PO Box 9021, Wilmington, DE 19809, USA
E-mail: font@focusonnature.com
Phone: Toll-free in USA, Canada, & Puerto Rico 1-800-721-9986
 or 302/529-1876; Fax: 302/529-1085

From some of our past BIRDING & NATURE TOURS 
May thru December 2007


Click below for full narratives & more regarding these tours:

Lesser Antilles (Saint Lucia & Saint Vincent) - December 2007

Japan - December 2007

Chile - November 2007

Iceland - September/October 2007

Sweden - September 2007

Brazil - August 2007

Arizona - July 2007

Guatemala - July 2007

Japan - May 2007

The Black-naped Oriole is a bird most apt to be seen on the Asian mainland,
but we saw a number of them nicely during our Japan Spring Tour
on Hegura Island in 2007.
 

Lesser Antilles (Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, & Dominica)
December 2007 / January 2008

Links:

List of Birds during our Lesser Antilles Tour - Dec '07 / Jan '08

Cumulative List of Birds during FONT Lesser Antilles Tours

Cumulative List of Birds during FONT Caribbean Tours (with photos)

Upcoming FONT Caribbean Birding & Nature Tours

The following account was written by Armas Hill, leader of the tour:

This was the FONT Annual Holiday Tour for Dec/Jan  2007/2008, to the Caribbean islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and Dominica. During the last days of 2007, we were in Saint Lucia & Saint Vincent. Our birding during the first days of 2008 was in Dominica.

Each of the three Lesser Antillean islands just mentioned has, in relation to birds, something in common. And that is that Parrots, in particular Amazons, endemic to those islands, continue to live there.

At the time of Columbus's voyages in the Caribbean, there were, on various islands, 11 species of Amazon parrots, and even on some islands, macaws, larger than parrots. No macaws exist any longer on any Caribbean island. They were on various islands in both the Lesser and the Greater Antilles. The last of the Caribbean macaws disappeared in Cuba in the mid-1800s.  Of the 11 species of Amazons that existed in Columbus's time, 2 are now extinct (one each on the two French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique), and 1 is severely endangered (on Puerto Rico). 
Overall, however, (aside from the Puerto Rican Amazon), the species that have been in the most peril have been those in the Lesser Antilles.

The rare Imperial Parrot, Amazona imperialis, of Dominica (known there as "the Sisserou") has a plumage that resembled the Amazon now extinct on the nearby island of Guadeloupe. It's the largest of all the Amazon parrots. In the Western Hemisphere, there are 31 species of Amazons in the Caribbean and in Central & South America. The Imperial Parrot was one of the last Amazons described to science, and one of the last birds to be described in the Nineteenth Century, in 1899.

Dominica's  Imperial Parrot is rare. Not ever common, it was declining until the 1990s. At the beginning of that decade, the total population was said to be 50 birds. Through the 1990s, there was an increase, until today, when it's said that are about 250 individuals.     

The other Amazon that's endemic to Dominica is the Red-necked Parrot, Amazona arausiaca. That attractive parrot is also called the "Bouquet's Amazon". In Dominica, it's known, by the local people, as either the "Jaco" or the "Perroquet". It was described to science as early as 1776. Today, the population of Red-necked Parrots is said to be between 500 and 1,000 birds.

During our Dec 07/Jan 08 tour in the Lesser Antilles we saw both the Imperial and the Red-necked Parrots when we were in Dominica (in January), and both the Saint Lucia and the Saint Vincent Parrots when we were on those islands (in December).

The Saint Lucia Parrot, Amazona versicolor, is known to the people on that island as the "Jacquot". It is the national bird of that island country. The children are taught about it in school, and nearly all of the people with whom we spoke on the island knew of the bird. The educational program in the schools was initially carried out by a friend of ours that we used to meet during our St. Lucia tours in the 1990s, when he lived in that country. He no longer does, but we have good memories of Paul Butler, who, for years, was affiliated with the conservation organization known as RARE.
Even though we weren't able to see Paul, during this our 15th FONT tour on Saint Lucia, we saw, once again, as we always have, the Saint Lucia Parrot flying about late in the day in the forested hills.
The total population of the Saint Lucia Parrot is now said to be between 350 and 500 birds. It can safely be said that conservation efforts, as those just alluded to, have saved this species from extinction.    

Maybe the Amazon that we enjoyed the most during our 07/08 Holiday Tour was the Saint Vincent Parrot, Amazona guildingii. Another name for it has been the "Guilding's Amazon".
Whatever it's called, it's a brilliantly colorful bird with some white, yellow, blue, and bright orange-yellow in its plumage. Its habitat is moist forest in the hills. 
During most of the 20th Century, the population of the bird declined. In the 1980's, it was as low as about 400 birds. Since then, with conservation efforts, the population has increased to now maybe about 800 individuals.    

The colorful Saint Vincent Amazon,
photographed during the FONT tour in December 2007.
Above: a captive bird in the botanical garden.
Below: in the wild, in the forest.
(photos by tour participant, Marie Z. Gardner)

While in Saint Vincent, we visited a places called Vermont and Montreal. No, Vermont wasn't a place with maple syrup and ski slopes. And no, Montreal was not a large city.
Vermont (or "Green Mountain") was where we saw the parrots, and some other birds too, in what was a moist forest when we were there. But, yes, we did enjoy seeing those parrots flying about in the wild, and even perched closely in a nearby tree, after the rain stopped and as the late-afternoon sun brilliantly shone on the birds.       

Montreal was not really too far from Vermont. It was actually on the "other side" of the hills from the parrot. I say "Montreal", but it was actually Montreal Gardens, a nice place with some nice birds including the Lesser Antillean Tanager (a species restricted to only the two Lesser Antillean islands of Saint Vincent & Grenada), and rare Whistling Warbler (endemic to Saint Vincent), and the Brown Trembler (an aberrant thrasher with yellow eyes and a long bill that appears to "tremble" as it continually shakes its wings).    

Some other places where we were on St. Vincent are worth a mention. Our overnights were in the largest town on the island (but not really large) - Kingstown. The neat old cobblestone building near the port was, years ago, a sugar warehouse. In the 1970s it was made into a nice hotel. We were there on New Year's Eve, and even though we were in town, it was about as quiet a place for New Year's Eve as there could be.

Nearby, earlier on New Year's Eve, we had an evening bite to eat at an outside courtyard of another hotel, the Heron Hotel. As we ate, a Green Heron walked by, next to us, in what was not much more than a little drainage ditch. Across the street, a Little Blue Heron flew into a tree. Evidently, that hotel, in the middle of Kingstown, was aptly named.

A day or so earlier, there was still an air of Christmas, as we went about. Again in Kingstown, outside an old church, in the churchyard, as we observed a few species of birds, the congregation, inside the church, beautifully sang a Christmas hymn. It was a nice touch during our annual "Holiday Tour". 
At the already-mentioned Montreal Gardens, and growing wild elsewhere as well, there were bright red Poinsettia plants, adding even more to the season, even though we were far away from winter, on a tropical island.   

On the other tropical island where we stayed, St. Lucia, there were some notable settings and sights. Of course, the two tall Pitons (or peaks) were overwhelmingly scenic. And the Saint Lucia Oriole (an endemic) was also a nice sight. 
For some, maybe the best setting of the tour, was atop a particular high cliff by a lighthouse. In hefty winds at that place, there were as many as 50 Red-billed Tropicbirds in fast flight, both above us and below us by the cliff. Noisy they were, calling as they flew. Being with those extraordinary birds, that are often far out at sea, was certainly one of tour's highlights. 

Above: A lighthouse atop a cliff in Saint Lucia.
Below: One of a few dozen Red-billed Tropicbirds below the cliff.
(photos by Marie Gardner during the Dec 2007 FONT tour) 

At another point during our tour, as we were in the van on St. Vincent, the subject somehow came up of the movies "The Pirates of the Caribbean". Apparently, there were 3 such movies, and they were filmed on St. Vincent and Dominica (two of the islands included in the itinerary of our tour). Anyway, our driver then told us that we were in the same van, and the same seats, used by the cast of the movie. One of us was where Johnny Depp sat. Another was in the sea where Keira Knightley was, and another in the one used by Orlando Bloom. 
Of course, a name for our tour was close to that of the movie. We came to see "The Parrots of the Caribbean", and that we did. 
And it was wonderful doing so, as it was seeing others of the avian cast - the hummingbirds, the thrashers & tremblers, the solitaire (with its beautiful song), the Warblers (Whistling, Plumbeous, & St. Lucia) the frigatebirds & boobies (that were flying about by the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie set that we visited ), and the bananaquits and bullfinches that would fly into our rooms when we'd leave the doors open.          

In all, we had a enjoyable tour, during which we saw some birds that are rare, and others with a restricted range that's just a small dot on the global map.   

   

       Throughout much of the New World,
and particularly in the Caribbean,
there are a number of subspecies of Bananaquits.
That number is 41.
The Bananaquit on the island of Saint Lucia (above)
is quite different than that (below) 
on the nearby island of St Vincent.

Japan
December 2007

Links:

List of Birds during our Japan Tour - December '07

List of Birds during FONT Japan Tours in 2007

Cumulative List of Birds during our Japan Tours

Upcoming FONT Japan Birding & Nature Tours

The following account was written by Armas Hill, leader of the tour:

It all began for me at the airport in Philadelphia in the US. I was there, early, awaiting my flight to Chicago to connect to a non-stop flight to Japan that could go west over Canada, Alaska, and the Pacific.
At the last moment, the word came that there was a mechanical problem with the plane and that flight was cancelled. Those who were to connect to go to the Orient were directed to taxis to JFK Airport in New York, but without enough time to get there. No one, scheduled for the cancelled flight, would get to Japan less than a day late. Except me.
Rather than join the ill-fated venture to New York, I convinced the airline personnel to allow me to take a flight a few hours later in the opposite direction to Europe - to Frankfurt, Germany - and then continue on another flight, across mostly Russia, to Japan. Doing so, I arrived to meet our tour members, in Kyushu, Japan, just under 2 hours later than originally scheduled. 
Those people, who became "our group" went to Kyushu from places such as California, Okinawa, and Thailand. 

There have been FONT tour participants in Japan, over the years, from a number of countries throughout the world including:  England, Scotland, the island of Jersey, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, South Africa, and Australia, in addition to Canada and the United States. Thailand, this time, was yet another country to be added to that list. 

This tour, conducted December 10-18, 2007, was the 29th FONT birding & nature tour in Japan. 18 of those tours have been in the late-fall and winter. 11 have been in the spring.

As I was flying east, for hours across Russia, I couldn't help but think of how vast that land is - huge, actually, Eurasia, continuing further east, over Siberia. In days gone by, it took a very long time for the early explorers and scientists to get from places in Europe such as Germany, England, France, and western Russia, to the frontier of eastern Eurasia and beyond. In the 1700s, for people such as Steller, Pallas, and Bering, it was a lengthy trip indeed. What I did in hours, took them months.

