Northern São Tomé is much drier thanks to the rain shadow of the islands mountains, so we searched this area for the endemic subspecies of Harlequin Quail! When we saw the charred landscape from local burning we assumed it would be a challenge, but we soon had incredible views!

After cleaning up on the endemics on the island of Principe, we enjoyed some relaxed wader watching in front of the islands main town! Per eBird, we had the 2nd records of both Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper, the latter drawing the unwanted attention of the local Black Kites!

Just back from a 10-day trip to São Tomé and Príncipe! It did not stop raining during our two days on Mount Carmo, but we still got to enjoy fabulous views of the Sao Tome Shorttail! Incredibly, this bird is thought to be a strange Wagtail and sits in the genus Motacilla

The migrants continued aplenty during my weekend away from Paris, birding the farmland around Strasbourg! Random bits of habitat that somehow feel like autumn at Spurn!

The nearby lake here in Paris does not have much in the way of shoreline, so I didn't hold too much hope for it attracting any migrant waders! So this flock of 13 Common Sandpipers was quite the surprise!

I've spent the last week searching for migrants in the parks of southern Paris with phenomenal success; 2 Redstarts, 1 Tree Pipit, 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 13 Pied Flycatchers and so many Blackcaps, well over 50 in total, among other species! Surprisingly excellent birding!

The Masked Water Tyrant is one of my all-time favourite South American birds! However, it had been a few years since I had seen the species, so I very much enjoyed a lively pair whilst in Ecuador! Simply superb birds!

The mysterious 'San Isidro' Black-banded Owl is a key target in northern Ecuador... So it was very good of this individual to sit outside the restaurant, saving us the hassle of needing to go and search for it in the dark!

My previous encounters with Ocellated Tapaculos had been limited to brief glimpses in dense vegetation! But thanks to the guys at Paz de las Aves, we were treated to incredible views of a pair devouring worms at a feeder! Perfect for a Tapaculo lover like myself!

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my first roosting Oilbirds whilst here in Ecuador! Seven years ago I saw them in flight, and I clearly misjudged just how big they actually are! Very cool birds!

It’s been 4 years since I visited the famous Angel Paz, so I was very excited to get to meet the latest version of Maria the Giant Antpitta! And she performed extremely well for us all!

I love looking at Cloud Forest hotspots on eBird and seeing random observations of wading birds sat in the road! It was something I always wanted to encounter for myself! And today it happened, with this Bairds Sandpiper sat on an Ecuadorean Cloud Forest road!

An unexpected bonus from Borneo was this rare Asian Forest Tortoise in the middle of the road on our way to Danum Valley! Although not a busy road, we decided it probably best to move it to a safer place!

Borneo was excellent for mammals, with 35 species recorded during our three weeks, including a whopping 13 different species of squirrels! Some highlights here; Bornean Gibbon, Philippine Slow Loris, Bornean Pygmy Elephant and the highlight, a Sunda Leopard Cat at Danum Valley!

The standout bird from our time in Borneo has to be the stunning male Bornean Peacock Pheasant and his outrageous plumage! Thanks to a hide, this once mythical species now offers incredible views!

Although we saw them on several occasions during our time in Borneo, the Bornean Crested Firebacks were always a delight to see! Truly spectacular birds!

Despite showing for 6 consecutive days, day 7 was unlucky for me with Giant Pitta at the Kinabatangan Hide this morning! But thanks to this absolute stunner, it was not a double-pitta-dip-day! Absolutely glowing Blue-banded Pitta near Lahad Datu this afternoon! What a bird!

Well… we had an eventful first evening on the canopy walkway at Sepilok… absolutely incredible!

Despite spending 4 days searching, we failed to find the Whiteheads Spiderhunter at Mount Kinabalu, leaving our Whiteheads trio incomplete! But we had some excellent compensation with a completely unexpected Jambu Fruit Dove! Even in the mist, its vibrancy could not be subdued!

Only four days in to our Borneo trip, and we’ve already landed 8 (EIGHT!!!) species of Squirrel! Undoubtedly the highlight was this delightful Tufted Pygmy Squirrel, which is endemic to the Bornean highlands!