Recent Photos Gallery - September 2019

Welcome to the (belated) September 2019 Recent Photos Gallery! We've gotten in some lovely images from participants and guides from six recently completed tours, which we are pleased to present here. Our cover image of a Pyrenean vista by Judie Dunn comes from our first France: Camargue & Pyrenees tour of the autumn, guided by Megan Edwards Crewe and Marcelo Padua.

Looking prehistoric as they passed overhead at the Lac des Gloriettes, Eurasian Griffons were an almost constant sight in the high Pyrenees during the tour, with a very large group gathered at the magnificent Cirque de Gavarnie. Thankfully, populations of this remarkable bird are now increasing in southern Europe. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

A bird on everyone's wish list, the Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture is far less common in the Pyrenees than Eurasian Griffon, but our tours here manage to find at least a few and sometimes as many as a dozen, and the species' population is slowly increasing in the region. This adult coursed along the cliffs near the Lac des Gloriettes. In the Vallee d’Ossoue, three resting Lammergeiers were close enough that the group could see their "beards." (Photo by participant Henry Feilen.)

September in France means migration in full swing. Here, a Short-toed Snake-Eagle and a Eurasian Kestrel share the air on their way south through the mountain passes. This snake-eagle actually caught and devoured a snake as the group watched! (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

Often a tricky bird to find in autumn in France and Spain, Alpine Accentor played hard-to-get this time, with this bird at last allowing close approach as it foraged at Col du Tourmalet (famous to Tour de France fans) on the final day of the tour. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

One of the great highlights of the autumn tour in the south of France is the group's welcome at the Hotel Breche de Roland in Gedre, set in a breathtaking part of the Pyrenees. Our hosts here for the past 22 years, Philippe (here) & Odile Pujo, treat us like family, and the meals are simply unforgettable! Philippe here prepares the stone hearth where he grills the meats, right in the dining area. (Photo by guide Marcelo Padua.)

We love that our participants admire all things great and small, just as we do. Here a fresh Western Bath White rests in a stubble field. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

Halfway along the route between the Pyrenees and the great wetlands of the Camargue, the walled city of Carcassonne demands at least a whistle stop for photos, which the guides often combine with a picnic and some birding. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

The wetlands of the Camargue are every bit as enchanting as the mountains, memorably home to the black bulls, pink flamingos, and white horses of poetry and paintings. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

The Greater Flamingo of the Old World, now split from the American Flamingo of the New, is not as vividly colored as its counterpart but makes an equally fascinating subject for study and photography. The young bird at right was hatched in 2019; several yearlings are on the left; and the adult is at center. Happily, flamingos are still numerous in France and adjacent Spain. (Photo by guide Marcelo Padua.)

Note that the second flamingo back on the right is wearing a leg band with alphanumeric code M359. It was banded as a fledgling in 2008: Italian ornithologists banded this bird and many more at Stagno di Macchiareddu on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

In the Camargue, we lodge at the Mas de la Feniere and usually dine "al fresco" (as they also say in France!) in the garden courtyard, enjoying the fruits of the terroir, both the wines and the fine farm-to-table foods. Yes, we do plenty of birding, too! (Photo by guide Marcelo Padua.)

Shorebird migration can add to the thrill of the season, as this Black-winged Stilt in the Camargue demonstrates, though water levels play a role in where shorebirds stop over each year. (Photo by participant Henry Feilen.)

While in the Camargue, our tour also visits a small native grassland near St.-Martin-de-Crau that most birders call the Crau steppe (the full name is Reserve Naturelle Nationale des Coussouls de Crau). The beautiful refuge is home to a small number of Eurasian Thick-knees, Lesser Kestrels, Tawny Pipits, shrikes, and larks and makes a nice place to stretch the legs after a delicious breakfast. (Photo by guide Marcelo Padua.)

A southbound migrant from the Arctic, bound for Africa, this Northern Wheatear was cooperative at the Crau steppe this year. (Photo by participant Judie Dunn.)