I looked out the window of the plane and down upon eastern Siberia and then the rugged, cliffy coast of the Pacific north of Korea and Manchuria. I was looking down on a part of the world that's still a wilderness, with Siberian Tigers, rare Scaly-sided Mergansers, and the mainland Asian populations of Blakiston Fish-Owls and Red-crowned Cranes. And many other birds, too, occur in that region that we (our group from places as far away as the US and Thailand) were to see in Japan.

Such birds, in that category, avian travelers from Siberia to Japan, were to include: Steller's Sea Eagles (named after the George Steller just referred to), White-tailed Eagles, Whooper Swans, various ducks, Rough-legged Hawks, White-naped Cranes, and Hooded Cranes, among the larger birds, and others, smaller, such as the Daurian Redstart, Yellow-throated Bunting, Northern Lapwing, and Rook, that only winter in Japan.

The mainland Asian populations of the Blakiston's Fish Owl and the Red-crowned Crane, noted a moment ago, never mix with those now isolated on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. During our Dec '07 Japan tour, we saw both of those species. 
The Red-crowned Crane is always great to see - tall and stately. There are now about 1,000 of them that are residents in Hokkaido - the only place where the species normally occurs in Japan. Even just 30 years ago, there were considerably less. That species was determined by votes, at the end of our tour, to be our favorite bird (the list of "top birds" is below).
The massive Blakiston's Fish Owl in Hokkaido (also only there in Japan) is not only very big; it's very rare. We saw it - again. I say "again" as we've seen that spectacular species during ALL of our 18 late-fall and winter tours in Japan. The rivers in Hokkaido where the owl occurs were not yet frozen when we were there, this time, in December. So, we were fortunate to have the good look at the big owl that we did, one day at dusk.        

A number of the birds already mentioned are among the "top birds" of this tour, as voted by the participants at the end of it. Here's the list of those "top birds":

#1 - RED-CROWNED CRANE
  2 - Steller's Sea Eagle
  3 - White-naped Crane
  4 - Mandarin Duck
  5 - Blakiston's Fish-Owl
  6 - Smew 
  7 - Black-faced (& Eurasian) Spoonbills
  8 - Green Pheasant
  9 - Harlequin Duck
10 - Mountain Hawk-Eagle
11 - Laysan Albatross
12 - Hooded Crane
13 - wagtails (3 species)
14 - Black Kite
15 - Common Kingfisher
16 - Great Spotted Woodpecker
17 - Daurian Redstart
18 - Meadow Bunting
19 - Rook
20 - Eurasian Wigeon
21 - Pygmy Woodpecker

All of the birds receiving Number #1 votes (except one) were cranes, with the Red-crowned Crane receiving 3 and the White-naped and Hooded Cranes receiving one each. The single exception was the Steller's Sea Eagle that sat so cooperatively, not far from us, atop a pole. Many times, such eagles don't allow close approach, but the one just referred to was so reluctant to leave its favored perch, as we stood nearby photographing the bird, talking among ourselves, and even moving about. We had to conclude that where that bird came from in Siberia there simply were not many people.    

Another raptor that was seen perched in a big tree in Hokkaido was unexpected. It was the Mountain Hawk-Eagle. The subspecies that's resident in Japan, Spizaetus nipalensis orientalis, is larger than others that occur in mainland Asia, in southern China and west into the Himalayas. The bird that we spotted as we were traveling through hills in southern Hokkaido was big. It was unexpected because we've never seen it previously in Hokkaido. It has relatively recently been found to nest there. We have seen the species during previous FONT Japan tours in the mountains and hills of Honshu and Kyushu. Southern Hokkaido is the easternmost edge of the bird's extensive range.      

Another raptor that was good for us to see on Hokkaido was the Roughleg. Now, that name is a compromise. In Eurasia, it's been called the Rough-legged Buzzard. In North America, it's been known as the Rough-legged Hawk. With whatever name, we saw a couple of them along the coast, hovering in the air. One was doing so right above us. It was a nice sight with the backdrop of a blue sky. Roughlegs in Hokkaido come from either the Kamchatka Peninsula or further north in Siberia, from the tundra.          

Among other birds that come to Japan from Siberia to spend the winter, Whooper Swans are particularly notable (and hard to miss). On Hokkaido, we saw them at a number of lakes and inlets. But they are always fun to see, and to hear. They can be noisy. Hence their name. In that regard, someone during our tour asked "Why is one a Whooping Crane, and another the "Whooper Swan?" That's a good question.

Some of the other species of waterfowl during our tour were wonderful birds. Among them, the Smews that we saw were very nice. The male, with its distinctive white and black plumage, is truly striking. The red-headed female is dapper. All in our group were glad to see the Smews as well as we did. One person was particularly so, as she said that she's seen the word for years in crossword puzzles. Now, at last, she saw the bird.
Smews come to Japan in the winter from Siberia. They don't nest in Japan.
But Harlequin Ducks do. They occur commonly along the Hokkaido coast. No matter how common, they're always a treat to see. The male is downright gaudy.
The Falcated Duck is another attractive duck that we saw in Hokkaido. Long-tailed Ducks, there, along the coastline are also dazzlers. 
Scoters, that breed further north in Siberia, were in numbers for us along the Hokkaido coast. We saw two kinds. The "Black Scoter" in Japan is actually the American Scoter, now split from the Black Scoter that occurs further west in Eurasia. The "Steininger's" White-winged Scoter that we saw is a subspecies of the White-winged Scoter of North America, rather than the Velvet Scoter of more-westerly Eurasia.               

But maybe no species of waterfowl more exemplifies the Orient than the Mandarin Duck. It's similar to the Wood Duck of North America, but with a different coloration. A few years ago, we found during a FONT tour in southern Kyushu (the southernmost main Japanese island), a river that in the winter (only) is filled with them. Shy, these wild Mandarins are. They fly away quickly, calling as they go. These birds, that winter in southern Kyushu, breed either further north in Japan, or across the sea in mainland Asia, in places such as Korea and Manchuria. Again for us, in December '07, we saw hundreds of them. It was quite an experience.

Every winter, thousands of cranes come to southwestern Kyushu from mainland Asia. Mostly, they are of 2 species: the Hooded Crane and the White-naped Crane. Not to slight the Hooded, but a comment must be made that the White-naped Crane is really a most attractive bird.      
Both of these cranes are, during the summer, spread out in the land that was below me when I was in the plane, on my way to Japan from Germany, over eastern Asia. They nest in Russia and Manchuria (and elsewhere in northern China). Like me, they fly to Japan. These cranes come to Kyushu, in southern Japan, by the thousands, arriving mostly in November and departing in February. In mainland Asia, as noted, they range across a rather large area, but in Japan, when they visit for the winter, they're restricted to just a few square kilometers. 
We learned, during our December '07 tour, that a couple weeks earlier, the first count for the season of the cranes in that part of Kyushu was: 10,973 Hooded Cranes, 1,059 White-naped Cranes, 2 Sandhill Cranes, 3 Common Cranes, and 3 hybrids (between Hooded & Common Cranes).
It's quite a sight to see those cranes at Kyushu. The Hooded Cranes there are nearly the entire global population of the species. As to the White-naped Crane, a recent total population estimate was about 5,000 birds. Lately, about half have been wintering where we were in Kyushu.
We also saw, during our Dec '07 tour, one of the 2 Sandhill Cranes in the area. The Sandhill Crane is mostly North American, but actually it's also a breeder in northeastern Siberia. Most of those birds, after nesting, migrate east to Alaska and then south into North Carolina. But not all. As noted, 2 arrived in Japan in '07 to winter. The species has been an annual there in recent years.    

Another bird that we saw on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu that came from mainland Asia for the winter was the rare Black-faced Spoonbill. The global population of that bird of eastern Asia only totals about 700 birds. It does not breed in Japan. The species nests mostly in Korea, with a few doing so in coastal China. We saw, in December '07, seven of these birds along with almost as many Eurasian Spoonbills on a mudflat by the mouth of the river where, upstream, we saw the hundreds of Mandarin Ducks. The Eurasian Spoonbill is a winter visitor (a non-breeder) in Japan, occurring in small numbers.           

In an area of Tokyo, near the head of the Tokyo Bay, we stopped by one afternoon to see the shorebirds. They were there. Most were Dunlin. Also, in addition to 3 species of plovers, there were a couple Eurasian Curlews and a small grouping of Black-winged Stilts. Also stopping by that afternoon to visit the shorebirds was a Peregrine Falcon that rapidly stooped in causing the shorebirds to quickly take into the air, flying fast in one direction and then the other in tight formation. Watching a flock fly like that is always amazing.             

A part of our December 2007 Japan tour was offshore, onboard a large ferry from central Honshu (the main Japanese island) north to Hokkaido. The ferry-ride was overnight, and then all-day. It's good that the ferry is large as, at times, the ocean was a bit rough. But during nearly all of the daytime portion of the trip, there were birds in view. By far, the most were Black-legged Kittiwakes. We saw thousands of them. It was easy to become very respectful of that bird as we watched them continually about fly in the strong winds. Of the two Kittiwakes in the world, the Black-legged is by far the most common. The other, the Red-legged Kittiwake, is rather rare, and generally a bird of the more-northerly Bering Sea. "The book" says that the Red-legged Kittiwake can occur in the offshore waters of Japan. Maybe so, but we never saw one (that we know of) among maybe 25,000 Black-legged Kittiwakes we saw that day at sea.
What we did see in nice numbers were Laysan Albatosses - at least 75 or so. It was fun to watch them in their arcing flight. Other seabirds we saw from the ferry, that December day (Dec 13, 2007) were: some Pomarine Skuas, both Streaked and Short-tailed Shearwaters, and both Fork-tailed and Sooty Storm-Petrels. With the storm-petrels, a Pterodroma quickly appeared - a Bonin Petrel. Then it quickly disappeared.
Gulls (other than the kittiwakes) were in lesser numbers than during our January trips, and alcids were considerably less, although some Japanese Murrelets were seen - "umisuzumes", in Japanese meaning "sea sparrows".

In an area of the ocean where there were many birds above the surface of the water, and apparently many fish below, there were Northern Fur Seals at the surface of the water busily catching the fish.

Mammals that were seen on land, during the tour, included: Sika Deer, Japanese Marten, Japanese Hare, and Eurasian Wild Boar in Kyushu, and Sika Deer and Red Fox in Hokkaido.

Not just were there birds and animals to be seen, enjoyed, and appreciated during our December 2007 tour in Japan. There was also the beautiful Japanese countryside, the culture, and cuisine, in addition to the Japanese accommodations with the "onsens" (Japanese baths), and the hospitality of our hosts at the various places where we were. And, of course, there was our group of travelers from far-flung places such as Thailand and California. Combined, all of these elements made our tour, simply put, a wonderful experience.

