Susan B. Whiting
The attendant at the Phalaborwa gate of Kruger National Park in South Africa greeted us with the words: “Are you going to look for the big five?”
For a moment Flip and I paused, not understanding what he was saying. Then Markus, our driver and guide, spoke up and informed the attendant that we were going to the park to look at birds. If we saw the big five, that would be an additional bonus. The attendant thought we were a bit nuts, but let us pass through.
No matter how many times I visit Costa Rica, there is always something new to experience. Many think of lush tropical rainforests or jungles when Costa Rica comes to mind, but there is another biome in this small Central American country that is equally fascinating. That is the tropical dry forest.
Although spring is in the air, the recent snow still makes birders dream of different habitats and warmer weather. Travel out of the country is becoming dearer and air travel is about as irritating as it gets. So perhaps a road trip to Florida is an option. The image that comes to mind for most folks when I mention Florida is Disney/Epcot, Miami or Cape Canaveral. There is much more to Florida than those areas and the birding is spectacular, even in Miami and Cape Canaveral.
“Guyana — isn’t that where all those people drank Kool-Aid at Jonestown? Why would you want to go there?”
“New birds, new habitat, new country, that’s why!”
Guyana is a very small country located on the northern bump or eastern shoulder of South America. Very close to the equator, this small country that used to be called British Guiana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north, Venezuela on the west, Brazil on the south and Suriname (Old Dutch Guiana) on the east.
We had a beautiful day on Saturday, Jan. 5 for the Vineyard’s forty-eighth consecutive Christmas Bird Count. We beat Nantucket, sort of, but more on that later. It was a day of fair weather with a bit of wind, but no rain or fog to dampen the birds’ or birders’ spirit. We had a great turnout with 69 field participants including six from Nantucket, a couple from Cape Cod and a couple from the Boston area.
Tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 5 is the Vineyard’s Christmas Bird Count. We hope for good weather, although last Saturday, Dec. 29, Nantucket had lousy weather and a good number of birds still were seen on that Island’s count.