September
The island of Sulawesi must be on the bucket list for any naturalist with a strong interest in biogeography. Though Borneo is situated only a few hundred kilometers to the west, and the Moluccas are not far to the east, the species composition of Sulawesi is significantly different than these islands. Deep water trenches lie on either side of Sulawesi, so that even during times of glacial maxima when the sea-levels are at their lowest, Sulawesi remains an island. This limits gene flow and, over time, many of the species found on Sulawesi have evolved into unique forms. This uniqueness is really evident with the bird life, as almost half of the regularly-occurring birds are found nowhere else in the world.
I spent a few weeks in September leading a tour for Worldwide Quest on Sulawesi and Halmahera. Halmahera is located further east in the Moluccas, where the species composition is a bit closer to that of New Guinea.
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| Green-backed Kingfisher |
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| Walker's Gliding Dragon (Draco walkeri) |
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| Violet Lacewing (Cethosia myrina) |
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| Sunda Teal |
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| Geomalia |
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| Cinnabar Boobook |
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| Black-naped Oriole feeding on a cicada |
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| Robberfly (subfamiy Asilinae) feasting on a leafhopper |
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| Celebes Dwarf Squirrel (Prosciurillus murinus) feeding on bark |
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| Diabolical Nightjar |
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| Yellow Bittern |
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| Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) |
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| Pale-blue Monarch |
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| Maleo |
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| Sulawesi Serpent-Eagle |
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| Pacific Bluetail Skink (Emoia caeruleocauda) |
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| Sulawesi Dwarf-Kingfisher |
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| Milon's Bluebottle (Graphium milon) |
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| Scaly-breasted Kingfisher |
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| Sulawesi Pitta |
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| Wandering Whistling-Ducks |
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| Sulawesi Scops-Owl |
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| Sulawesi Lilac Kingfisher |
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| Knobbed Hornbill |
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| Ochre-bellied Boobook |
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| Gursky's Spectral Tarsier (Tarsius spectrumgurskyae) |
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| Pallid Ghost Crab (Ocypode pallidula) |
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| Sulawesi Bear Cuscus (Ailurops ursinus) |
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| Celebes Crested Macaque (Macaca nigra) |
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| Sulawesi Hornbill |
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| Great-billed Kingfisher |
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| Little Tern |
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| Gray-tailed Tattler |
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| Blue-and-white Kingfisher |
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| Halmahera Oriole |
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| Halmahera Boobook |
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| Wallace's Standardwing |
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| Moluccan King-Parrot |
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| Chattering Lory |
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| Nicobar Pigeon |
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| Blue-capped Fruit-Dove |
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| Variable Goshawk |
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| Therates sp. |
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| Gasteracantha audouini |
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| North Moluccan Pitta |
October/November
Much like Sulawesi, the Galápagos archipelago is also a must-visit destination for anyone with an interest in ecology, evolution, or biogeography. I returned this October to lead a tour for Worldwide Quest, with our route focusing more on the western islands, where the nutrient-rich upwellings of the Cromwell Current provide excellent conditions for Galápagos Penguins, Flightless Cormorants and an abundance of sea life. It was an amazing trip, and a special bonus for me was having my parents join me on tour for the first time.
I scheduled my flights in such a way to take advantage of being in Ecuador; that is, I had a few free days prior to the tour, and a week at the end of the tour. My pre-tour days were spent twitching a Black-breasted Puffleg and birding in the Bellavista area above Mindo. For six nights after the tour, I journeyed to RÃo Bigal, a reserve situated at around 1000m in elevation in the eastern Andes. This elevation is ideal to find an interesting mix of Amazonian and Andean species. I caught up with some of the specialty birds of the region including Pink-throated Brilliant, Blackish Pewee and (heard-only) Salvin's and Nocturnal Curassows, and found a few surprise species as well (Orange-breasted Falcon, Slate-colored Seedeater, Acadian Flycatcher). Additionally, I found a few interesting mammals, the night-hiking was productive and the mothing was some of the best I've ever done.
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| Black-breasted Puffleg |
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| Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant |
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| Sapphire-vented Puffleg |
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| Masked Flowerpiercer |
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| Hooded Mountain-Tanager |
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| Othna Skipper (Thespieus othna) |
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| Epidendrum spathatum |
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| Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger porteri) |
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| Small Tree-Finch |
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| Medium Ground-Finch |
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| Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus) |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Galápagos Penguin |
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| Santiago Lava Lizard (Microlophus jacobii) |
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| American Flamingo |
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| Isla Rábida, Galápagos, Ecuador |
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| Wandering Tattler |
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| American Oystercatcher |
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| Galápagos Prickly Pear (Opuntia galapageia) |
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| Brujo Flycatcher |
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| Brujo Flycatcher |
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| Blue-footed Boobies |
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| Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Kayaking in Galápagos, Ecuador |
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| Flightless Cormorant |
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| Striated Heron |
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| Galápagos Penguin |
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| Panamic Cushion Star (Pentaceraster cumingi) |
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| Galápagos Land Iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) |
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| Brown Noddy |
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| Galápagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis) |
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| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron |
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| Galápagos Petrel |
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| Spotted Boxfish (Ostracion meleagris) |
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| Galápagos Dove |
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| Blue-footed Booby |
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| Great Frigatebird |
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| Swallow-tailed Gulls |
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| Volcán Antisana |
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| Black-mantled Tamarin (Saguinus nigricollis) |
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| Desmoloma sp. |
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| Colla amoena |
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| Common Lancehead (Bothrops atrox) |
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| Phareicranaus grailis |
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| Broad-headed Woodlizard (Enyalioides laticeps) |
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| Oospila ruptimacula |
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| Cerodirphia sp. |
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| Eulepidotis inclyta |
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| Phrictus hoffmannsi |
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| My cabin at RÃo Bigal (and front yard moth sheet) |
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| Marañón White-fronted Capuchin (Cebus yuracus) |
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| Gray-breasted Sabrewing |
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| Spotted Paca (Cuniculus paca) |
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| Santa Cecilia Glass Frog (Teratohyla midas) |
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| Metallic Robber Frog (Pristimantis lanthanites) |
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| Herminodes sp. |
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| Auratonota dispersa |
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| Eumarozia sp. |
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| Casuaria armata |
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| Green Manakin |
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| Lemon-tipped Helicopter (Mecistogaster ornata) |
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| Ecuadorian Piedtail |
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| Zaevius calocore |
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| Histioea bellatrix |
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| Zatrephes trailii |
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| Amber Phantom (Haetera piera) |
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| South American Leaftosser |
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| Antirrhea philoctetes |
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| Gray-tailed Piha |
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| Gymnelia eusebia |
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| Viviennea moma |
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| Pseudischnocampa humosa |
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| Grapeleaf Passionflower (Passiflora vitifolia) |
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| Black Caracaras |
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| Rusted Clearwing-Satyr (Cithaerias pireta) |
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| Brown-eared Anole (Anolis fuscoauratus) |
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| Hyperandra diminuta |
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| Prepiella aurea |
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| Rosema apollinairei |
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