At the end of it all, I boarded a plane in Japan to continue the journey completely around-the-world by air, that was done in conjunction with this tour, flying to Dallas, Texas, and then back to Philadelphia and home.    

Some of our Dec 2007 Japan Tour participants
one evening before dinner

In notes following our DECEMBER 2007 birding & nature tour in JAPAN:

"Thanks for a great trip. I hope to see you on one of your tours soon."

Dorothy Kakimoto
Alameda, California

"Thank you for a wonderful trip."

Alice Kakimoto
Garden Grove, California  

"Dear Armas,

You are so much fun to travel with --- .
You are a good driver (on the left-side of the road in Japan), and a great bird-spotter.
Thank you for a safe, amazing trip in Kyushu & Hokkaido on roads less traveled.
I loved every moment.
What a great trip. Thank you."

Mitsu Wasano
San Jose, California

"Thank you so much for the tour - for the adventure, and the birds".

Somporn Pmasuk & Opapunn Sriyakorn,
Bangkok, Thailand

"In my list (at the end of the tour) of "top-birds", I chose those I did because I can now identify them by myself. Thanks for everything!"

Somporn Pmasuk
Bangkok, Thailand      
                                             

Central Chile
November 2007

Links:

List of Birds during our Chile Tour - November '07

List of Birds during FONT Chile Tours

Upcoming FONT Chile Birding & Nature Tours

The following narrative of the tour was written by Armas Hill, the tour leader:

As it nearly always is, the pelagic trip offshore from Valparaiso that was part of our November 2007 FONT birding & nature tour in Chile, was a highlight. 
We were, as usual, out at sea for about 4 hours in the morning.  During that entire time, there were seabirds in view, including shearwaters, petrels, giant-petrels, storm-petrels, pelicans, gulls, terns, boobies, and phalaropes.
The last of these, the Red Phalaropes, were not attracted to the "chum" that brought most of the other birds in close to the boat, but yet there were many phalaropes near us during the trip. We estimated well over a thousand of them.  
  
During that boat-trip, on November 23, 2007, the best of the seabirds were 2 Northern Royal Albatrosses. Both seen sitting on the water very close to us. Those large albatrosses, so big, even seemed to dwarf the other 3 species of Albatrosses that, during the trip, were either on the water or flying by us in the air: the Black-browed, the Buller's, and the Salvin's. 

The wingspan of the Northern Royal Albatross is as much as 138 inches (that's 11.5 feet, or nearly 6 feet per wing!) Wow, what a bird to see as we did! 
The plumages of the 2 individuals were a bit different; one was an adult, and the other nearly so. 
The wingspan of the Salvin's Albatross is 98 inches. That of the Black-browed is 88 inches; the Buller's is 83 inches. So, these wingspans (of the albatrosses also known as "Mollymawks") are in the realm of 7 to 8 feet in length - that is each wing being from about 3.5 to 4 feet long.

Those albatross-wings enabled the birds to fly a long way. 3 of our 4 albatross species flew from New Zealand breeding sites to the offshore Chilean waters where we saw them. Our offshore trip was a couple hours out, and a couple hours back to land. 
It's 9.647 kilometers (one-way) from New Zealand to Chile. For those of us who flew by jet from North America to Chile, as a comparison, it's 6,959 kilometers (one-way) from New York.
The 3 species of albatrosses that crossed the Pacific (the Northern Royal, the Salvin's, and the Buller's) traveled further to see us than we did to see them (referring to our flights in planes from places such as Texas and Pennsylvania). And, yes, those albatrosses certainly did see us too, as our "chum" was tossed from the boat, attracting the oceanic birds by scent from miles around.

The Northern Royal Albatross, Diomedea sanfordi, is a rare bird, with a total population of only about 7,000 pairs. As just noted, the birds we saw came from New Zealand breeding sites. 
Actually, New Zealand is the ONLY place where the Northern Royal Albatross breeds, and in New Zealand, 99 per cent of the total breed ONLY on the Chatham Islands. 

In 1985, a severe storm hit the breeding sites on the Chathams, reducing soil cover and destroying all of the vegetation. Since then, nests there have been built with stones, or eggs have been laid on bare rock. Unfortunately, as a result, mean annual productivity has plummeted to 18 per cent of what it had been, due to egg breakage, high temperatures, and flooding in temporary pools. The species has been recently, and continues to be, monitored carefully.
We can only hope that things improve so that the wonderful sightings we've had of the royal albatrosses off Chile continue in the years ahead. 

Another scourge has been affecting albatrosses, overall, of various species. Every year, during the last couple decades, thousands of albatrosses have fallen victims to long-line fishing hooks, subsequently drowning. It's been written that as many as 100,000 albatrosses have succumbed to this annually. 

Naturally, without many predators, albatrosses live a long time - up to 60 years. But the impact of their decline during the last 20 years has notably dramatic. 

Of all the birds of the world now been categorized as threatened (and unfortunately now there are many), the group in recent years with the biggest increase of endangered and threatened species have been the seabirds.

FONT has been conducting pelagic trips off the Chilean coast of South America since 1990. And, in general terms, our data has shown that the number of albatrosses seen in those waters, since then, has decreased. There's some variation due to factors such as "El Nino" & "La Nina" waters, but, as said, in general, numbers in the last few years  have been lower than they were a decade ago.

There's a link following this narrative to the Birdlife International website, relating to the recent decline in albatrosses & other seabirds due to long-line fishing. It's worth taking a look.         

Another comment worth making regarding birds we saw offshore (and along the Chilean shore) is they come there from such a variety of places. 
The cool waters of the Humboldt Current are a draw not just for the albatrosses that come across the wide Pacific from New Zealand, but for some other long-distance travelers as well. 
The Red Phalaropes, that have been mentioned, come from the far-northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere where they nested. 
The Sooty Shearwaters and Wilson's Storm Petrels came from further south in the Pacific. 
The Franklin's Gulls, that were numerous out over the salt water of the Pacific came from fresh-water marshes and ponds in the interior of Canada and the US. That species undergoes quite a transition in terms of seasonal habitat. 
The Surfbirds, along the rocky seacoast, that we enjoyed so much watching on the rocks, came from Alaska, where they nest high in the mountains far away from the sea. Surfbirds, by the way, were not found to nest there until well into the 20th century, in 1926.                               

During the portion our November '07 Chile Tour on land, here was another wonderful encounter with a bird that's "big". One of the biggest of American birds that soar in the sky, it was the Andean Condor, with as a wingspan of up to 122 inches. That's over 10 feet. 
The Andean Mountains, that were such a majestic backdrop as watched the condors, were also big. 
But still, how impressive it was to see a dozen condors, fly by as if in a procession between us and the mountain, one after the other, all gliding from right to left. The grouping was a mix of adult and immature birds. 

Another large bird, actually with "Giant" in its name,  has already been alluded to in this narrative. It's the Southern Giant Petrel, with a wingspan of 81 inches (almost as long as that of the Buller's Albatross - and almost as long as that of another of our "biggies", the Peruvian Pelican which has wingspan of 90 inches). 

And in the mountains, we saw another bird named "Giant". With a length of up to 9 inches, it was the Giant Hummingbird, the largest of the approximately 320 species in that family (which is, by the way, the second largest of bird families in the Americas, and which contains, at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Giant Hummingbird, a bird, in Cuba, that's the smallest in the world).

During our November 2007 tour in central Chile, we saw over 125 species of birds. 
Mentioned here already have been just a few of those we saw. 
Other highlights during our tour included: 
Torrent Duck in a raging Andean river, 
Humboldt Penguin, Gray Gull, and Inca Tern along the Chilean seacoast, 
Cocoi Heron (a species common other places in South America, but not so in Chile), 
and these: 
Cinereous Harrier, Gray-breasted Seedsnipe, White-sided Hillstar, Crag Chilia, Moustached Turca, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, and the Spectacled Tyrant.       

We enjoyed very much our sighting of a male Torrent Duck, in the Andes southeast of Santiago. The species ranges throughout much of that long range of mountains. The subspecies in central Chile is the southernmost of 6. 
Where we saw that subspecies in central Chile, is the northernmost part of its range. There's a gap between that southernmost subspecies (the nominate), and the other subspecies further north.
Torrent Ducks are confined to fast-flowing rivers and streams - in waters so swift that one might think no duck, or any bird, could function there. But they are truly marvelous swimmers and divers. Not only are they capable of swimming against the fastest currents, but they can also remain surprisingly stationary in such waters. In the midst of the raging torrents, they dive and swim close to the bottom, to reappear on the steep side of the next rock or boulder, and then they stand there as if oblivious to the rushing waters swirling around them. Observing such behavior by the male we saw, we can only watch and wonder how the bird does it!     

Turning away from the fast-flowing river below us, to a cliff-face on the other side of a dirt road, there was, above us, the Crag Chilia. That bird's nifty name is quite appropriate as it's one that's endemic to Chile. Superficially similar to a Canyon Wren (but without the wonderful song), the bird is an inhabitant of crevices and crags on cliffs. We observed one repeatedly taking food into a crevice for its young.

The Moustached Turca was another Chilean endemic bird that we enjoyed watching. Sometimes it would be in a bush, but usually it was on the ground, where it would rapidly run and then abruptly stop, with its short tail always cocked. 
The bird is in the tribe of tapaculos, a group well represented in Chile. Among the tapaculos, the turca is generally the easiest to see. 

Moustached Turca

Other birds on the ground, for us, at various elevations in the Andes, included: California Quail, Gray-breasted Seedsnipe, South American Snipe, and Baird's Sandpiper.

The California Quail was introduced in Chile over a hundred years ago, in 1870. Today, it's said that there are more California Quail in Chile than there are in its native range. We saw many.       

Gray-breasted Seedsnipe are nice birds to see. There are 4 species of seedsnipes (a unique family), all of them in the Andes. 
One of the Gray-breasted Seedsnipe sightings, during our November '07 tour, was especially nice. A short distance away, on the ground, in front of a rock, there was a fluffy little bird. In binoculars, it was seen to be a very young seedsnipe. It stood still there for a while, before running into a cavity beneath the rock.   

The South American Snipe that we saw, on the ground, also stood very still, by the edge of a little pond. We saw it outside the windows of our vehicle. As we moved closer to the bird, it stayed there, remaining as still as could be. 
We backed the vehicle up a bit, and then drove away, before hearing a Dusky Tapaculo call in the rocks in the background, as a pair of Speckled Teal was at the far end of the pond. 
On the opposite side of the road, where we stepped out of the vehicle, to enjoy a look at a Crested Duck, there were, along a mountain stream, some Baird's Sandpipers. They had come from North America, as we did, but for them it was to spend another summer, in the Southern Hemisphere. The Baird's Sandpiper is a common bird of the summer of the Southern Hemisphere in the High Andes.    

