News from the Field December 2024
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“Our Heatherlea group is just back from the hot sun of the Smiling Coast, full of smiling people and birding highlights. It was our first visit upriver now that there is a bridge to the North Bank.
We spent six nights in the coastal strip as well as four nights upriver, seeing over 220 species of birds and plenty of other wildlife. Colourful kingfishers, rollers, bee-eaters and sunbirds were magical, canoeing in the birds’ habitat was enjoyed (despite Croccy) and a Dwarf Bittern was a nice bonus. Colourfully dressed women, so many smiling children and the smoky fish market added to the cultural angle. Highlights included Egyptian Plover, Greyish Eagle Owl, Long-tailed Nightjar and Red-cheeked Cordon bleu.
We also had three boat trips along different waterways and walked in protected forests, wetlands, rice fields and peanut fields”. – Heatherlea Guide Ian Ford
“A fantastic fortnight of Afrotropical birding was enjoyed throughout Kenya’s beautiful East African Rift region. Our itinerary involved staying at eight locations, encompassing arid savannah and woodland, evergreen forest, rift valley lakes and high montane forest and grassland. With around 445 bird species seen, selecting highlights is difficult! Brightly coloured Turacos were a treat, with Ross’s, Hartlaub’s and Great Blue Turacos providing close encounters. There were many species of Sunbird, with Golden-winged and Malachite probably providing the biggest wow factor. Savannah specialists included both species of Ostrich, several Bustard species including Kori, nesting Secretarybird, Pygmy Falcon and many Hornbill and Bee-eater. Kakamega provided some top forest birds including Bar-tailed Trogon, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Black-faced Rufous Warbler and the huge African Crowned Eagle. We visited several Rift Valley lakes, seeing a large range of waders and wildfowl, with highlights including African Fish Eagle collecting fish within metres of the boat, mass feeding groups of pelican and point-blank views of herons and kingfishers during boat trips. For those seeking range-restricted species, we saw a number of Kenya’s endemic species, including Sharpe's Longclaw, Kikuyu White-eye and Aberdare Cisticola.
Of course, large mammals were a daily feature of the trip, with regular game-drives giving up-close experiences of Elephants, Black and White Rhino, Giraffe (of 3 subspecies), Spotted Hyena, Black-backed Jackal and many antelope and monkey species. Personal favourites were the Hippos grazing below our luxury lodges at Lake Naivasha and the bands of Dwarf Mongoose hunting the Savannah”. – Heatherlea Guide Chris Rodger
"After a fantastic two week tour of Costa Rica I am now back home in Lancashire and allowing myself to reminisce of my time out there.
The two weeks allowed us time to explore much of the country seeing both the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts as well as finding ourselves on the slopes of the Volcanoes at Arenal.
The birding was fantastic with over 335 species as well as some amazing mammal encounters with both Three-Toed & Two-Toed Sloths and a surprise Bairds Tapir on the last morning!
Some stand out bird highlights included bushes full of Tanagers, Hummingbirds in masses at various feeding stations, even at 2750m! When you think of Costa Rica it’s always the Resplendent Quetzal which is iconic and we were lucky enough to enjoy fantastic views of these magnificent birds on our first day in the field along with Keel-Billed Toucan which brought huge splashes of colour first thing of a morning". - Heatherlea Guide Aidan Branch
“We couldn't have asked for a better start to our safari in Botswana with point-blank views of Leopard, Lion, Elephant and Giraffe on our first afternoon, followed by plenty of the other big mammals (Hippo, Wild Dog, Impala, Kudu, Cheetah, Zebra) throughout the rest of the trip.
Birds came thick and fast too and on one morning we saw seven different eagle species before lunch! Secretarybird, Ostrich, Kori Bustard, Groundscraper Thrush, Rosy-throated Longclaw, Dickinson's Kestrel, Burchell's Sandgrouse, Double-banded Courser, Lesser Jacana and Crimson-breasted Shrike were just some of the highlights over the following 12 days on safari. Once we reached Victoria Falls over the border in Zimbabwe more avian delights awaited us, including Trumpeter Hornbill, Schalow's Turaco, Rock Pratincole and White-fronted Bee-eater plus of course the spectacle of the falls themselves! A truly mind-blowing holiday!!" – Heatherlea Guide Holly Page