A peaceful Pyrenean lake? In fact, this photo is from our September tour to Oregon, guided by Cory Gregory, who reports that the group found a wonderful variety of birds between the Pacific coast, the Cascades, and the sagebrush steppe. He also sends word that the dining was great! (Photo by participant Charm Peterman.)

Our Oregon: Coast to Cascades tour began by exploring the picturesque coastline of this beautiful state, home to an assortment of shorebirds and seabirds in autumn. Waterbirds are also present well inland, such as here at the Chickahominy Reservoir, about 100 miles east of Bend. (Photo by participant Charm Peterman.)

This young Wandering Tattler was among 18 shorebird species noted along the coast, including Black Turnstone and Surfbird. Gulls, terns, cormorants, Sooty Shearwaters, Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murres, Cassin's Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Marbled Murrelets also put in appearances. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

One of Oregon's great treasures is Crater Lake National Park. Crater is the deepest lake in the United States at 1949 feet (594 m) deep. Its clear, deep blue color makes it a favorite of artists and tourists alike, and birds abound in the surrounding landscape, where peaks in the Cascades rise to over 10,000 feet (3050 m). The lake was formed about 7700 years ago when a volcano collapsed; such formations are known as calderas. This is a view toward Wizard Island, a volcanic cinder cone within the lake. (Photo by participant Mona Gardner.)

The Cascades' dense forests of pine, spruce, and fir provide home to a variety of woodpeckers and also to many corvids, such as this Clark's Nutcracker. In the lower elevations, the delightful Pinyon Jay appeared in a large flock of 75 or more birds. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

Canada Jay, formerly known as Gray Jay, was an especially popular bird with the group in the Cascades. The species' nickname "Camp Robber" hints at its relationship with humans and its bold, inquisitive nature. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

Another beautiful western corvid, Steller's Jay can also be a thief at picnic tables. This juvenile still shows a bit of yellow at the gape flanges, indicating recent fledging. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

White-headed Woodpeckers, those great prizes of coastal range birding, can be tricky to find in autumn, when they are rather quiet. In fall and winter, they eat mostly pine seeds, quietly hammering into cones to reach them. Unlike other woodpeckers, they do not store seeds but eat them immediately. White-headeds also do not forage by excavating into wood but flake off bark and probe into crevices and needle clusters for insect prey. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

Nowhere very common, Black-backed Woodpecker is often found in burned areas, where it eats larvae of wood-boring beetles. Like its relative, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Black-backed has three toes instead of four, with two toes set forward, one to the rear. This female obliged the group nicely! (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

We couldn't resist adding this image of guide Cory Gregory hard at work, listening for the next great bird! (Photo by participant Charm Peterman.)

In eastern Oregon, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge provides an ideal stopover for passerine migrants like this Western Wood-Pewee. (Photograph by participant Mona Gardner.)

A species we see on relatively few Field Guides tours, Sagebrush Sparrow is a bird of the Great Basin, where its subtle browns and grays blend well with the pale palette of its attractive steppe habitat. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

Another subtly attractive species of the Great Basin, Sage Thrasher also blends in well but like Sagebrush Sparrow sometimes obligingly perches on bush tops. (Photo by participant Pete Peterman.)

A jeep races across the desert---not the high sage desert of Oregon here but the approaches to the Sahara Desert: we have moved to the Morocco tour, guided by Jesse Fagan, who sent in this image of the Erg Chebbi area. An erg is a large area of dunes formed by wind-blown sand. Technically, Erg Chebbi is semi-arid pre-Saharan steppe.

Before the main tour in Morocco, many participants opted to take the Canary Islands extension, which began on Tenerife, an island dominated by this feature, the Teide Volcano. At 3718 meters (12,198 feet), Teide is the tallest mountain in Spain. On Tenerife, the woodlands of Canary Island Pine hold many of the sought-after birds, including migrants and endemic species and subspecies. (Photo by guide Jesse Fagan.)