Yet a couple more birds that we saw in the Andes should be mentioned. 
The hummingbird, called the White-sided Hillstar, was good to see. Of course, hummingbirds, anywhere, are good birds to see. But it's fascinating how some species of hummingbirds live high in the Andes. The Hillstars that we saw were at flowering plants by a "refugio", a place to stay and eat, high in the mountains. Years ago (in the early 1990's) we stayed there during our tours. It was good to visit the picturesque place again. And, it was particularly good, as we saw the hummingbirds there on the grounds. 

The Rufous-tailed Plantcutter is in a rather off-beat family of 3 species, related to cotingas. 
Widespread in Chile, the plantcutter occurs from the sea up into mountains. During previous tours, we've seen the bird in bushes by dunes along the seacoast. For us, in Nov '07, however, it was as high as we've ever found it, up in the Andes, at an elevation of over 8,000 feet above sea level.

Some birds that we saw in central Chile in November '07 were "new" for us in that region of the country. 
Among them, was the Cocoi Heron, at a marsh near Santiago. 
During our previous Chile tours, we've seen the bird only in the southern part of the country, north of the "Lake District". In Nov '07, we saw a total of 4 at a place where we've birded many times in the past. But the next day, when we visited the place again, the species was not to be seen. 
The Cocoi Heron is rather like the Great Blue Heron, but with a white neck. It's larger than the Great Blue Heron. In fact, it's the largest of the herons in the Americas. 

Cocoi Heron

Another "new bird" for us in central Chile was the Cinereous Harrier. We were fortunate to see a fine, adult male, flying in front of us, above rolling fields. 

And yet another bird "new" for us for central Chile, during this, our 17th tour there, was the Spectacled Tyrant, a flycatcher. We nicely saw both males and females, at two locations. The male, all-black, with a bright yellow eye-ring and bill, perches high up on reeds.

Within reeds, there was one of our favorite birds of the tour. It was another flycatcher, a smaller one. 
In English, its name is the Many-colored Rush Tyrant. In Spanish, it's called "Siete Colores", meaningr "Seven Colors". Even smaller than a House Wren, it's just as restless and agile. It flits endlessly, always in a reedbed, from rush to rush. The bird half jumps and half flies from reed to reed, and then balances itself on an individual stem with consumate ease. The tiny, vivacious sprite that's forever on the move, also continuously changes position in order to better show off its multi-hued plumage that's a veritable symphony of black, bronze, green, yellow, crimson, red, and white. (And, yes, that's seven colors.)     
The Many-colored Rush Tyrant was one of the nicest birds we saw.

A couple birds we did not see during our November '07 tour in central Chile, that we have in the past, were the Diademed Plover and the South American Painted Snipe.
The Diademed Plover, a bird of the high Andes, has not been found in recent years, at the single location near Santiago, that's been good for it in the past. When we were at that place in Nov '07, it seemed as if too many people were there, either in recreational vehicles, or camping at the particular place that was known for the species since the 1950's.
The marsh, where the Painted Snipe has been for us previously, was, this year, too dry.

So, we won't dwell on what wasn't there, but rather we'll remember the birds that we did see, including the wonderful ones that have been mentioned here. 

As noted, over 125 species of birds were seen during our tour in central Chile in 2007.  It was, as also mentioned, our 17th FONT tour in Chile. The first FONT birding & nature tour anywhere was in Chile back in November of 1990.

Here's a last mention, now, regarding some of the birds of the tour: 

As we were about to leave Santiago, and driving along the wide city boulevard, with grass and trees in the middle of the busy street, there were Southern Lapwings (even smack in the heart of the city, in front of the main government building), and there were Austral Thrushes, one after the other.

The Austral Thrush was very similar in its behavior to the American Robin, commonly in the city and towns. 
Also we have in North America, there were in central Chile: Mockingbirds, Blackbirds, and Meadowlarks. 
The Chilean Mockingbird is endemic to that country. 
The Blackbird, like the Thrush, has the adjective "Austral". 
The Long-tailed Meadowlark, quite unlike its North American counterpart, has a bright red breast.

The House Sparrow was the same as ours (and the same as that of Europe). 
In Chile, there are siskins rather than goldfinches. We saw both the Black-chinned Siskin and the Yellow-rumped Siskin. 
The only New World Sparrow is the Rufous-collared Sparrow (it occurs north into Central America).  
But in Chile, there's a wealth of finches: 
we saw Yellow-finches (2 species), Sierra-Finches (a few different species), and one finch with a rather odd name that's common, and so it's called the Common Diuca Finch. 

It was spring when we were in Chile, and thus the birds were singing. 
That Common Diuca Finch had one of the nicest of the songs we heard, providing yet another reason, among many, for us to enjoy our tour in Chile as we did.                          

The following link to the Birdlife International website:

www,savethealbatross.com

Iceland
September/October 2007

Links:

Cumulative List of Birds during FONT Tours in Iceland

Cumulative List of European Birds during FONT Tours

Upcoming FONT Birding & Nature Tours in Europe

The Rock Ptarmigan is always a treat to see in Iceland.
Some years there are more. Some years there are less. The population fluctuates.
On the basis of what we saw October 2007, it's been a good year for them.  

Sweden
September 2007

Links:

Birds & Other Wildlife during our Sweden Tour in September '07

Cumulative List of Birds in Sweden during FONT Tours

Cumulative List of European Birds during FONT Tours

Mammals & Other Wildlife during previous FONT tours in Sweden

Photos of Swedish Nature & Scenery during the FONT Sep '07 Tour

Upcoming FONT Birding & Nature Tours in Europe

A representation of the town of Skanor, adjacent to Falsterbo,
where we stay during our tour in southern Sweden,
depicting people, birds, our hotel (on the right), and the Swedish flag.  

The following narrative was written by Armas Hill, leader of the tour:


"Our Tour, with a Wonderful Bird Migration, in the Land of Linnaeus" 

Our annual early fall tour in Sweden, conducted September, 22-28, 2007, was at a prime time for a fascinating phenomenon - the southbound migration of birds.
We went to two prime places to see it: 
Falsterbo and Skanor, at the southernmost tip of Sweden, and a long, narrow island called Oland, in the Baltic off the southeastern coast of Sweden.
The bird migration that we witnessed during this tour was again extraordinary, as it has been for us in previous years.

At Falsterbo, somewhere between 1 and 3 million birds, on their southward migration, are tallied each year from August through October. The migrants are of a good variety, including an assortment of landbirds, shorebirds (or waders), waterbirds of various sorts, and raptors. Given the right weather conditions, Falsterbo can be particularly good for all of these groups, and especially good for raptors. 

During our days at Falsterbo, that last week of September, there were always birds about. Early in the morning, overhead a continuous stream of Chaffinches with some Bramblings flew by, while, at times, some other similar birds included: Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Siskin, Redpoll, and Serin (these last two species uncommon in southern Sweden). Some of the birds in the sky above were easily visible, such as tight flocks of Wood Pigeons, with some Stock Pigeons among them. Other birds flying by overhead were detected by their flight-calls such as Woodlarks, Skylarks, and Pipits. 

Migrating birds go in masses, particularly in the morning, to the tip of the peninsula at Falsterbo. At that tip, there's a golf course. But, because such a place is not private property in Sweden, birders can walk there, in order to be with the masses of birds, as long as they stay on the paths and don't go in the way of the golfers. Along the edge of the golf course, by the sand dunes and the pools and sea beyond, there are bushes that are, during mornings when the migration is good, filled with Blue Tits. Flocks come and go, into and out of those bushes, and that they did for us during our tour. On the pools and sea beyond, there was an assortment of ducks and geese of various species.
By the golf course, there's an old lighthouse dating from the 1700's, and by it, a grove of mostly pines, but also some deciduous trees. In those trees, during the late September migration, there are (and were, for us) numbers of European Robins, Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, and other small landbirds.
In the sky above the golf course, the bushes, dunes, lighthouse, and trees, as the autumn days proceed, there are raptors in the sky, We saw many during our days at Falsterbo. Most common were Eurasian Sparrowhawks, but also there were numerous Red Kites and Common Buzzards. The plumage of the Buzzard, Buteo buteo, is quite variable. Some of those hawks are light. Others are dark. We saw both, and many with shading in between. Mid-day, during our last day at Falsterbo, just as we were about to leave, a White-tailed Eagle was overhead with the other raptors.   

Skanor is the sister-town of Falsterbo. It's a nice little village, where we spent our nights in southernmost Sweden. Birding can be good in and by Skanor, and it was for us. One morning, by the church and cemetery, the bushes and trees were filled with small birds. One could have thrown a stone from there to the nearby marshland filled with reeds. In this perfect "edge" habitat, small birds abounded when we were there. There were many Chiffchaffs, some Black Redstarts, and a nice number of European Robins, in addition to various tits and finches. So many birds at one place, as they were perched in the sunlight, was wonderful.

Also good, nearby in Skanor, by the water's edge, we had a wonderful time along a concrete wall and stone jetty, adjacent to a small harbor where boats were docked. As we walked about, that morning, along the wall and the jetty, there were many wheatears, wagtails, and pipits. The Northern Wheatears would continue on their way to Africa. There were two species of Wagtails: White and Grey. Most were the White Wagtail, a bird that's always wonderful to watch. The Pipits were mostly Meadow, but there were also some Eurasian Rock. All of these birds, in total, dozens of them, were feeding insects by the water, along the shoreline and within the rocks. By the jetty, a large flock of Barn Swallows was also feeding on insects in the air above the water. All of these feeding birds were filling up to continue their migration, some, such as the wheatears, to Africa, and others almost as far to the Mediterranean. All of the birds with us there that morning would soon leave Sweden, except for maybe the very little and shy Winter Wren that would periodically appear from between the rocks.                     

Always, at places such as Falsterbo and Skanor, where birds migrate, in addition to those that are common, there can be some not so. And there's always the chance for a bird that's not at all expected. 
As we were standing one morning, at the end of the golf course at the tip of the peninsula in Falsterbo, a bird in that unexpected category appeared in the sky above us. It was a Black Woodpecker, a large member of the same genus as the American Pileated Woodpecker. Somewhat confused for a while, when the bird saw so much water ahead of it on all sides, it flew about above us for a bit, out in the open where there were no trees, before it flew away. Black Woodpeckers are usually to be found in among the trees, in the forest.                   

