Jeff Blincow's Blog

	Pre 2010 Blog		Up-to-date Blog 2010-today	Jeff Blincow's Blog - pre 2010 An enjoyment of the wildlife on our extraordinary planet. Posts Up-to-date Blog 2010-today Namibia - August 2009 Peru - August 2008 Christmas Island - July 2007 Borneo - July 2007 India - April 2007 Brazil - August 2006 Tunisia - April 2006 Spain - April 2006 Arizona - August 2005 Greece - August 2005 Burren - May 2005 Poland - April 2005 New Zealand - July 1998 Madagascar - August 1995 Bolivia - August 1994 Australia - September 1991 Galapagos - January 1991 Interesting records Convolvulous Hawk-moth Crosswort Cushion Star Dyer's Greenwood Early Bumblebee Hazel Dormouse Garden Cross Spider Araneus diadematus Grass Snake Hazel Dormouse Hornet Iris Sawfly Lady Orchid Painted Topshell Pill Woodlouse Pygmy Shrew Sea Hare Wild Carrot Slow-worm Spiny Starfish Whitebeam Bottle-nose Dolphin Broad-bodied Chaser Eurasian Bullfinch Burchell's Zebra Chicken of the Woods Common Frog Common Raven Crimson-breasted Gonolek False Grayling Honey Fungus Hawk Owl Jelly Babies Mosaic Puffball Narrow-billed Tody Nail Fungus Orange-tailed Clearwing Purple Club Reed Leopard Honey Fungus Trumpet Gentian Whooper Swan Blackening Waxcap Black-footed Limpet Common Darter Common Lobster Common Crossbill Cryptocephalus bipunctatus Dusky Puffball Fan-bearing Woodborer Figwort Sawfly Many-headed Slime Mould Metatropis rufescens Oak Cherry Gall Orangutan Plumose Anemone Purple Sandpiper Common Toad Delicate Lactarius deliciosus Lesser Stag Beetle Lion's Mane Jellyfish Mallard Merveille du Jour Yellow Rattle Stink Beetle Radula complanata Spix's Macaw The Moon

	Namibia - August 2009 A rather pleasant trip with Nigel and Sissel. Took in all of the standard sites, with an extension to the Caprivi Strip at the end. Etosha is as good an african wildlife experience as anywhere else. The Skeleton Coast was interesting and it's a must to take in Welwitschia.
	Lion		Steinbok
	Black Korhaan		Rüppell's Bustard

	Peru - August 2008 Loads of lovely birds everywhere. We covered most of the classic areas apart from the Amazon. Nazca Lines and Machu Picchu were bonuses and Spatuletail was the best.
	Machu Picchu		Marvellous Spatuletail
	Waved Albatross		Inca Tern

	Christmas Island - July 2007 The Golden Bosunbirds are a golden-coloured subspecies of White-tailed Tropicbird that only occur on Christmas Island. This pair was indulging in a mirror display for several minutes. All of the pairs displaying at Flying Fish Cove were golden. The white White-tailed Tropicbird on the island were elsewhere.
	Golden Bosunbird		Red-footed Booby - white-tailed brown morph
	Christmas Island Blue Crab Discoplax celeste		Christmas Island Frigatebird

	Borneo - July 2007
	Rafflesia		Probosis Monkey
	Kinabatangan River		Tree Nymph
	Asian Pied Hornbill		Leopard Cat

	India - April 2007 A ten day trip looking for tigers. We visited Kanha and Bandhavgarh and were successful at both.
	Tiger		Chital
	Indian Roller		Nilgai

	Brazil - August 2006 Pantanal and the Amazon. In the Pantanal the Jaguars were after the caiman and we were after them.
	Giant Anteater		Hyacinth Macaw
	Harpy Eagle		Jaguar
	Sunbittern		Brazilian Tapir

