazon - July 2019 A primates and Parrots tour of the flood-plain of the Amazon. |
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Nabang, Yunnan, China - Jan 2018 Birding on the Burmese border. Good forest birding and lots of wetland birds here too. The classic star bird Ibisbill was seen on the border river. Wire-tailed Swallow was found and a first for China was seen in the form of Stork-billed Kingfisher. |
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Baihualing, Yunnan, China - Jan 2018 This was a birding trip in Yunnan to Baihualing in the Gaoligongshan mountain range and, a few hours' drive to the south-west, Nabang and Yingjiang in the remaining lowland forests along the Burmese border. Sid, our guide, sorted the trip out efficiently so there were many happy hours birding. Birding is evolving here and a lot of time was spent in hides, but we did see lots of birds and had incredible views. Nights were cold. Daytime was quite cool in the mountains, but it was T-shirt weather on the Burmese border. Baihualing has a track that rises up the mountain through a range of different habitats enabling birders to enjoy a wide assortment of species. |
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The Best of 2017
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Stockgrove Country Park, Bedfordshire - Sept 2017 These were more than enough to brighten the day. |
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Epping Forest, Essex - Sept 2017 Hare's Ear and Blackening Russula contributed 60% of the the fungi on display. |
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Fungi in Northants - Sept 2017 There are just enough fungi about to make for a good foray. It is unusual as it is not particularly dry, but still the numbers are low. |
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NordKapp, Finnmark, Norway - Sept 2017 Perfect weather for a day out looking for wildlife on NordKapp. Everything was a bit thin on the ground, but a flock of 8 Sea-eagles was quite novel. |
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Trollholmsund, Porsanger, Finnmark, Norway - 2017 I have never seen 5 species of helvellas in a day before. |
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Sandvik, Porsanger, Finnmark, Norway - 2017 Entoloma heaven with 10 species in a day to go with a fine set of waxcaps. |
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Saproxylic Days - Northants - June 2017 Beetles are in good numbers this year, but a month earlier than normal. |
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Hairstreak Days - July 2017 It has been good for butterflies over the last few weeks in Northants. Here are some of the finest: a prial of hairstreaks. |
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South-central Chile - March 2017 I was picking off some of the rather lovely places I have missed on previous trips to Chile. I visited Nahuelbuta National Park to experience the Auricaria Forests and ventured up the Andes to the Argentine border near Laguna Maule. The Monkey Puzzle forests were right up there with the best places I've been to on Earth - you have to go - it must be on the list of places you 'have to see'. |
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Lomas in the Atacama Desert - February 2017 The Camanchaca fogs create the coastal fog/mist islands enabling a thriving plant community to survive in one of the driest regions on the planet. No clouds, no mist, no fog, just clear blue skies when I was in the Nacional Parques of Pan de Azucar and Llanos de Challe. At least it clouded over when I was at Paposa. |
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Cayambe-Coca just east of Quito, Ecuador - February 2017 An excellent package was put together by 'Neblina Forest' to enable me to visit 3 sites where Spectacled Bear occurs and they had also suggested Sani Lodge. I saw nine different bears, but the Mountain Tapir eluded me. I will have to wait for another trip. |
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Sani Lodge along the Rio Napo in Ecuador - February 2017 |
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Tapiche Reserve - February 2017 400km from Iquitos in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Well worth the effort and a fine set of birds and mammals. Two species of river dolphin and Bald Uakari were highlights but there is so much to offer and if you want real undisturbed jungle then this is truely miles from anywhere. |
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Los Amigos Biological Station - January 2017 |
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The Best of 2016
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Cruising Cuba in a Chevy The only way to bird Cuba is in a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. The Northants A team hired a car and driver and didn't look back. The Casa system of hotels is excellent making for an all-round classic trip. It had proved difficult to organise from home but was easy on the ground. If you want to do Cuba I have put together a PDF: Easy Birding in Cuba. You do have to do the birding yourself, but there are guides available at each site. |
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Churchill – Manitoba |
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Arctic Norway - September 2016 A magic trip to Finnmark looking at all forms of wildlife. A hire car made this sojourn a little more enjoyable that my last visit back in 1980 when I was hitch-hiking. Varanger was suprisingly quiet, next time I will visit earlier in the year. However, this was peak time for fungi. |
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Oygarden, Norway - July 2016 |
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Yardley Chase - May 2016 |
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Crete - April 2016 They say you should never go back... I was on Crete in 1985 and returned to make a better job of the plants. The whole island is now over-run by sheep and goats and few native plants survive on the agri-plateaus. There are a few bits left with a good set of wild flowers, but, the Lasithi Plateau, are you kidding - it might have had 2000 species of plant, but it certainly hasn't now. |