We'll now shift away from Falsterbo, to the other place that we enjoy so much during our Sweden tours, Oland Island: 

The southbound migration of birds on that island with the odd name, in the Baltic Sea off the southeast coast of Sweden is also, during late September, very good indeed. 
But there are some notable differences between the migrations on Falsterbo and Oland. On the latter, cranes and geese, for example, are much more in evidence. And traveling south along the coasts of the long island, there can be a continual processions of waterbirds. For example, during one of our days on Oland, thousands of Common Eiders were flying, flock after flock, in their way south. One morning, those people who were counting birds there told us that 35,000 Common Eiders were tallied before 10am.
As noted, Oland is long, over a hundred miles, from north to south. And it is narrow, east to west. On it, there's only one very small city. And there are but a few towns, all small. Some are with one store, some are without. However, there are, throughout the island, many barns and farmhouses, virtually all of them well-maintained and all picturesque. These scenes throughout the island make it like seem one big post card. Fitting well in such scenes of countryside settings, was the attractive bed-and-breakfast where we stayed. Our time on Oland, as we traveled about from one end of the island to the other, along the coasts and in between, was for us rather like a couple days out of the "real world" as most of us otherwise know it. 

The quant little hotel where the FONT tour group stayed
on Oland Island in September 2007
(photo by James Scheib) 

Bird migration can be good at many places on Oland Island, but it's best at the southern tip, where, as they are at Falsterbo, the birds are more concentrated and obvious. By the lighthouse, in the bushes and small trees by the few buildings, and on the grassy meadow, as well as along the gravelly coastline and in the marsh, there are many birds to be seen. As the birds migrate, day to day, and sometimes hour to hour, the cast of avian travelers changes. Those bushes and low trees, at the south end of the island, can literally overflow with a big number of little birds. Among those little ones, is one of Europe's smallest birds, the Goldcrest. There can be many, as we saw, long with with many Robins, Warblers, and some Flycatchers. With dozens of these birds in the bushes, a flock of Song Thrushes was feeding on the small lawn beneath them. A predator for such birds, the Merlin, flew by in the sky above them.
 
The large birds that stage a few miles to the north, notably the cranes and the geese, mentioned earlier, are among the birds that were most enjoyable for us to see. 
A favorite were the flocks of cranes. We saw hundreds of them, that had just recently left their nesting grounds further north in Scandinavia. They gather together on Oland before flying south to where they'll winter in Spain.

An adult Common Crane (left) with a young bird of the year (right)
photographed on Oland Island during the FONT Sept '07 Sweden Tour
(photo by James Scheib)

Geese of a few species also stage in late September/early October on Oland Island. We saw flocks of Greylag, Barnacle, and Brant. Among one large flock of geese, we saw on Egyptian Goose, an African species that's been feral for years in Holland.
On and by farm fields on Oland, there can be (and were, for us) flocks of migrating finches, such as Chaffinches, Bramblings, Linnets, and Yellowhammers. On one particular field, in addition to the geese, gulls, lapwings, corvids, and finches that were feeding on the ground, there was a large flock of Starlings. Among those Common Starlings, there was one Rosy Starling, a bird normally in eastern Europe and nearby Asia.

Woodpeckers that we encountered on Oland were both the Great and Lesser Spotted, and a nice prize, the Eurasian Green.

Waders (or "shorebirds") that we encountered on Oland were, in addition to the Northern Lapwing, already mentioned, these other Plovers: Common Ringed, Grey, European Golden - as well as these: Pied Avocet (a nice one for us to see that late in the season), Ruff, Dunlin, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Eurasian Curlew, and Bar-tailed Godwit.               
               
At both Falsterbo, and at the southern tip of Oland, at a place called Ottenby, there have been, for years, "bird stations", where the passerines are netted and ringed. In Europe, what's called "bird banding' in North America, is called "ringing". This activity has been conducted at both stations since the 1940's, and at both places, since then, about a million birds have been ringed. During one of the days of our tour, "bird number One Million" was ringed at the Ottenby bird station. It was a European Robin.     
For us, the dapper, to say the least, European Robin was one of the birds we liked the best. We saw that bird so well, so many times. Not as many times "as a million", but, for us, many times. Even so, we never tired of seeing it.

A European Robin
photographed during the FONT 2007 Tour in Sweden
(photo by James Scheib)

The European Robin was just one of 113 species of birds during our September 2007 Sweden Tour. Of those, 76 species were recorded at Falsterbo and Skanor, and 87 species were found on Oland Island.   

Given in the following two lists, in order of abundance, are rankings of the top 25 bird species that have been tallied in passage (or on migration) at firstly Falsterbo, and then Ottenby on Oland Island, in the late-Summer & the Fall. 
Both lists reflect the counts since records began being kept, at both places, over 50 years ago, in the 1940's. 
The NUMBERS given are YEARLY AVERAGES. 
The 2 species of Chaffinch and Brambling are combined as the birds travel in mixed flocks of both. Generally, the proportion of Chaffinch to Brambling can be as high as 9 to 1.

At FALSTERBO:
 1)  Chaffinch/Brambling:  1,000,000
 2)  Woodpigeon:  180,000
 3)  Starling:  180,000
 4)  Common Eider:  75,000
 5)  Linnet:  46,000
 6)  Yellow Wagtail:  36,000  (migrates before our annual tours conducted in late Sept or early Oct)
 7)  Barn Swallow:  32,000  (mostly before our tours)
 8)  Greenfinch:  27,000
 9)  Western Jackdaw:  26,000
10) Siskin: 23,000
11) Tree Pipit: 22,000  (mostly before our tours)
12) Fieldfare: 13,000
13) Common Buzzard:  11,000
14) Redwing:  10,000
15) Meadow Pipit:  9,900
16) Rook:  9,200
17) Hooded Crow:  9,200 
18) Blue Tit:  8,800
19) Stock Pigeon:  7,800  
20) European House Martin:  7,300  (migrates before our tours)
21) Black-headed Gull:  6,700
22) European Honey Buzzard:  6,500  (mostly before our tours)
23) Eurasian Sparrowhawk:  6,100
24) Sand Martin:  5,200  (before our tours)
25) Yellowhammer:  5,100
total:  a yearly average of 1,800,000 birds, with some other species, less common, not listed here 

At OTTENBY, at the southern end of OLAND ISLAND:
 1)  Swift:  110,000  (migrates before our annual tours conducted in late Sept or early Oct)
 2)  Common Starling:  60,000
 3)  White Wagtail:  23,000
 4)  Chaffinch/Brambling: 18,000
 5)  Dunlin:  17,000
 6)  Linnet:  16,000
 7)  Eurasian Wigeon: 11,000
 8)  Common Eider:  10,000  (counts for this species have greatly increased in recent years due to a different, improved counting technique along the coastline of the island)
 9)  European House Martin:  9,800  (migrates before our tours)
10) Eurasian Oystercatcher:  6,600  (migrates before our tours)
11) Common Black-headed Gull:  6,400
12) Sand Martin:  6,300  (migrates before our tours)
13) Barn Swallow:  5,600  (mostly before our tours)
14) Common Shelduck:  4,000 (mostly before our tours) 
15) Yellowhammer:  3,600 
16) Eurasian Siskin:  3,400
17) Common /Arctic Terns:  3,300  (migrate before our tours)  
18) Greenfinch:  3,200
19) Eurasian Skylark:  3,000 (mostly before our tours) 
20) Northern Pintail:  3,000
21) Tree Pipit:  3,000 (mostly before our tours) 
22) Stock Pigeon:   2,700
23) Black Scoter:  2,300
24) Eurasian Curlew:  2,200  (mostly before our tours)
25) Northern Lapwing:  2,200
total: a yearly average of about 400,000 birds, with some species, less common, not listed here.

Watching raptors migrate through Falsterbo has been, over the years, a highlight during our FONT Sweden tours. That migration, during many September and October days, is very apparent.
In all, 21 species of raptors have been recorded migrating south at Falsterbo during the 30 years from 1973 to 2003. They are listed below, in order of abundance, with the average number of individuals per year, and maximums & minimums:

 1)  Eurasian Sparrowhawk:  16,183  max: 30,072 in 2000; min: 3,712 in 1973
 2)  Common Buzzard:  13,860  max: 18,502 in 1999; min: 7,430 in 1986
 3)  European Honey Buzzard:  7,486  max: 11,076 in 1974; min: 2,127 in 2001
 4)  Rough-legged Buzzzard (or Hawk):  932  max: 1,619 in 1978; min: 154 in 2003
 5)  Western Marsh Harrier:  550  max: 1,078 in 2000; min: 113 in 1978
 6)  Red Kite:  508  max: 1,445 in 2003; min: 33 in 1973
 7)  Common Kestrel:  475  max: 953 in 2003; min: 192 in 1995
 8)  Northern (or Hen) Harrier:  268  max: 379 in 2003; min: 107 in 1998
 9)  Osprey:  241  max: 413 in 2000; min: 110 in 1980
10) Merlin:  204  max: 417 in 2003; min: 98 in 1979
11) Eurasian Hobby:  48  max: 71 in 1986 & 2001; min: 16 in 1996
12) Northern Goshawk:  33  max: 106 in 1991; min: 0 in 2000
13) Peregrine Falcon:  22  max: 76 in 2003; min: 2 in 1977 & 1978
14) White-tailed Eagle:  10  max: 47 in 2003; min: 0 several years
15) Black Kite:  7  max: 19 in 2003; min: 0 several years
16) Montagu's Harrier:  7  max: 19 in 1990; min: 0 several years
17) Lesser Spotted Eagle:  3  max: 14 in 1988 & 1989; min: 0 several years
18) Pallid Harrier:  2  max: 11 in 2001; min: 0 several years
19) Golden Eagle:  2  max: 8 in 1981; min: 0 several years         
20) Red-footed Falcon:  2  max: 6 in 1995 & 2001; min: 0 several years
21) Greater Spotted Eagle:  1  max: 5 in 1998; min: 0 several years  

The Eurasian Sparrowhawk is overall 
the most common migrating raptor at Falsterbo. 

As certainly indicated in this narrative, a substantial number of records have been kept relating to the bird migration in Sweden during the last 60 years. Rather interesting have been the trends, especially during the most recent decades, that may relate to the global warming that's been taking place in Sweden as it has in other parts of the world.
Some species, during their southbound migration, have recently been peaking later in the season than they have in the past. Such species are given below, noting how many days later their median date has been at Falsterbo in the 2000's (thus far) compared to the 1970's:        

Greylag Goose:  33  (from Sep 21 to Oct 24)
Red Kite:  9  (from Sep 28 to Oct 7)
Whooper Swan:  8  (from Oct 30 to Nov 7)
Hen Harrier:  8  (from Oct 4 to Oct 12)
European Goldfinch:  8  (from Oct 21 to Oct 29)
Common Crane:  6  (from Sep 18 to Sep 24)
Stock Pigeon:  6  (from Oct 4 to Oct 10)
Western Jackdaw:  4  (from Oct 17 to Oct 21)
Common Buzzard:  3  (from Oct 5 to Oct 8)
Yellowhammer:  3  (from Oct 28 to Oct 31)
      

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When we travel between Falsterbo and Oland, it's about a 5-hour drive through the Swedish countryside. We usually stop for lunch, about midway, near the little town of Almhult. We did again this year, having a meal such as Swedish meat balls with vegetables. The food was good and all was well. It was a sunny, bright, and warm fall day. Just outdoors, in the small trees, as we ate, some Great Tits were flitting about. It's always nice, during a stop, when there's a bird or two with us, and dapper ones at that. 

