The final day included several stops along the trip back to Panama city, with yet more new species to be seen. The first stop was at a little house where a local woman had seen Great Currasows in her garden, and had started throwing out rice for them, so they now return regularly. They have recently also been joined by group of Wood-Rails. The header image is of the male Curassow.

The on to a nature reserve on land that belonged to local priest, and is called Reserva San Francisco

Then back to the restaurant where we had lunch the first day.

A couple more stops on the way back.

The final stops of the day were to areas just along the PanAmerica highway, south of the Canopy camp. The header image is the elegant Fork-tailed Flycatcher.

A drive to a forest road this morning, where a family of Mantled Howler Monkeys were watching us.

In the afternoon further on to a swampy area. Among the many raptors we saw, this one had the most vicious looking bill, which they use to extract snails from their shells.

Started the day with several mammals around the camp, the White-faced Capuchins, above, are fans of fruit.

As are the Geoffroy’s Tamarins

The morning was spent walking the road up from the camp, with the following sightings

Back at the camp the Crested Oropendolas were feeding each other

In the afternoon we drove out to a local rural road, and ended up at some rice fields

The feeders at the camp attracted a variety of different birds and mammals, including these Hummingbirds.

And these Capuchins

This was the first full day of the organised trip, mostly organised around the long drive down to Canopy Camp in Darien province, with a side trip to Nusagandi for a walk in a forested area on the Caribbean slope, and therefore a variety of birds somewhat different from the pacific slopes.

At lunch the restaurant had feeders set up for hummingbirds and fruit eaters.

Then on to the Canopy Camp, with its grounds and feeders, and birds which included the Black-cheeked Woodpecker in the header image.

On vacation in Corsica, my long-suffering family organized a few outings for wildlife finding and photography. This allowed me several life-firsts, and a number of photos I’m happy with.

The header image is a Corsican Finch, endemic to Corsica and Sardinia, and not common, even there.

This is another image of the same individual

The Sardinian Warbler, shown here, is somewhat more widespread, seen around the Mediterranean.

Also singing away, and a first for me, the Cirl Bunting.

I had seen Blackcaps before, but never had a good photo.

The Audouin’s Gull has a fairly restricted range, including some parts of the Mediterranean, and the noth west African coast, distinguished by the red bill and grey legs.

Another first for me was the Eurasian Treecreeper.

One bird I was not expecting, was this Woodchat Shrike, who struck several poses for me.

There were large numbers of Red Kites, on one occasion I saw 8 soaring over a hillside.

Point Pelee is a peninsula with its southern most tip being the most southerly point in mainland Canada, and is a spot where birds migrating northward in the spring rest to refuel after crossing Lake Erie. Every May the “Festival of Birds” takes place with many guided walks, and large numbers of bird sightings.

Harris’s Sparrow is a great rarity in this part of Ontario

Red-headed Woodpeckers were present the first day, a small flock of 10 or 12 were there.

It was my first ever sighting of an Orchard Oriole

The Loggerhead shrike is a bird normally found much further south, was probably blown here by the winds.

One of the prettiest little birds you could hope to see is the Prothonatory Warbler, seen here with a Yellow Warbler in the background

Other birds not normally seen here included this Willet (the larger brown bird) and Ruddy Turnstone (the bird with black patchy colouration) accompanying the Dunlin, which is a common sighting.

During the trip there were, of course, many commoner birds, the blackbird in the header image was a beautiful specimen, singing for his supper.

And there was this handsome Chaffinch.

I never previously had a good photo of a Red Kite, they were almost extinct in the UK in the 1980’s, with a study suggesting that there was only one breeding female, in mid-Wales, at the species lowest point. They then became a protected species, and were reintroduced from Europe, and now are locally reasonably common.

Looking for lunch.

Another threatened species that I was able to see, at an RSPB reserve in the south of England, was the Dartford Warbler.

But I couldn’t persuade him to turn around!

Ruddy Turnstones are less common than some other waders, and are on the Amber list of UK birds with concern about their conservation status.

This young Bearded Tit (called a reedling by the American Ornithological Society) is not closely related to other tits, and as the other name suggests, like to live among the reeds. As they get more mature the facial markings develop into a droopy moustache.

The next stop was in southern Yorkshire, again on the coast.

i was keen to see Puffins on the trip, and there were many.

And many thousands of Gannets, some with young downy chicks

The Norther Fulmar has passages above the bill, known as naricorns, and salt secreting glands associated with them, which they use to excrete the excessive salt they absorb from their diet and from the ocean water, much like the closely related albatross.

Slightly inland were these two, a Common Sandpiper in front and a Green Sandpiper behind.

An added bonus was this Barn Owl, flying over the meadow