Author: David Ascanio

With great expectation I see the emerald-green beaches from the plane window as we prepare to land to Punta Cana, a destination probably better known among those that loves beaches more than to birdwatchers.

If I was asked to write a sentence describing our birding experience in wonderful Costa Rica, I would propose: “The small kingdom of nature embracing a land of superlatives”.

Beautiful, diverse, strange, mysterious… I could share an extensive list of adjectives describing the Lesser Antilles and you will still probably find that I am missing some that would match your perception. From the minute we landed in Barbados we found ourselves in a reality that was different from that in the rest of the Americas. Historically speaking, these islands are a result of confrontation between the main colonial powers in Europe to control the trading of one the most important commodities at the time, sugar. Culturally speaking, they are an amazing mix of religions and background that is still in a process to define their uniqueness and flavor. From the ornithological point of view, it gets more complicated and interesting: they are labs of evolution. Every time I come to the Lesser Antilles I feel as if I was taken out of planet Earth and dropped in a different one, less diverse but more fascinating.

Colombia’s bird richness showed up, once again, in this special adventure to the Llanos or Plains of the Orinoco River. Covering a large sedimentary area, this flat-ever land is shared with neighboring Venezuela and altogether represents one of the very […]

Patchily found along the Orinoco and Amazon basin, the sandy-belt forest represents the quintessence of survival, and speciation. The fact that these soils are among the poorest in the continent adds unveliebable challenges to all kind of wildlife in order […]

A RELAXED & EASY TOUR DECEMBER 4-11, 2022

Our first day in Costa Rica seemed to have a brighter blue sky. That was because we were ready to raise our binoculars and look for wonderful neotropical birds. The colorful gardens of the Hotel Bougainvillea received us with Rufous-naped […]

A special departure supporting the red siskin initiative

The rich mudflats of coastal Georgetown where our first stop in our full day of birding in the capital city of wonderful Guyana. Among Whimbrels, American Golden Plovers, Ospreys, Magnificent Frigatebirds and dozens of Greater Yelllowlegs, we enjoyed views of […]

INTO THE HEART OF THE HARPY EAGLE