But what was really interesting was that later, that evening, in the small quaint hotel where we stayed, I read in a book that Carl Linnaeus was born back in 1701 on a farm by Almhult, very near where earlier in the day we had eaten our Swedish lunch.
Later, during our trip that day, in the afternoon, we stopped for gas in the small city of Vaxjo. I also read that evening, in that same book, that Linnaeus had gone to primary school in Vaxjo, the same city where, along the way, we got gas and a snack. 
In that part of Sweden, away from the towns and small cities, it's very much a land of forests, lakes, farms, and fields. 
Why would a man back in the 1700's in such a remote part of the world - and away from the major cities of the time - be of interest to us, nowadays, on a birding tour in 2007?
And who was this Carl Linneaus, anyway?

He's notable because every time that we look in a bird book we see something for which he has been responsible, during more than the last two centuries, and for which he'll continue to be, probably forever.        

In 1735, Carl Linneaus, the Swedish doctor and botanist, published the first edition of his "Systema naturae", which contained the basis of the modern taxonomy that's used today, for both flora and fauna. 
During former centuries, living things had been classified by their function and behavior, rather than according to their form and structure. As an example, some birds were roughly categorized as simply "waterbirds".

Firstly, as noted, Linnaeus was a botantist. In 1753, he published his "Species Plantarum", and the next year, "Genera Plantarum". The two volumes established the principle of international recognition of scientific plant names. Since his work, classification has extensively been improved, and still yet undergoes modification. But it was from Linnaeus's work that an enormous catalog  grew that enabled naturalists for the first time to proceed with the confidence that he or she was working with a plant whose identity had already been determined.      
Linnaeus had worked out a binomial system of nomenclature in which two words, mostly the internationally understood Latin, or sometimes Greek, were used to name all plants. First as to the genus and then the species, the two designated words would define a unique and natural unit. 
No longer, as in the past, would a single Latin word designate a particular plant, nor would there be any more cumbersome conglomerations of Latin words. For example, the Cherry tree, that Linnaeus simplified to "Physalis angulata" had been: "physalis amno ramisissime ramis angulosis glabris follis dentoserratis", meaning "bladder-footed annual, many-branches with angled branches and smooth, deeply toothed leaves".     
  
By 1758, Linnaeus published his 10th edition of "System naturae", in which he established the same system, as he had for plants, of taxonomic classification for zoologists in relation to birds and mammals. In it, there was, for those creatures, the first international "name bank" for scientists to use, with the same binomial structure, of mostly Latin and sometimes Greek, giving first genus and then the species. Over the years, some names have changed, and there has been some modification, but the system put in place by Linnaeus has remained the same.          

Overall, Linnaeus's taxonomic system caught on quickly in much of Europe. However, there were some scientists who adapted it with the ulterior motive of renaming well-known birds and animals and then getting credit for their description. And British naturalists, on the whole, ignored it as they preferred to stay with the English bird names that were used by the English naturalist John Ray, in his "Ornithologieae libri tres" in 1676.
It was not until 1922 that there was a more standard worldwide agreement regarding ornithological scientific names and taxonomy, only after an International Commission on Nomenclature had been founded in 1901.          
     
In his "System naturae", Linnaeus listed 564 species of birds, in 85 genera (the plural of genus). Of course, not all of these were birds of Sweden, or even Europe. Linnaeus, in his 1758 work, done in Sweden, described such birds as the Ostrich of Africa, the Golden Pheasant and the Indian Peafowl of Asia, and a number of species from the Neotropics, including various macaws, parrots, toucans, and even the Harpy Eagle. He also described some North American birds based on collections and accounts by various people including Peter Kalm, a Swede who traveled in parts of eastern North America procuring information regarding nature and sending it back to Linnaeus in Sweden. Also, an especially pertinent source for Linnaeus regarding North American birds was the work, "A Natural History of Florida, Carolina, and the Bahama Islands", published in 1754, by the early American naturalist, Mark Catesby. North American species described by Linnaeus included the Whooping Crane and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. (This, of course, was years before there was a United States of America.)      

Back when it began, in 1735, "System naturae" was only a slim pamplet. That first edition was actually published in the Netherlands where Linnaeus lived at that time, about a year. It was but 11 pages. During years that followed, as "System naturae" grew into a mutivolume work, Linnaeus's idea's evolved, as more & more plant and animals specimens were sent to him from all over the globe. (Some bird specimens that he received from the recently-explored Americas as well as Asia & Africa, from which he described and named species, were to referred to in the last paragraph.)
During those decades, Linnaeus had great pride in his work. In fact, he was a bit vain as he liked to say in Latin: "Deus creavit, Linnaeus disposuit". In English, that means "God created, Linnaeus organized".                        

Many of the birds that we saw during our September '07 Sweden tour were described by Linnaeus, either back in 1758 in the 10th edition of "System naturae", or later as additions in subsequent editions in 1761 & 1766. 
Oddly, some other birds during our tour were not so described by Linnaeus - even though one might think they would have been (such as the Mute Swan and the Herring Gull, both of course common and obvious birds in Sweden).

These following birds, seen during our Sweden Sep '07 tour, were described by Linneaus in 1758. Given first is the current scientific name (usually, but not always, that given by Linnaeus), followed by the Swedish common name (used by those at the time of Linnaeus & since in "their part of the world"), and then lastly, the current English name. 
    
 1)  Perdix perdix,  Rapphona,  Grey Partridge
 2)  Pasianus colchicus,  Fasan,  Common Pheasant
 3)  Podiceps cristatus,  Skaggdopping,  Great Crested Grebe
 4)  Phalacrocorax carbo,  Storskarv,  Great Cormorant
 5)  Ardea cinerea,  Hager,  Grey Heron
 6)  Anser anser,  Gragas,  Greylag Goose
 7)  Branta bernicla,  Sadgas,  Brant Goose
 8)  Branta canadensis,  Kanadagas,  Canada Goose (even though it was a North American, and not a Swedish bird)
 9)  Tadorna tadorna,  Gravand,  Common Shelduck
10) Anas platyrhynchos,  Grasand,  Mallard
11) Anas strepera,  Snatterand,  Gadwall
12) Anas penelope,  Blasand,  Eurasian Wigeon
13) Anas acuta,  Stjartand,  Northern Pintail
14) Anas clypeata,  Skedand,  Northern Shoveler
15) Anas crecca,  Kricka,  Eurasian Teal
16) Aythya ferina,  Brunand,  Common Pochard
17) Aythya fuligula,  Vigg,  Tufted Duck
18) Somateria mollissima,  Ejder,  Common Eider
19) Bucephala clangula,  Knipa,  Common Goldeneye
20) Mergus serrator,  Smaskrake,  Red-breasted Merganser
21) Haliaeetus albicilla,  Havsorn,  White-tailed Eagle
22) Milvus milvus,  Glada,  Red Kite
23) Accipiter nisus,  Sparvhok,  Eurasian Sparrowhawk
24) Accipiter gentilis,  Duvhok,  Northern Goshawk
25) Buteo buteo,  Ormvrak,  Common Buzzard
26) Circus aeruginosus,  Brun karrhok,  Western Marsh Harrier
27) Falco columbarius,  Stenfalk,  Merlin
28) Falco tinnunculus,  Tornfalk,  Common Kestrel
29) Gallinula chloropus,  Rorhona,  Common Moorhen
30) Fulica atra,  Sothona,  Eurasian Coot
31) Grus grus,  Trana,  Common Crane
32) Recurvirostra avosetta,  Skarflacka, Pied Avocet
33) Vanellus vanellus, Tofsvipa, Northern Lapwing
34) Pluvialis squatarola, Kustpipare, Grey Plover
35) Pluvialis apricaria, Ljungpipare, European Golden Plover
36) Charadrius hiaticula, Storre strandpipare, Common Ringed Plover
37) Actitis hypoleucos, Drillsnappa, Common Sandpiper
38) Calidris alpina, Karrsnappa, Dunlin
39) Tringa totanus, Rodpena,  Common Redshank
40) Philomachus pugnax, Brushane, Ruff
41) Numenius arquata, Storspov, Eurasian Curlew
42) Limosa lapponica, Myrspov, Bar-tailed Godwit
43) Larus fuscus, Silltrut, Lesser Black-backed Gull
44) Larus marinus, Havstrut, Great Black-backed Gull
45) Larus canus,  Fiskmas, Common (or Mew) Gull
46) Cepphus grylle,  Tobisgrissla,   Black Guillemot
47) Columba oenas,  Skogsduva, Stock Dove
48) Columba palumbus, Ringduva,  Common Wood Pigeon 
49) Apus apus,  Tornsvala,  Common Swift
50) Picus viridis,  Grongoling,  European Green Woodpecker
51) Dendrocopos major,  Storre hackspett,  Great Spotted Woodpecker
52) Dendrocopos minor,  Mindre hackspett,  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
53) Dryocopus martius,  Spillkraka,  Black Woodpecker
54) Garrulus glandarius,  Notskrika,  Eurasian Jay
55) Nucifraga cryocatactes,  Notkraka,  Spotted Nutcracker
56) Pica pica,  Skata,  Eurasian Magpie
57) Corvus corax,  Korp,  Common Raven
58) Corvus frugilegus,  Raka,  Rook
59) Corvus cornix,  Kraka,  Hooded Crow
60) Corvus monedula,  Kaja,  Western Jackdaw
61) Parus major,  Talgoxae,  Great Tit
62) Cyanistes caerulus,  Blames,  Blue Tit
63) Periparus ater,  Svartmes,  Coal Tit
64) Poecile palustrus,  Entita,  Marsh Tit 
65) Hirundo rustica,  Ladusvala,  Barn Swallow
66) Aegithalos caudatus,  Stjartmes,  Long-tailed Bushtit (has been called Long-tailed Tit)
67) Lullula arborea,  Tradlarka,  Woodlark
68) Alauda arvensis,  Sanglarka,  Eurasian Skylark
69) Regulus regulus,  Kungsfagel,  Goldcrest
70) Troglodytes troglodytes,  Gardsmyg,  Northern (or Winter) Wren
71) Turdus merula,  Koltrast,  Common Blackbird 
72) Turdus pilaris,  Bjorktrast,  Fieldfare
73) Sturnus vulgaris,  Stare,  Common Starling
74) Sturnus roseus,  Rosenstare,  Rosy Starling
75) Erithacus rubecula,  Rodhake,  European Robin
76) Saxicola rubetra,  Buskakvatta,  Whinchat
77) Oenanthe oenanthe,  Stenskvatta,  Northern Wheatear 
78) Anthus trivialis,  Tradpiplarka,  Tree Pipit
79) Anthus pratensis,  Angspiplarka,  Meadow Pipit
80) Motacilla cinerea,  Sadesrla,  White Wagtail
81) Passer domesticus,  Grasparv,  House Sparrow
82) Passer montanus,  Pilfink,  Eurasian Tree Sparrow
83) Fringilla montifringilla,  Bofink,  Common Chaffinch
84) Fringilla montifringilla,  Bergfink,  Brambling
85) Carduelis carduelis,  Steglits,  European Goldfinch
86) Carduelis spinus,  Gronsiska,  Eurasian Siskin
87) Carduelis flammea,  Grasiska,  Common Redpoll
88) Carduelis chloris,  Gronfink,  European Greenfinch
89) Carduelis cannabina,  Hampling,  Eurasian Linnet
90) Plectrophenax nivalis,  Snosparv,  Snow Bunting
91) Emberiza calandra,  Kornsparv,  Corn Bunting
92) Emberiza citrinella,  Gulsparv,  Yellowhammer
93) Emberiza schoenicius,  Savsparv,  Common Reed Bunting

