Birding the Iwokrama Forest, Guyana

Our first day's birding in interior Guyana produced Crimson Fruitcrow and roosting Long-tailed Potoo – close enough that even I could get photos with my decidedly non-professional camera. The Fruitcrow provided prolonged and low-level views and was mobbed by passerines since, unlike most cotingas, it is not entirely frugivorous.

But we kept birding...

 

One of the resident pair of Orange-breasted Falcons at the Turtle Mountain lookout.

And another orange bird...

The Pakaraimas and Surama

Unbroken forest as far as the eye can see above the Pakaraimas. With the Venezuelan Guayana, this forms the world's largest tropical wilderness. After an hour's flight we curl around ridges into the approach to the Makushi village of Surama, where the majestic Rupununi savannas begin.

 

Kaieteur: not the world's highest waterfall

Guyana Tourist Board has done a thorough job in convincing visitors that this is the highest falls in the world. No matter: this is a stunning place (even if the drop is some 700m short of Venezuela's Kerepakupai-vená).

Rufous-thighed Kite (Harpagus diodon): a new Atlantic Forest breeding endemic

Rufous-thighed Kite Harpagus diodon. By Rick elis.simpson (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Last month, I came across a neat little paper re-examining the migratory status of the enigmatic Rufous-thighed Kite Harpagus diodon, a species usually mapped over a large area of South America east of the Andes and, until fairly recently, assumed to be a thinly-spread resident. Using museum specimen data, and harnessing the power of increasingly popular collaborative avian datasets such as xeno-canto, eBird, the Internet Bird Collection, and especially WikiAves, the authors took a closer look at the facts (Lees & Martin 2014). Their detective work shows how much we often take for granted about South American bird distributions and highlights the enormous value of free data-sharing initiatives. I liked the research enough to write a short news bulletin at the start of the month. The authors do a much better job today on the BOU blog post A tale of two kites. 

These findings are not merely of academic importance. Given that Rufous-thighed Kite is now thought to be an Atlantic Forest breeding endemic and that only 11·7% of this biome remains (Ribeiro et al. 2009), the species could be in serious trouble. Populations at the end of 19th century are likely to have been at least ten times higher than at present (Lees & Martin 2014) and its current rarity may simply be explained as the result of catastrophic loss of habitat.


References

Bierregaard, R.O., Jr, Bonan, A., Marks, J.S. & Sharpe, C.J. (2014) Rufous-thighed Kite (Harpagus diodon). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/52974 on 30 September 2014). 

BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Harpagus diodon. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22695063 on 30/09/2014.

Lees, A.C. & Martin, R.W. (2014) Exposing hidden endemism in a Neotropical forest raptor using citizen science. Ibis doi: 10.1111/ibi.12207. PDF

Ribeiro, M.C., Metzger, J.P., Martensen, A.C., Ponzoni, F.J. & Hirota, M.M. (2009) The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: how much is left, and how is the remaining forest distributed? Implications for conservation. Biological Conservation 142(6): 1141-1153. PDF

The Curious Naturalist's library: Guyana

In a couple of weeks' time I will be returning to Guyana for a month of bird tours. If you have not considered Guyana as a birding destination, you might like whet your appetite with Chris Collins' 2007 article in Neotropical Birding, Guyana: South America's overlooked birding destination and An update on birding in Guyana, co-authored with Barry Walker. Interested? The one snag with birding Guyana is that there is currently no field guide to the birds of Guyana, so people always ask which identification guides to take. These are my recommendations.

A Field Checklist of the Birds of Guyana, 2nd edition by Mike Braun, Davis Finch, Mark Robbins & Brian Schmidt. PDF.
The definitive published checklist, listing the 814 species recorded as of 2007. Use in conjunction with the following book. An updated list can be found at the SACC website.

Birds of Venezuela by Steve Hilty.

If you can take only one bird guide, this is it. One of the best Neotropical field guides ever written (review), it covers the vast majority of Guyana's avifauna – and a whole lot more besides. Decades of field experience are compressed by this gifted author into descriptions that are at once precise, detailed and even poetic. Voice transcriptions are – to my ear at least –  unrivalled. Not the lightest of field guides, it will reduce that already tight luggage limit by 1.4 kg. It will come in handy for future trips to Venezuela. The same author's Birds of Tropical America is required pre-trip reading.

Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide, Volume 2: Plates and Maps by Robin Restall, Clemencia Rodner, & Miguel Lentino.
An encyclopaedic compilation on the birds of the region, with handy maps, reliable text and a huge number of plates covering almost every plumage. A labour of love, the plates are carefully painted direct from museum specimens and are at once painstakingly accurate yet sometimes not quite like the bird as encountered in the field. The only guide to depict everything you will encounter in-country. Many plumages – such as male Black-throated Antshrike Frederickena viridis – are illustrated nowhere else. An enormously valuable reference, and despite weight restrictions it is worth taking this into the field. Volume 1 provides a lot more text.

Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America: The Passerines by Robert S. Ridgely & Guy Tudor.
Distilled from Ridgely and Tudor's groundbreaking (and backbreaking!) two-volume The Birds of South America, this portable edition comprises more than 1,500 illustrations covering nearly 2,000 species. The accompanying text is short, but wonderfully succinct. Ideal for grappling with those little brown jobs. A valuable reference, but perhaps weight restrictions will consign it to the office rather than the field.

Birds of South America: Non-Passerines: Rheas to Woodpeckers by Francisco Erize & Maurice Rumboll.
A much smaller, almost pocket-sized guide that complements Ridgely and Tudor in coverage. All the information on each species is presented opposite the illustration in a double-page spread. Rather uneven in quality, but can be useful.

Birds of Venezuela mp3 CD, version 2.0 by Peter Boesman. Available as a CD or for immediate download from Birdsounds.nl.
Peter has been recording Venezuelan bird sounds since the 1990s and has already published a CD-ROM (review), mp3 CD, DVD-ROM and now this mp3 DVD. Over the years I have acquired them all and used them constantly. This latest production contains 4,196 recordings of 1,270 species, many of which occur in Guyana. A small number of the featured recordings are my own.

Voices of the Brazilian Amazon / Vozes da Amazônia Brasileira, Vol. 1 by Luciano Naka, Phil Stouffer, Mario Cohn-Haft, Curtis Marantz, Andy Whittaker & Bob Bierregard.
The vocalisations of 350 species of birds on 4 CDs by the region's top bird song experts. This first volume covers Manaus area and the Guianas. I have not been able to acquire a copy, but this has to be good.

Bird voices from French Guiana / Chant d'Oiseaux de Guyane by Alexandre Renaudier & Frenand Deroussen. The songs and calls of 230 species illustrated by 583 recordings on 3 CDs. The cuts are of excellent quality and most of the species are found in Guyana.

Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, 2nd edition by Louise Emmons & François Feer. Slim enough to carry anywhere, this is still the best one-volume guide to our region's mammals.

Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 1: The Northern Neotropics: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana by John F. Eisenberg. Not a field guide, but still the only reference of its type. Hard to believe that this ground-breaking publication is 25 years old this year.

Guyana & Guianas Region 1:850,000 Travel Map by International Travel Maps

Don't get lost! Having helped supply their cartographer, Kevin Healey, with information on Latin America in the early 1990s, in my experience, the Canadian company ITMB always seems to publish the most helpful and accurate travel maps. No exception here: the Guyana & Guianas map integrates relief, roads and parks in a clear and practical format. Have a great trip!

Book review: Claxton by Mark Cocker

Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet

Mark Cocker
Jonathan Cape | 2014
238 pp. | 14.5 x 22 cm
Hardback | £14.99 / $ 35.00 | ISBN: 9780224099653


I was kindly sent a copy of the forthcoming Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet, after reviewing the author's magnum opus, Birds and People.

This collection consists of 140 short pieces that were originally published in the Guardian and other newspapers. Written over a period of 12 years, they are presented in calendar order here, each chapter corresponding to a month – ideal for dipping into over the course of a year. Many of the entries have been expanded to include text which went beyond the original constraints of a newspaper column.

The germ for each note is typically a chance encounter with some natural phenomenon – a bird, an otter, a fruiting tree – which the writer uses to examine the responses deep within himself, to record details apparent only to those who have immersed themselves in the outdoors. Mark Cocker's keen perception of nature, his power of reflection and his gift for putting our common experiences into words make him one of our most accomplished nature writers. This format probably suits his approach more than any other. Each essay is just long enough to allow him to paint the picture. Each observation is a finely-crafted work of art.

