back to the US for a three-tick road trip (Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Clapper Rail & King Rail, coincidentally on "No Kings" day) from AOC's Queens down to Trumpian Virginia Beach & back, via Monarchs aplenty on Cape May, some fun late-summer flowers & a random suburban colony of Collared Doves #NoKings

a poser of a Connecticut Warbler in Madison Square Park this afternoon was the 18th warbler of my long weekend in New York, followed by a stonking Yellow-breasted Chat in Verizon Plaza, my "most-wanted" for this visit. #UrbanBirding gets no better

an Arctic Warbler in New York is just... 🤯😵‍💫 I made do with a bright Dickcissel on Governor's Island ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Next spring, in addition to our regular orchid-focussed itinerary, @jameslowenwild.bsky.social and @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social are looking forward to spending a week enjoying Cyprus's amazing bird life. wildlife-travel.co.uk/europe/cypru...

our 2026 holiday brochure is ready to download from our website. Have a read, and let's start making plans for the year ahead! wildlife-travel.co.uk/our-holidays...

vast numbers of 7-spot Ladybirds on the move along the Essex coast this afternoon at least 150 per minute flying north just on this one section of footpath, constant since midday, vegetation full & occasional biters... it's like the 80s all over again #InsectMigration #TheGoodOldDays

idling the weekend away on some muggy Essex sea walls A couple of new plants, and don't think I've ever seen so many Gatekeepers or Marbled Whites #WildFlowerHour

blue skies restored today, as we headed up to the top of Karwendel for our final morning in the #BavarianAlps turf studded with colourful alpine flowers; mountain butterflies included Dewy Ringlet, Alpine Grizzled Skipper; and an Alpine Chamois spotted from Germany's second highest cable car

fueled by apfelstrudel, we wandered the fen meadows of Pulvermoos a mess of Dactylorhiza genes stretched from the creamy Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp ochroleuca to the elegant Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, with Musk Orchids amongst them today's dose of lousewort came in the form of King of the Moor

a flash of pink caught my eye amongst the municipal plantings in the centre of Mittenwald... not what I expected amongst the Dasiphora & Cotoneaster, a spike of Red Helleborine, just in time for #WildflowerHour #UrbanPlants don't get much better than that! #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps

an exciting day up the Wankberg, with some great high mountain butterflies, Long-beaked Lousewort (any day with a new Pedicularis is a good day in my book) and a thunder storm #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps

a hot day out in the vastness of Murnauer Moos plenty of butterflies on the wing, with Dusky Large Blue, Geranium Argus & Large Heath amongst the stars Siberian Iris was plant of the day, and singing Common Rosefinch & Marsh Warbler kept the birders happy #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps

a day of cheeky choughs, spectacular views and architectural flowers up the Zugspitze and then a circuit of the Eibsee #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps

a room with a view the imposing sight of Karwendel, looming over the Alpine town of Mittenwald, home for the next week #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps Servus!

a trio of gruesome Aristolochias at Munich Botanic Gardens nachste halt, Mittenwald... #WildlifeTravelling in the #BavarianAlps

just some of the orchid highlights of a week's worth of #WildlifeTravelling in the #Cevennes and #GrandsCausses, just in time for #WildFlowerHour with @tomforward.bsky.social and @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social

one last #MothBreakfast before we head home from the #Cevennes a crisp Spurge Hawk-moth, friendly Arctia tigrina, giant Four-spotted Footman and an ostentation of Giant Peacocks set us up nicely for a day on the rails. #WildlifeTravelling with @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social & @tomforward.bsky.social

a few more Cretan endemics from the last few days Zelkova abelicea from the White Mountains Centaurea redempta Dianthus xylorrhizus, for some reason restricted to just one or two hills in western Crete Ovaliptila lindergi, a cave cricket found in a handful of caves along the north coast #Crete

a relaxed day on #Crete, with Red-rumped Swallows and Red-footed Falcons, and a ridiculously range-restricted, critically endangered tree: Salix kaptarae, seemingly endemic to just two sites in Crete, with a population of fewer than 50 individuals

today's visit to Elafonissi coincided with some ace "vismig" migration: tired Roller & Collared Flycatcher on the rocks, 2 Nightjars, 4 Golden Orioles "in-off", Turtle Doves, 6 Purple Herons & more + Colchicum rechingeri, it's only European outposts being a handful of western Crete beaches #Crete

revisiting former haunts earlier in the week with @sarahlambert7.bsky.social Rare Spring Sedge (Carex ericetorum) along with Pasque Flowers aplenty and the incongruous pair of Mouflon more than made up for the lack of Mousetail...