These additional birds, seen during our September '07 tour, were also described by Linnaeus, but later:
in 1761:
94) Aythya marila,  Bergand,  Greater Scaup
in 1766: 
95) Alopochen aegyptiaca,  Nilgas, Egyptian Goose, (we saw a vagrant during our tour, among a mixed flock of wild geese, Grey Lag and Barnacle) 
96) Circus cyaneus,  Blakarrhok,  Northern Harrier
97) Larus ridibundus, Skrattmos,  Common Black-headed Gull
98) Serinus serinus,  Gulhampling,  European Serin   

And so, that's 98 of the 114 species of birds seen during the FONT September '07 Sweden that were described to science in the 1700's in Sweden by Carl Linnaeus.

Those birds, during our tour, that were not described by Linnaeus included:
Little Grebe  (described by the Russian scientist, Peter Simon Pallas in 1764)
Mute Swan  (somehow not described until 1789, by Johann Friedrich Gmelin; at that time, that German scientist had taken over the work of Linnaeus, with the 12th edition of "Systema naturae")       
Barnacle Goose  (somehow not described until 1803)
Black Kite  (described in 1783; the one bird, by the way, that we saw in Sept '07 was the first for a FONT tour in Sweden) 
Spotted Redshank  (described by Pallas in 1764)
Common Greenshank  (described Gunnerus in 1767) 
Herring Gull  (described by Pontoppidan in 1763 - seems as if Linnaeus "by-passed" some of the gulls) (A note regarding Mr. Pontoppidan follows, at the end of this narrative. He is also credited, by the way, with describing the Rough-legged Hawk.)  
Sandwich Tern  (described John Latham, of England, in 1787)
Common (or Feral) Pigeon  (Linnaeus apparently did not heed the Feral Pigeon; the wilder form from cliffs further south in Europe was described in 1789 by Gmelin)
Eurasian Collared Dove  (described in 1838, but in those days this bird occurred in Asia; it only arrived into Europe, spreading and becoming common there in mid 20th Century; of the birds we saw during our Sweden tour, the latest to be described to science)
Song Thrush  (described in 1831, another "late" one in that regard)
Black Redstart  (this bird was first described in 1774 from an Asian specimen) 
Common Chiffchaff  (described in 1817; one of a few similar-looking Phylloscopus warblers)  
European Rock Pipit  (described in 1798; quite similar to the Water Pipit that's common in Europe)  
Grey Wagtail  (described in 1771 by a man in England named Marmaduke Tunstall, who also described, in his same publication that year, the Peregrine Falcon)

Not many birding tours anywhere (or maybe any), would have as high a percentage of birds found that had been described by founder of modern ornithological taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus.

14 of the bird species list above, as described by Linnaeus, have scientific names in which the genus and the species, that is the first and second names, are the same. That also would likely be a high number for birds in that category. These birds were:

Perdix perdix, Grey Partridge
Anser anser, Greylag Goose  
Tadorna tadorna, Common Shelduck
Milvus milvus, Red Kite
Buteo buteo, Common Buzzard
Grus grus, Common Crane
Vanellus vanellus, Northern Lapwing
Apus apus, Common Swift
Pica pica, Eurasian Magpie
Oenanthe oenanthe, Northern Wheatear
Regulus regulus, Goldcrest
Troglodytes troglodytes, Winter Wren
Carduelis carduelis, European Goldfinch
Serinus serinus, European Serin          

11 of these birds even have 3 names that are the same as the subspecies seen in Sweden was the first to be described. The other 3 species in the list above are monotypic, that is they have no subspecies.
The birds with 3 identical scientific names include: 

Perdix perdix perdix, Grey Partridge: 7 other subspecies, later described, in Eurasia 
Anser anser anser, Greylag Goose: one other subspecies in Asia, described in 1871
Milvus milvus milvus, Red Kite: one other subspecies only on the Cape Verde Islands off Africa 
Buteo buteo buteo, Common Buzzard: 10 other subspecies, later described, across Eurasia
Grus grus grus, Common Crane: one other subspecies in eastern Asia, described in 1894
Apus apus apus, Common Swift: one other subspecies, breeding in Asia, described in 1870 
Pica pica pica, Eurasian Magpie: 10 other subspecies, later described, in Europe, Asia, & Africa
Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe, Northern Wheatear: 3 other subspecies, later described, in Eurasia & Africa 
Regulus regulus regulus, Goldcrest: 12 other subspecies, later described, one as recently as in 1954 
Troglodytes troglodytes troglodytes, Winter Wren: as many as 40 more subspecies later described in Eurasia, Africa, and North America  
Carduelis carduelis carduelis, European Goldfinch: 13 other subspecies. later described, in Eurasia, including one as recently as in 1953 in Siberia (as to the bird's common name, it should be called the "Eurasian Goldfinch")  

In birds, such as these 13 species, the first described subspecies is called the nominate. Of the 87 other species, from the list of 98 above, described by Linnaeus, 68 are also nominate subspecies, that is with other subspecies that followed them. The other dozen or so species of the 98 are monotypic, that is, again, without subspecies.    

Among the 68 nominate subspecies, there's one that was particularly interesting. During our Sept '07 tour, as we were at the north end of Oland Island, at a very peaceful and quiet spot along the coast, a small black-and-white bird was first on a rock, and then on the surface of the water. Then, it disappeared. The bird was a Black Guillemot. 
There are 5 populations, or subspecies, of Black Guillemots, throughout the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, in places as far-flung as Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Great Britain, and Maine in the US. But the single bird that we saw at the north end of Oland Island was of the nominate race limited only to the Baltic, and the only subspecies that was described by Linnaeus, back in 1758.          

Linnaeus has been (he was, and still is) with an impact on all of us regarding names, as he was (and still is) "the father of modern taxonomy".
The role that he's had with nomenclature over the centuries is intriguing, and maybe ironic, because even with himself there's a story as to Linnaeus's names. He had many. Variants included: "Carl Linnaeus", "Carolus Linnaeus", "Carl von Linne", and sometimes just "Carl Linne". There's often some confusion about his real Swedish name, as opposed to the Latinized form "Carolus Linnaeus" that he most often used when he published his scientific works in Latin.

To begin with, during the time when Linnaeus lived, most Swedes had no surnames.
His grandfather was named Ingemar Bengtsson (son of Bengt), according to Scandinavian tradition.
His father was known as Nils Ingemarsson (son of Ingemar).
Only for purpose of a registration, for example, to enter a university, did one need a surname. When Linnaeus's father entered the academic world, he gave himself the Latin surname, Linnaeus, referring to a large linden (a type of lime) tree on his property. When he gave the name Carl to his son, the boy's name became Carl Linnaeus because his father had a surname.
When the young student, Carl Linnaeus, enrolled in school, he registered as "Carolus Linnaeus", having both of his names in Latin rather than Swedish.
In later life, after he was nomination to be a nobleman by the Swedish king was confirmed in 1761, he took the name Carl von Linne. "Linne" was a shortened form of Linnaeus. "von" signifies ennoblement. This name is less suitable in relation to the works that he published prior to 1761. In fact, on the title page of the his second edition of "Species plantarum", published in 1762, the name of the author is given as "Carolus Linnaeus", but in its genitive form "Caroli Linnaei". After that, however, it was always printed as either "Carolus a Linne" or "Carl von Linne". 
After having a stroke in 1774, Linnaeus died in January 1778.

During his life, in addition to his works in relation to taxonomy and the classification of flora and fauna, Linnaeus practiced medicine, specializing in the treatment of syphilis. And, regarding something else, he's continued to have, until this day, yet another impact on the lives of many people. In about 1743, Linnaeus designed the thermometer scale that's now in use by reversing what had been invented by Anders Celsius. 100 degrees on that scale had been the melting point of ice, and 0 degrees had been water's boiling point. 
Years before, when Linnaeus was a university student at Uppsala in Sweden, he met the astronomer, Celsius, who in fact helped him, during some rough times, by offering him room and board. Celius was quite impressed with the young student's knowledge and botanical collections.      

In the middle of the summer of 1749, Linnaeus visited Falsterbo and Skanor - walking about, I'm sure, at places where we did, but at a different season, not when the bird migration would have been so much in evidence. He wrote about his visit there in his book, "Skanska Resa":
" The country is flat and low-lying.... The ground is generally known as the heath and is thin and overburdened with windborne sand."
Of Skanor, Linnaeus wrote: "It is situated a couple musket shots from the north sea.. The road to the village from the mainland can scarcely be seen and instead you drive along the beach when the tide is out."
(Of course, travel in those days was by horse & cart.)
Linnaeus continued about Skanor: "If seeking a quiet retreat, one can hardly find anywhere in Sweden quieter than this, for here no people of the classes reside."
Of Falsterbo, he wrote: "It is even a smaller village... Shifting sands have swept across all the lanes. The lantern (in an iron basket hanging from a high pole) shines from the southernmost point so that seafarers do not become wrecked on the reef that runs for a whole mile (10 kilometers)." (That's what "a mile" was in those days.)
Regarding the area, Linnaeus wrote about everyday life, the countryside and the flora and fauna. He noted that he found amber, bog-myrtle, and fennel in abundance, and what was lacking were rats, walnut trees, and forest. His observations on the birdlife were few, although he noted that Oystercatchers "patrolled all the beaches", and that Lapwings "flew in profusion". 
What a pity that Linnaeus did not visit Falsterbo and Skanor at the time of year that we did, when there's such a large, obvious, and wonderful migration of birds!               

