December 19th:
Added a report with both bird and underwater photographs (such as the inquisitive Loggerhead Turtle shown below) from a brief visit to Belize. Follow the Trip Reports tab to locate the new Belize section.
July 26th:
Updated the .pdf report for our recent visit to Bolivar state in Venezuela to include details on locations in addition to the photos and species list in the original draft repoprt. See the Trip Reports - Venezuela page.
July 22nd:
Added a trip summary .pdf report for our recent visit to Bolivar state in Venezuela. Report includes some photos and species list. See the Trip Reports - Venezuela page.
July 18th:
Emma and I Just returned from an excellent trip to Bolivar State, Venezuela with David McLachlan-Karr. We spent a few days in the lowlands and on the Sierra de Lema at the north of the Gran Sabana, plus 3 days visiting some exciting new sites around El Pauji in the company of Tony and Rita Crease. Lots of great new birds, scenery and photographs to add to the website ... see Greater Flowerpiercer on my home page and a Crested Eagle below at the Wairampay road near El Pauji !
May 5th:
Added some additional (final?) warbler photos to the below High Island galleries.
April 28th:
I've added photos from High Island to three galleries: "Texas Gallery #3" (lots of warblers); "Texas Gallery #4" (warblers and other migrants); and "Texas Gallery #5" (migrants and other species). In an attempt to create attractive composition whilst giving context to the birds environment I have refrained from tightly cropping most of these images.
April 22nd:
Spring migrants are flooding across the Gulf of Mexico towards Texas and I have spent a couple of days at High Island photographing the new arrivals. More images to come soon ...
February 14th:
Thanks to feedback from Diego Calderon-Franco and Rasmus Boegh, I made a couple of corrections to species IDs included in the trips reports and photo galleries from the late-2008 Colombia and Junglaven trips. Updates have now been posted...
January 16th 2009:
I have finally completed a full report on our trip to Junglaven (including more photos, a summary of our activities and a list of species seen) which has now been added to the 'Trip Reports: Venezuela' section.
December 23rd:
Just back from a logistically challenging but ultimately enjoyable and succesful trip to Junglaven in Amazonas state, Venezuela. I saw some 20 new species that were missed on my previous trip to this area and have a considerable collection of photos to review and edit! Some initial images are included in the "Amazonas Gallery #1" of the Photo Galleries section, including a Tiny Hawk plucking feathers from either a Yellow-rumped Cacique or Yellow-backed Tanager, Cherrie's Antwren, Amazonian Antshrike, Imeri Warbling Antbird, Scale-backed Antbird ...
December 9th:
Added a draft report to the 'Trip Reports' section summarising our November trip to Colombia, including some additional photos, a trip list and contact details for our excellent guides Diego Calderon-Franco (www.colombiabirding.com) and Walberto (Waly) Naranjo (www.dunanzhe.com). I still have a couple of IDs to verify, so will likely update the report once those are confirmed ...
December 4th:
I was recently contacted by the ARKive project which is a unique collection of thousands of videos, images and fact-files illustrating the world's species. They are now using my photos of several endangered species within their collection. See http://www.arkive.org/
December 3rd:
Renowned Venezuelan biologist Carlos Rivero-Blanco's website about Mucubaji in the Merida Andes has been launched. See the Mucubaji site at http://www.mucubaji.com/. He has included a portfolio of my photographs of bird species found in the area, see: http://www.mucubaji.com/4AvesAndinas.html
and http://www.mucubaji.com/4Aves.html
December 1st:
Just back from two fantastic weeks in Colombia, including four days birding in the Andes near to Bogota and four days birding at San Lorenzo in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. I have added a "Colombia Gallery #1" to the Photo Galleries section that gives an initial flavour of some of the great things we saw, including some attractive images of an endemic White-tailed Starfrontlet ...
November 14th:
In Venezuela two new publications have been launched: The Venezuelan Red Book of Endangered Species (Libro Rojo) and Provita's EcoAgenda 2009. I am delighted to have contributed photographs to both of these publications. See Provita's website www.provitaonline.org for details on how to buy these publications.
November 13th:
My website has been up and running now for over a year and is regularly attracting 10's of hits a day. I have attached a file showing the growth in popularity and the distribution of the site visitors since launch ... website statistics to mid-Nov '08.
August 31st:
Added selection of photos from our July trip to a new 'NE Venezuela Gallery #1' in the Photo Galleries section. Includes what may be first photo of an endemic Gray-headed Warbler, plus other attractive endemics and regional specialities.
August 14th:
Added an updated version of my report on our July north-east Venezuela trip to the 'Trip Reports' section.