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Costa Rica - February 2016 I wonder why it has taken me so long to visit this gem of a wildlife country? This was a tour of the classic well-known sites close to San Jose. I've no doubt that I will return. We saw some of the all time classics: Replendent Quetzal, Agami Heron, Three-wattled Bellbird and Snowy Cotinga as well as a good set of mammals, so it was worth the wait. We were lied to twice about where to look for wildlife at the Monteverde front-desk - what is that all about? - if they expect to be viewed as a respectable reserve they need to get their house in order! Visitors should go to the excellent Curi Canchi Reserve nearby for an all-round better experience. The highlight of the trip was this gorgeous Velvet Worm at La Selva. |
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The Best of 2015
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Southern Chile - December 2015 The mainland King Penguin site on Tierra del Fuego goes from strength to strength. After a short detour for Magellanic Plover we then headed north for big cats. Several days of effort at Torres del Paine were eventually rewarded with views of 6 Pumas. On Chiloe Island we were greeted with lots of goodies in the Nothofagus Forests: you don't get more colourful that Ceroglossus buqueti and you don't get any bigger than Phenes raptor anywhere in the world. |
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Northern Chile - November 2015 We had several days enjoying the desert and altiplano east of Arica. Very little survives here unless it is well adapted to the cold and lack of water. It took no time to find a proper bit of desert with nothing but rocks. We only saw 31 species of bird in 5 days and Viscacha and Vicuna were the only common mammals. Diademed Sandpiper-plover was the avian highlight. |
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Arne, Dorset - October 2015 A lovely Autumn day on the south coast. The Arne Reserve had a few Spoonbills and a couple of Firecrests, but the highlights were two Water Voles and a Raft Spider. |
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Norway - September 2015 A good showing of Aurora Borealis and an unexpected owl were both a real bonus. I was bird ringing with Nigel Goodgame on Øygarden not far from Bergen. Although numbers of common migrants birds were down there were some more unusual species to be enjoyed. |
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Norway in the garden - September 2015 For a few days there were Ruff everywhere: garden lawns being most suitable. There was a small but constant passage of raptors heading south in the warm weather that also kept the moth numbers up. |
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Heather - August 2015 Not for the fist time I was heather bound. I visited several sites in the Surrey Heathlands hoping for the much saught after Hieroglyphic Ladybird. Finally success and there are always other things to see when you have a target. The Shieldbug and Hieroglyphic Ladybird are dependant on Heather Beetle whose presence is erratic. |
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The Chilterns - August 2015 Richard Van had me heading for the Chilterns again. Several sites later and we had seen a good range of stuff. |
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Yardley Chase - August 2015 Plenty of Great Crested Newt efts in a range of ages. The big efts are the size of adult Smooth Newts. Stacks of other good stuff around to enjoy. |
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Northampton 2 - July 2015 Beetle time again. This reed beetle is more than impressive when photographed with flash. The puncture marks reflect a full spectrum of colours. Three Yellow Mealworm Beetles in a week, a photogenic tortoise beetle and some unusual ladybird examples. |
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![]() 7-spot Ladybird |
![]() 10-spot Ladybird |
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Northampton 1 - July 2015 The back garden. I was rearranging the logs in my back garden when a solitary wasp Ectemnius lituratus flew by carrying prey and disappeared into a hole in a log. I waited and it reappeared looking rather untidy. I was treated to days of fun as several of them used some old birch logs for their business; not the regular substrate for wasps. |
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Kingsthorpe - Northampton - July 2015 It's moth time. The weather has enlivened the moths. A few nice specimens and evidence of migration in Pete Sharpe's back garden. |
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![]() A flight of hawk-moths: Poplar, Elephant and Privet |
![]() Goat Moth |
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![]() Varied Coronet |
![]() Small Mottled Willow, a migrant |
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Yardley Hastings - June 2015 Time spent watching this logpile was profitable. When the sun came out there were jewel beetles everywhere. They were quick to settle in the bark cracks and lay eggs. |
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![]() Agrilus laticornis |
![]() Logpile with 100+ jewel beetles |
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![]() Agrilus cyanescens showing its' ovipositor |
![]() Agrilus cyanescens egg-laying |
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Redgrave Fen - May 2015 A day out in East Anglia to look for the big spider. It has been thirty-five years since I first looked for this; it didn't let me down. This one gave a good display, it didn't move for an hour. It was doing what it does well: waiting and waiting and... |
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I wasn't quite sure how to put my feet up - never done it before, I couldn't bring myself to miss an opportunity. Wicken Fen - May 2015 A few clicks down the road is one of the best sites in the UK. I moan about the weather, but this was a day with no wind - perfect. The reeds were still and there were beetles everywhere. |
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The Best of 2015
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Hankley Common - April 2015 |
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Iffley Meadows, Oxford - April 2015 A lovely setting by the river in Oxford. I meant to drop in and enjoy this spectacle at the end of a trip one day, but never got it organised. This deserved its' own trip out - most enjoyable! |