And now, here's the note, promised earlier, regarding Pontoppidan, who lived at the same time as Linnaeus, but in neighboring Norway. He was actually Bishop Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan.  
It was mentioned a few paragraphs back that he described the Herring Gull and the Rough-legged Hawk. He did so in his "Natural History of Norway", published in 1755. 
Also in that work, it's interesting that he wrote of a huge snake-like, maned sea serpent, that had been seen passing a ship in the ocean off the coast of Norway, in 1746. Commonly known at the time as the "kraken", what the bishop was describing was a Giant Squid, a huge creature that to this day has never been seen "alive and well" in the ocean. There have, over the years, been occurrences of either sick individuals floating on the surface of the sea, or washed up on shore. The Giant Squid, at about 50-feet in length, is larger than any other form of life known on Earth other than 3 species of big whales.

In the water, from the coast, during our September '07 Sweden Tour, of course, we saw no maned sea serpant. But we did see the head of a Harbor Seal in the Baltic Sea, as it peered at us. 
Other mammals during our tour included: Fallow Deer (introduced onto Oland Island centuries ago, on property that was once that of the king), Western Roe Deer, Elk (called Moose in North America), Common Pipstrelle (in migration on Oland), and the European Rabbit. Like so many of the birds during our tour, these were described by Linnaeus in the 1758 edition of "System naturae".

How good it was for us to bird and travel in Sweden, that land of Linnaeus, in September 2007. We look forward to going back again.                                                                    
                             

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Brazil
August 2007

Links:

Birds & Other Wildlife during our Brazil Tour in August '07

Cumulative List of Birds during our Brazil Tours - Part 1 (Tinamous thru Flycatchers)  

Cumulative List of Birds during our Brazil Tours - Part 2 (Antshrikes thru Grosbeaks)

Upcoming Brazil Tour Itineraries

The following account was written by Armas Hill, leader of the tour:

Brazil is truly a wonderful country in which to do a birding & nature tour. That's really true to say as our August 5-15, 2007 Brazilian tour was the 41st FONT tour conducted in that country since 1991. And that's more tours than we've done in any other country in the world.

Brazil is a land of superlatives. Of course, it's well known that it's the largest country in South America. It's also known that it contains the largest river basin in the world, that of the Amazon. We've birded in Brazil as far north as the Amazon rainforest, and as far south as the open countryside of Rio Grande do Sul near Uruguay (not as well known as other Brazilian places, but truly a wonderful area to bird with many species present in large numbers).

During our August '07 tour, we did not go as far north as the Amazon, or as far south as Rio Grande do Sul, but we did, during 10 days, see a lot of Brazilian countryside in between, with many birds & some notable animals. Places that we visited included: 
1) southeast Brazil along the seacoast and in the Atlantic Forest in the Brazilian "mountains", 
2) further inland in characteristic Brazilian habitats of Minas Gerais, including pristine grassland, 
and 3) one of the best of Brazilian places for wildlife, the southern Pantanal in Mato Grosso do Sul. 
By visiting such diverse places, we saw over 300 species of birds - with a number of them notable.

Nearly 200 species of Brazilian birds are endemic to that large country. Some are very localized, such as the Black-and-gold Cotinga that we enjoyed seeing in southeast Brazil . Others are either rare or uncommon, such as the attractive Golden-capped Parakeet that we saw in Minas Gerais.
In addition to the endemics, there are, especially in southeastern Brazil, a large number of "quasi-endemics", that is birds nearly endemic to the political boundaries of Brazil. Many of them are endemic to the geographic region of the Atlantic Forest, mostly in Brazil, but just spilling over a bit in far-northeastern Argentina. We saw a nice number of birds in that category, that is "Brazilian quasi-endemics". One that was notable among them was an attractive little bird with an odd name, the Black-capped Piprites.

Some of the places that we visited had odd names themselves. Some Brazilian places, actually, have names that are unpronounceable to foreign tongues. But we did learn how to say "Itatiaia", as that place is one of the best anywhere, not just in Brazil, but in the world, for enjoyable birding.

Some of the splashes of color & the frenzy of activity
at the avian desert buffet in Southeast Brazil
(photograph by Dan Coleman during the FONT tour in August 2007)   

To begin with, many of the birds there, at Itatiaia, are colorful. With bright colors, and some birds with as many as 6 or 7 colors. Their English names don't always tell the story. For example, the name of the Green-headed Tanager just refers to one color, of one part of the bird. There are, throughout, 7 obvious colors. It's the same with the brightly-colored Yellow-fronted Woodpecker. In addition to having yellow, it has red, and black and white, with all of the colors more than once in the bird's plumage.

A Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
photographed during a FONT tour in southeast Brazil, 
a colorful bird with more than yellow in its plumage.
(photo during the Aug 2007 tour by Rosemary Lloyd)

The bird feeders at the hotel where we stayed in Itatiaia, just outside of the windows of the restaurant, were, especially in the morning, a frenzy of activity and a splash of colors. 
(Inside the windows of the restaurant, the "human feeders" of buffets of hot food, cold food, and oh yes, those deserts, were also, at times, to be honest, a frenzy of activity.)
But, referring particularly to the multitude of bright colors at the bird feeders outside the windows, there were these:
throngs of toucans and tanagers, including the Red-breasted Toucan and Saffron Toucanet, and among the Tanagers: the  Golden-chevroned, Ruby-crowned, Black-goggled, Olive-green, Magpie, and the Green-headed, mentioned a moment ago.
Particularly brilliant were the Blue-naped Chlorophonias and  Chestnut-bellied Euphonias. They were often more than a dozen of each at once.
And there were the Hummingbirds: the Brazilian Ruby, the Violet-capped Woodnymph, the White-throated Hummingbird, the Glittering-throated Emerald, and the Black Jacobin, just to name a few.
Also, there was the Rufous-capped Motmot, the colorful Yellow-fronted Woodpecker (already mentioned), and the Reddish-bellied Parakeet. Nearby, there were birds that ranged from the small House Wren to the large Dusky-legged Guan. Some birds, such as the White-throated Woodcreeper, didn't have much to say. Others, such as the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, did. 
Many of the birds were tame, even bold, as they visited the feeders. Saffron Toucanets and the various tanagers and hummingbirds were only inches away from us. Some birds, in the area, were shy, such as the Gray-necked Wood Rail, nearby, but never close.          

The mountains at Itatiaia are the highest in Brazil. That's one aspect of Brazil geography, however, that's not a superlative. Mountains in Brazil, although picturesque, are not high compared to others in the world. One morning, as we birded along a road at Itatiaia in a higher part of the mountains, we were treated to some very nice members of the avifauna there. Among them: the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow that flew right over us, and the Mantled Hawk and the Black Hawk-Eagle that were higher in the sky. Maybe the nicest of the birds we saw were the Diademed Tanagers that we got to know well. First we heard, and then we saw the Black-and-gold Cotinga (already mentioned). And there was that attractive  little bird (also already mentioned), the Black-capped Piprites. Another nice bird we saw well was the Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, a flycatcher, but looking much like the birds called white-eyes in the Orient.
The Serra do Mar, by the way, is the "Range of the Sea", covered with the Atlantic Forest, between Itatiaia and the ocean.

There was another bird we saw well that's named after that range, the Serra do Mar Neopelma. It's rather a plain bird, one may say. (In fact, we did say that at the time.) But it's an interesting member of the avifauna there, not just for being a Brazilian endemic, but because it's been kind of a misfit. It was once called a "Tyrant-Manakin", but a manakin it's not. It's now included in with the flycatchers. When it had the "Tyrant-Manakin" identity, its genus was Neopipo. Now, with its makeover, it's in a new genus, hence the name Neopelma.       

In the trees in that good forest, along that "higher road" at Itatiaia, there were other birds too. 
Quite common were two species of Warbling-Finches, the Bay-chested and the Red-rumped. The former is endemic to Brazil; the latter nearly so. 
Among the brownish birds, known collectively as "Furnariids" (we saw quite a few), there was the Sharp-billed Treehunter. 
Also, antshrikes and other antbirds were seen. And an antpitta and antthrushes were heard. 
The Rufous-browed Peppershike was both - heard and seen. The Rufous-crowned Greenlet looked a smaller version of the peppershike. 
In a way, the Uniform Finch doesn't look like much. It's a small, usually obscure, small gray bird that lives in the forest favoring bamboo. But because it's not often seen, we were glad to see it. 
Yet another bird, the Thick-billed Saltator, on occasion showed itself. In all, many birds showed themselves to us that fine day on the Brazilian mountain.      

When we were at Itatiaia was not far from the large Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The next day we went there, further inland, to a particularly wonderful place called Canastra. It's a grassland, atop a plateau. It's the way grasslands used to be throughout much of Brazil, before agriculture. A special place Canastra is, with Anteaters, Maned Wolves, and birds such as Tinamous and the very rare Brazilian Merganser, which feeds on small fish in the crystal clear water of the San Francisco River, near its source, on the plateau above a high waterfall. Unfortunately, during our visit this time, we did not see the merganser, as we have other times in the past. Our visit this time was too quick. We either needed more luck or more time, or both. We did, however, see the little fish, and numerous tadpoles, in the clear water of the river. It was a wonderful place, during our short stay, just to be there. By the river, there were pairs of White-eared Puffbirds and colorful Swallow-Tanagers that added their presence to the place. 

Please don't misunderstand, even without the very rare duck, we did see a number of extraordinary birds when we were in Minas Gerais, and especially at Canastra.  
The best among them was the distinctive Cock-tailed Tyrant. That species, pretty well restricted to natural grasslands, has recently been declining rapidly. It's a shame as the bird is a wonderful one to see, particularly the male with its odd tail, as it's perched on a snag and a waving piece of grass. The Cock-tailed Tyrant migrates to Canastra to nest, arriving there in August and staying through January. The birds we saw must have arrived at Canastra just about as we did, in mid-August.
Another small flycatcher of the grasslands that we saw was the Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant, another threatened species.

In Minas Gerais, we saw yet another flycatcher that was great to see, the attractive Streamer-tailed Tyrant. We had seen it also a couple days earlier in southeastern Brazil, but it was good to see it again.

Minas Gerais was a good place for us for flycatchers of various sorts. Many flycatchers arrive in southern Brazil in August, coming from further north. We saw our only Fork-tailed Flycatcher of the tour (yet another flycatcher with a notable tail) in Minas Gerais. A week or so later they would be "everywhere" in southern Brazil.
Cattle Tyrants were on territory outside our lodging near Canastra. We saw both Velvety Black Tyrants and Crested Black Tyrants. The latter are rather reminiscent of Phainopeplas in western North America. 
Also in the area, in the flycatcher department, we saw many Monjitas. There were two kinds, the Gray and the White-rumped. The latter was more numerous.

"Numerous" was also the word, in relation to our August '07 tour, for the Red-legged Seriema. Never, during a Brazilian tour in the past, did we see so many. And so well, we saw them. Often they were close. One was "too close" when our vehicle almost hit it on the road.

A bird that did not stay close to us in Minas Gerais, at Canastra, was a fast-flying Aplomado Falcon over the grassland. But it was good to see the wild falcon as it was meant to fly. 

A sighting of a