It is no coincidence that the author quotes at the start of the book from the greatest of all nature diaries: Thoreau's Journal. Coincidentally, I happen to have spent the past few months slowly savouring Damion Searls' new one-volume selection from the Journal. Thoreau's entries are longer and more demanding, often needing to be re-read and mulled in order to extract their full meaning; Cocker's pieces are concise, highly-distilled reflections which speak directly and immediately to the reader. Delicate and delightful, each vignette makes its impact at once. However, there is a cumulative effect that builds slowly: each additional nature note adds a new perspective to our vision of this place. The author's New England is Norfolk, specifically the village of Claxton, a few miles south-east of Norwich. Although there is a definite East Anglian flavour, these notes will resonate with anyone who has an appreciation of the English countryside.

This turns out to be the sixth book I have read by Mark Cocker. Each has been rewarding, but I suspect that this may end up being the one that I most often pull off my shelves.

Book review: A Sparrowhawk's Lament by David Cobham

A Sparrowhawk's Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring

David Cobham with Bruce Pearson
Princeton University Press WILDGuides | 2014
256 pp. | 15.2 x 21.6 cm | 80 illustrations
Hardback | £24.95 / $ 35.00 | ISBN: 9780691157641

I am half way through A Sparrowhawk's Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey are Faring by David Cobham, illustrated by Bruce Pearson. This is a WILDGuides publication, but quite a departure from the photographic field guides for which the imprint is usually known. It is a personal look at the status of the UK's raptors, written by someone who has a long history of involvement in the conservation of our birds of prey, and a current vice-president of the Hawk and Owl Trust. The writing is a little quirky, being a conversational mixture of field notes, diary entries, interviews and personal recollections of meetings with a variety of people and excursions to every corner of the UK, all supported by bibliographic research; it takes some getting used to, but the passion and experience shine through to make this a rewarding, thought-provoking and topical read.

A chapter is devoted to each of the UK's 15 breeding diurnal raptors species, examining their changing fortunes from the earliest records to the present day. Most of the UK's species follow the same sad trajectory of abundance in the pre-industrial age, persecution by gamekeepers to near extinction or extinction during the 19^th and 20^th centuries (particularly after the 1831 Game Act and often tipped over the edge by egg-collectors and / or organochloride pesticide contamination in the 1950s), and contemporary resurgence in response to the conservation actions of a handful of dedicated individuals and organisations. Despite legal protection, the attacks by gamekeepers continue. Kestrel and Merlin populations have, unfortunately, not turned around and the once-familiar sight of the Windhover hanging over the verges of our highways is no longer a feature of road travel. But the glaring exception is the Hen Harrier, still illegally poisoned, trapped and shot by the managers of grouse moors and now teetering on the brink of extinction in England. With outrage about brazen illegal persecution and 'establishment' complicity becoming a political issue, this is quite a topical read. The texts are well complemented by Bruce Pearson's watercolours (reproduced in monochrome), that really capture the spirit of each species.

The author is careful not to turn the book into a critique of those who would have us return to the low raptor densities that unrelenting persecution had achieved before the First World War. Although he does not shy away from recounting the now familiar tales of extermination, he is keen to provide a balanced appraisal and above all to make this a positive book. Indeed, this is an uplifting read. I am finding plenty to enjoy, not least the resonance of described behaviours with those I have been lucky enough to witness myself as well as familiar haunts that crop up in the text. In the winters of the early 1980s I watched the Bowland Forest Hen Harriers hunting in over the hills of Nidderdale, and I have seen the careful protection and monitoring of Marsh Harrier nests at Sculthorpe Moor. The chapter on the Sparrowhawk – a species I monitored closely as a boy – is particularly evocative. And like the author and Mark Cocker (cited in the text) I am saddened by the efforts of political lobby groups like the ironically named SongBird Survival to vilify the species in order to detract attention from the real causes of biodiversity loss. No wonder that such organisations like to compare current raptor populations with those at their nadir a century ago.

A book to be read right through or dipped into at leisure, A Sparrowhawk's Lament is a fitting tribute to our birds of prey and those who work to conserve them. Whether beginner or specialist, everyone will learn something about our formidable, yet vulnerable diurnal raptors.

The author and artist will be interviewed by ChrisPackham at the UK Birdfair tomorrow.