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Bedfordshire - April 2015 I ventured into Bedfordshire with Richard Van. We had a nice showing of cladonia lichens at Rammamere Heath and a Blue Shieldbug. Common Groundhopper and a small Eyelash Fungus were at Flitwick Moor and finished with a good display of Pasqueflower at Knocking Hoe. |
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Cyprus - March 2015 A plant and bird trip for two weeks to the Eastern Mediterranean. I had a great time and got to all of the sites. Conditions were ideal for the plants and there were plenty of migrants, so no complaints. The second spot on the best of 2015 roster was taken by Sandy Stilt Puffball at the Tomb of the Kings. That only leaves one place left for the rest of the year. |
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Isabelline Wheatear | Audouin's Gull | |||||
The Mumbles - February 2015 A day out to the Mumbles for the 15 year extreme low tide on 20th Feb with Richard Van. The highlights for me were the much sought after Rosy Featherstar while rock-pooling and a Scorpion Spider Crab camouflaged with sponges. The Featherstar already takes one of the three places for best of 2015. |
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The Best of 2014
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West Papua - September 2014 |
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Gran Canaria - August 2014 |
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Romania - July 2014 |
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Thursley Common - June 2014
It's not every day you find a Snakefly. An Eyed Ladybird with a few less spots than normal was a bonus. It was nice to find Scarce Seven-spot Ladybird at one of the classic site; it was in a tree next to an ant nest. |
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Suffolk - June 2014 A Flat Bug and a Spongefly on the same day was pretty good. |
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Salcey Forest - May 2014 |
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![]() Agonum muelleri |
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Colorado - April 2014 |
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Texas - April 2014 |
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![]() Scarlet Tanager |
![]() Hooded Warbler |
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Ladakh - India - February 2014 |
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![]() Black-throated Thrush |
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Black Mountains - Wales - February 2014 |
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The Best of 2013 | ||||||
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Northern Argentina - December 2013 This turned into a sprint across Argentina where we saw a good selection of what was on offer. A fabulous trip was spoilt by a dreadful car hire experience with Alamo. The car was not fit for the journey from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires; it broke down 4 times and we lost several days. The vehicle green card was out of date for which I was fined $200 by the Argentine police. |
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Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia - November 2013 |
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![]() Magellanic Snipe |
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Cairngorms - Scotland - October 2013 |
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Blorenge - Wales - October 2013 |
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![]() Vermillion Waxcap |
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Burnham Beeches |
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Norway - August 2013 |
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Cornwall - August 2013 |
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West Wales - July 2013 |
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![]() Dune Tiger Beetle |
![]() 2-spot Ladybird Larva |
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![]() 5-spot Ladybird Larva |
![]() 7-spot Ladybird Larva |
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Nepal - April 2013 |
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![]() Everest |
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Bhutan - April 2013 |
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The Best of 2012 | ||||||
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Western Sahara - December 2012 |
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Corby - November 2012 |
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![]() Inocybe geophylla var lilacina |
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Sichwan - China - November 2012 |
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![]() a silk moth Rhodinia jankowski |
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Tibet - November 2012 |
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Tenerife - August 2012 |
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Norway - August 2012 |
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The Best of 2011 | ||||||
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Sulawesi - August 2011 This was a birding trip to Sulawesi and Halmahera. Lots of lovely birds and mammals everywhere. Diabolical Nightjar and and Tarsier were the best that Sulawesi had to offer, Standardwing was all that Halmahera needed to shine brightly. We saw the best set of night birds we have seen anywhere. |
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![]() Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher |
![]() Green-backed Kingfisher |
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![]() Black Crested Macaque |
![]() Spectral Tarsier |
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Norway - July 2010 A family trip to Vik near Bergen with Nigel and Sissel. Swimming with comb jellies and Lion's Mane Jellyfish was most enjoyable and cold. |
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![]() White-tailed Eagle |
![]() a comb jelly Bolinopsis infundibulum |
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![]() Poor Cod |
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