orchids doing what orchids do... a hillside of hybrid Mirror Orchids, growing alongside both parents: the local Ophrys speculum subsp lusitanica and the widespread Ophrys speculum subsp speculum #WildlifeTravelling on the #Algarve

a particularly iris-y day today best was a roadside patch of Iris xiphium, a new species for me, (along with a napping resin bee) the typically blousy Iris albicans and Iris x germanica, always on the edge of villages and the "have you eaten your lunch yet?" cue of Barbary Nut

today was 20,000 steps in the Barrocal a sunny day, with orchids and irises first off a trio of local orchid specialities, all with some degree of identity crisis plus some particularly lush Tongue Orchids #WildlifeTravelling in the #Algarve

and some Algarve roadside weeds...

up to the misty heights of Monchique today failed on my Drosophyllum twitch, but did find some nice birds along the way #WildlifeTravelling in the #Algarve

the sun came out, and with it the festoons definitely spring

a fun day exploring the Costa Vicentina highlights were two Near Threatened southern Iberian endemics, Narcissus gaditanus & Juniperus navicularis #WildlifeTravelling #Algarve

Mammals of Iberia, my collaboration w/the fabulous Carlos Bocos, was published by @chiffchat yesterday. It combines a photographic field guide to Iberia's terrestrial mammals w/a travel section on where to watch them & suggested itineraries tinyurl.com/mammals-Iberia #mammals #travel #wildlifetravel

A Very Rare Type D Sighting. Read the full story here: buff.ly/4k4PcOi Photo by @wildlifeprecey.bluesky.social #WhaleTales @birdingdad.blogspot.com

Ushuaia, you have made us feel very welcome and have given us some fantastic birding. Last bird seen before departure, Upland Goose. With @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social

a horizon-filling group of 60+ Sei Whales at the mouth of the Beagle Channel and a pod of Peale's Dolphins alongside the ship brought our amazing journey #WayDownSouth to a suitably emotional close. 16 unrepeatable, unforgettable days with @birdingdad.bsky.social and @oceanwide-expeditions.com

Hourglass Dolphins charging out of the swell on the Drake Passage this morning #WayDownSouth with @birdingdad.bsky.social and @oceanwide-expeditions.com

one last snowy "hurrah" from the South Shetlands, before we head back north into the Drake Passage... #WayDownSouth with @oceanwide-expeditions.com and @birdingdad.bsky.social

oh my... after spending all day, every day on deck, this morning in Antarctic Sound gave us a splendid reward not one, but two young Emperor Penguins, with a supporting cast of type B Orcas and Humpbacks aplenty #WayDownSouth with big grins, @birdingdad.bsky.social and @oceanwide-expeditions.com

All the hours spent on deck paid off with two incredible Emperor Penguins! On ice floes in the north of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Top find @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social !

Chinstraps, the finest of penguins #WayDownSouth on the South Shetland Islands with @birdingdad.bsky.social

another awe-inspiring Orca encounter, as a pod of type-A, the whale killers, picked a young Fin Whale from the 40+ whales lunge feeding in the lea of Elephant Island, and charged it down. welcome to Antarctica #WayDownSouth with @birdingdad.bsky.social

A quiet day at sea south of South Georgia started incredibly, with a lone bull Orca, which we quickly realised was a Type D! Chaos ensued on deck... Great to compare with the B2s we had yesterday -see pic 2. With @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social #MarineMammals #Orca

yesterday... 2 hours with a pod of 25 type-B Orcas

and we thought yesterday was good... this big bull type-D Orca came crusing past the ship early morning. tears may have been shed... oh, and A23-A came past too #WayDownSouth with @birdingdad.bsky.social

one last morning on #SouthGeorgia

spending time with the Kings of South Georgia... we've probably seen half a million individuals. just mind blowing... with @birdingdad.bsky.social

a morning spent with Light-mantled Albatrosses... #WayDownSouth on #SouthGeorgia with @birdingdad.bsky.social

an amazing day on New Island, #Falklands with @birdingdad.bsky.social and @oceanwide-expeditions.com where everyone seemed to have something to shout about Peale's Dolphins riding the zodiac bows, Striated Caracara, three species of penguin and a lifetime's worth of albatrosses

End of a bumpy first day on the boat heading to the Falklands. The Atlantic has eased from the ten metre swell we had earlier. Southern Giant Petrels and Black-browed Albatrosses tailing us as we head east. With @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social

one last morning of pottering about around the #Ushuaia coast, and then it was time to get on board a big boat... #WayDownSouth with @birdingdad.bsky.social and @oceanwide-expeditions.com

day 3 in #Ushuaia, pottering around Playa Susana with @birdingdad.bsky.social Dog Orchids & Magellanic Ragwort amongst the trees, Black-browed Albatross sailing past offshore, delicate Phulia theodice on the daisies and both species of local Oyk #WayDownSouth

after being refused entry to the national park (computer says no), we made the obligatory visit to the town dump (hello White-throated Caracara) followed by Garibaldi Pass, where condors soared and some ace alpines distracted us from the absent seedsnipe #WayDownSouth with @birdingdad.bsky.social