	Tunisia - April 2006 A mammal trip covering most of the country. Rüppell's Fox, Addax and Oryx were the best mammals, Egyptian Nightjar was the avian highlight. A few dragonflies and butterflies finished off a rather fine trip quite nicely.
	Wiegmann's Burrowing Lizard		Anthia sexmaculatum
	Bir Soltaine		Julodis aequinoctialis
	Egyptian Nightjar		Scimitar-horned Oryx
	Selysiothemis nigra		West of Douz

	Spain - April 2006 A week in Extremadura. Lots of lovely birds everywhere but Mole Cricket got top billing.
	Chapman's Ringlet		Lesser Kestrel
	Long-spurred Orchid		Spanish Festoon

	Arizona - August 2005 This was a birding trip to all of the classic sites. All of the normal hummers showed up as did plenty of fungi.
	Broad-tailed Hummingbird		Convergent Lady Beetle
	Flame Skimmer		Frost's Bolete
	Mojave Rattlesnake		Painted Redstart
	Tarantula Hawk and Desert Tarantula		Regal Horned Lizard

	Greece - August 2005 Mostly I was in Northern Greece looking for Butterflies. Mount Phalakron and the Rhodopi Mountains were the main areas. Globe Skimmer and Predatory Bush-cricket were highlights. This was my 13th trip to Europe where I had looked for this Rock Partridge and finally success! It was almost a disappointment - what am I going to look for next?
	Grecian Foxglove		European Souslik
	Carpenter Bee		Balkan Marbled White
	Predatory Bush-cricket		Rhodopi Mountains
	Red-veined Darter		Rose Chafer
	Scarlet Darter		Silver-washed Fritillary

	Burren - May 2005 A bit early in the year for lots of flowers, but there was plenty to enjoy. A superb flying display watching the Fulmars at the Cliffs of Moher.
	Early Purple Orchid		Chough
	Mountain Hare		Common Guillemot

	Poland - April 2005 Spring happened while we were there. This was a mammal trip with a few nice birds thrown in. Lynx, beaver and bison were rather special in one trip. I intend to visit one autumn for fungi.
	Collared Flycatcher		Eastern Hedgehog
	Fomes pinicola		Grass Snake
	Map Butterfly		Three-toed Woodpecker

	New Zealand - July 1998 My second trip to NZ - one of the best places on the planet. The scenery, people and wildlife are unique. Tiritiri Matangi was a highlight and I would like to go back there. Seabirds were good on trips out of Kaikouri and Dunedin. Kea's rule!
	Takahe		Taiaroa Head
	Kea		Weta
	Buller's albatross		Wandering Albatross

Madagascar - August 1995 A month to explore this paradise of the unusual. Vangas, couas, ground-rollers and lemurs are widely distributed, so a full tour is necessary. We organised a visit to the Masoala Peninsula that had not been visited much before - this was made worthwhile by a sighting of Madagascar Serpent-eagle. Indrii made the ground shake.
Indrii		Oustalet's Chameleon
Ring-tailed Mongoose		Lowland Streaked Tenrec
Parson's Chameleon		Tomato Frog

Bolivia - August 1994 An excellent four week trip talking in the high altiplano and Lake Titicaca, the Yungas, the Amazon and the Beni savanna. Blue-throated Macaw was a nice end to the trip.
Altiplano		Altiplano Soda Lake
Blue-throated Macaw		Andes
Jaguarundi		Old Corioco Road

Australia - Sept 1991 I bought a Holden and did a tour of Australia. Seabirds were excellent as I got out on two fishing boats and five seabird trips. The interior was warm and dusty.
Inland Dotterel		Red-necked Pademelon
Koala		Large-tailed Nightjar
Agile Wallaby		Regent Bowerbird

Galapagos - January 1991 I've done two trips to Galapagos which is a little over-doing it, however, it is the best of the best. I managed to organise a sail-by of Champion to get the mockingbird - must have been one of the first trips to do this.
Isla Bartolomé		Blue-footed Booby
Galapagos Penguin		Galapagos Giant Tortoise
Marine Iguana		Land Iguana
Pacific Green Turtle		Swallow-tailed Gull