August 3rd:
Just back from a successful trip to north-east Venezuela where we found almost all - and photographed several of - the localised endemics and specialities. Highlights included what appear to be the first in-situ photographs of the endemic Gray-headed Warbler. See the reports section for a preliminary report and photographs.
May 16th:
Added .pdf file to 'Trip Reports' section containing images and text summarising our recent visit to the Venezuelan Coastal Cordillera and Llanos.
May 15th:
With the spring migration through southern Texas drawing to a close, I have added a 'Texas Report ... Spring 2008' to the 'Trip Reports: USA' section. This latest report includes a selection of photos from High Island and Bolivar Flats.
May 8th:
Having just returned from Venezuela, I have added 'Caracas & Llanos Gallery' containing images taken in Caracas, the nearby Coastal Cordillera and Hato Pinero in the Llanos. A complete trip report will be added shortly ...
April 3rd:
The spring migration through southern Texas is underway and I have added a second 'Texas' Gallery with highlights from recent trips to High Island and Bolivar Flats. Note that the Tropical Birding / Birding America team have been a great addition at High Island, complementing the Houston Audubon Society's activities with free guided walks, a library, coffee and an excellent website giving daily updates on the migration. Check out http://www.birdinghighisland.com/ for their latest news.
February 19th:
I just received some copies of the new book 'Los Rostros de la Extincion' (The Faces of Extinction). The book showcases portraits of some 100+ endangered Venezuelan species in a quality coffee table format and was developed by Provita and the authors of the Venezuelan 'Red Book' to highlight their conservation efforts over the past 20 years. It includes 18 of my photos and I have added some snaps of this book and some of my other recent publications in the website's 'Publications' section.
February 5th 2008:
Created new "Trip Reports: Australia" section and added a summary report on our Christmas 2007 trip home to Sydney.
December 27th:
Created new "Trip Reports: USA" section and added a summary report on our 2007 trips to various parts of Texas and a report on our stopover in Kaua'i.
December 3rd:
Added expanded .pdf for recent SE Venezuela trip, containing more images and details (see 'Trip Reports' section).
Added photos to the 'Publications' section of my recent publications (Provita's "EcoAgenda 2008" and Audubon Society's "Aves de Venezuela 2008" calendar) that I was delighted to collect during our recent visit to Venezuela.
November 27th:
Added short .pdf file to 'Trip Reports' section containing some images and first pass trip list from recent SE Venezuela trip. Will now prepare a more complete trip report and image gallery ...
November 25th:
Back from fantastic 12 day trip to Venezuela and added "SE Venezuela Gallery #1", containing an initial selection of photos taken during this trip. Will subsequently add trip report and more photos ...
October 31st:
Added Texas Gallery #1 containing a selection of wildlife photos taken during recent trips short trips near to Houston.
September 9th:
Joint Andes trip report and trip list, as prepared with Mikko Pyhälä and David McLachlan-Karr, added to Venezuelan reports section.
A few photos (interesting poses or species, not great photos!) added to create Bird Gallery #6 and some additions to Fauna Gallery.
August 29th:
Bird Gallery #5 added ...
August 26th:
A few photos added to the galleries ...
August 22nd:
Details of photos published in a new Neotropical Birding article, additions to confirmed sightings list in the January 2007 Brazil trip report and a few photos added ...
August 20th:
Junglaven correction report added along with a few extra photos ...
August 17th:
New photos and photo galleries added ...
August 15th:
Publications sections added showing examples of work published to date. Meanwhile Kia provides crucial editorial review/checks the menu ...
Brazil, January 2007 and Andes of Venezuela, July 2007 trip reports updated reflecting photo identification corrections received from website reader. Thanks Rasmus!
August 13th:
NGO SUPPORT OPPORTUNITY
Respected Venezuelan environmental NGO Provita has launched its sales campaign for their 2008 desk diary which features my photographs of Venezuelan fauna. All photographs were donated free of charge and all proceeds from sales go exclusively towards funding Provita's research and conservation activities. Please see the downloadable .pdf flyer that describes the diary (in spanish) and also explains opportunities for companies to purchase and customise the diary for use as a corporate gift. As per the flyer, please contact Provita for puchase details. Also see Provita's website at http://www.provitaonline.org/ for details of their activities.
August 12th:
Navigation reorganised and minor page updates & corrections incorporated. Trip report for Bonaire added.
August 8th:
Additional photo galleries added (more Venezuelan birds, other fauna and flora, people, places etc.). Menus restructured to minimise clutter on navigation buttons. This "What's New" blog added to help readers check for any new information since last visit.
August 7th 2007:
Website launched and goes live! Initial version includes full set of Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador trip reports, some Venezuelan bird photo galleries and a small selection of links.
