Julian Sykes Wildlife Holidays: April 2013

A I have now reached a quick update on the yearlist as I have reached another milestone - 200+ species with a fabulous drake Garganey at Petrola Lagoon.

So a quarter of the way through the year and I'm two-thirds towards my target however the pressure a little on now as I'm not in Spaon much for the bulk of the migration period! Our Valencia Short Break and Aragon - Plains and Pyrenees in May will be key to adding quite a few more species followed by Plains and Picos de Europa in early June - all very important for certain tough species.

Finally like to say a huge "Happy 16th Birthday" to my oldest son Stan (on right, Harry's on the left). It doesn't seem like two minutes since I was holding him in two hands!!! Take care buddy.

Thought it was time for an update on what's been happening over the past couple of months as its been pretty manic.

First up was India - Tigers & Taj Mahal starting in late Feb and what an awesome holiday it was with lots of 'highs' and an odd low - the major one being that we missed Sloth Bear by literally two minutes!

The beginning of the trip was the back end of some inclement weather in fact our first few hours sleep was interupted by a massive electrical and thunder storm. However as we headed for Sultanpur (a fabulous wetland on the edge of the city) the rains eased , then stopped and we had contineous good weather!

Thanks must go to Jo Thomas for her seemless organisation of this holiday ( and previous ones) in this sometimes disorganised country.

The major highlights were many and a few of the stand-out ones are mentioned here -

Incredible views of Munna - the male Bengal Tiger, who proudly resides in Kanha NP.

Gangetic River Dolphin leaping out of the water right in front of the boat

Another Kanha speciality Leopard, seen scattering the Chittal (Spotted Deer)

Male Siberian Rubythroat within a few metres
Gharial, Mugger Crocodile, Indian Skimmer, Black-bellied Tern on the Chambal River
Great to see the famous Keoladeo NP (Bharatpur), back to it's glorious wetland best

Almost 250 bird species seen

Next up was Southern Morocco and despite some slightly indifferent weather we did again see some amazing things and definitely the best reptile trip I've ever done. Many thanks to good friend and Moroccan guide Mohamed for again his hard work and talent, it's always a great pleasure.

Our hit-rate for the endemic and specialty birds was again incredibly high although not seeing Cream Coloured Courser was an absolute shocker! It was though the amazing sight of two roosting Egyptian Nightjars, which arguably stole the plaudits, although these ran them close.

- Another brilliant desert adventure with stunning views of Desert Sparrow, Crowned & Spotted Sandgrouse, Desert Warbler, Pharoah Eagle Owl, Magreb Wheatear - not to mention the fabulous backdrop of Erg Chebbi, the stunning orange dunes of the Sahara

- The stone desert with numerous larks and wheatears including the difficult Thick-billed Lark plus Temminck's Horned & Bar-tailed Larks, Red-rumped & Desert Wheatears and Black-bellied Sandgrouse.

- The scenically fabulous High Atlas, with snow-capped peaks, rugged valleys, fast-flowing streams and Crimson-winged Finch, Levaillant's Woodpecker and Tristram's Warbler.

- Bibron's Agama, Common Rock Gecko, Moroccan Desert Agama, Spiny-footed Lizard.

- Atlantic coast with one of the world's rarest species - Northern Bald Ibis

- Great places, great people, great wildlife, great country!!!

The trio of holidays finished with one of my favourite and most popular Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha . This was sadly affected by the weather being inclement on nearly every day, but our happy group endeavoured and got our just rewards.

This year there was 3 times the average rainfall and the worst for more than 20 years!!! Consequently the National Park of Los Cabaneros, also known as the 'Serengeti of Spain' which is normally fairly dry was verdant and spectacular. As they say every dark cloud has a silver lining!

Highlights included -

Scores of Black & Griffon Vultures on a carcass at the wonderful Los Cabaneros NP

100's of Greater Flamingos, White-headed Ducks, Black-necked Grebes and waders on the La Manchan wetlands

Lesser Kestrels nesting in the historic Trujillo bull ring

Displaying Great & Little Bustards - an awesome sight, which always amazes anyone who witnesses it

Amazing views of a pair of Spanish Imperial Eagles at Monfrague NP

Black-shouldered Kite hunting right next to the minibus

Surprise of finding the first Bee-eaters and Collared Pratincoles of the season

Penduline Tits nest building

Great looks at Scop's & Barn Owls in the grounds of the accommodation

It was a fabulous few weeks and 'thank you so much' to everyone who was there, we hope to see you again on future holidays. Below is a mixture of some of my favourite images from these holidays - hope you like them.