BIRDING THE WORLD:
PERSONAL TRIP CHRONOLOGY
by Don Roberson
creagrus@montereybay.com
INTERNATIONAL BIRDING TRIPS

This is a summary of my international birding trips. As I was born and still live in California, I do not include the United States or southern Canada among "international" travel. My first foreign birding was during a European vacation with my father and sister when I was a teenager but that was just looking at birds around the hotels or at tourist sites. That is not included below but various other trips with my father and sister (e.g., a 1978 world tour or various SCUBA diving vacations with my dad) that were not primarily bird trips are listed as I did search for all birds that could be found at each locale. All other trips have been focused birding trips although they may have included visits to historical or cultural sites. For convenience, I include trips to Alaska, Hawaii, and Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, as "foreign" birding trips. In the last two columns, all species totals are NIB = "No Introduced Birds" are included.

 
Destination
Month/Year
Length
Companions (for tours approx. no. participants)
Birds recorded
DR lifers
COLOMBIA
(w & c Andes, Leticia & adjacent Brazil on Amazon River, Cayaru R. just in Peru)
July 1975
20 days
group of 8-9 Calif. friends organized by Van Remsen
487
465
England, Iran, India, Nepal, Japan, Guam, Truk, Ponape, Hawaii
Aug 1978
4 week world tour with only 7-8 days of birding
Non-birding father & sister; 2 days in India w/Raj Singh, 1 day in Nepal w/R.L. Fleming, Sr.
178
62
Grand Cayman, U.S. Virgin Is., Cozumel I.
Aug-Sep 1979
3 wk diving trip with only a few days of birding
My father
115
36
ATTU I. & ST. LAWRENCE I. & mainland ALASKA
May-June 1980
24 days
ATTOUR tour (40), incl. leaders Dan Gibson, Thede Tobish, Ben King & others
169
44
San Salvador, Bahamas
 Nov 1980,
May 1983
2 trips, each a week diving, with only a bit of birding
My father & sister
55
3
PANAMA
Jan 1981
15 days
GGAS tour (12) w/ Chris Carpenter, Joe Morlan, J.M. Langham; local guide Jaime Pujals
342
164
England, Israel & Sinai
Oct-Nov 1981
16 days
My father & sister on diving trip; 1 day in U.K. w/J. Marchant; 9 days in Israel & Sinai (day w/ B.Oddie, D.Hunt, K.Mullarney)
178
62
KENYA

see
Trip Report

Nov 1981
23 days
Steve Wilson
560
505
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Oct 1983
16 days 
(plus 4 days diving Madang before birding trip)
Steve Wilson, Chris Spooner; sev. days w/Brian Fitch, day w/Peter Kaestner
313
234
east & south AUSTRALIA
Nov 1983
[continuation of preceding trip]
13 days
(+ 21 days diving Great Barrier Reef)
Steve Wilson, Chris Spooner; (plus day in Sept w/car full of local Sydney birders)
337
261
VENEZUELA including pre-tour week in Tepuis of southeast
Jan 1985
22 days
Jeri Langham, Shawn Hayes, Mike Lippsmeyer (first 8 days); GGAS tour (6) led by Langham (last 14 days)
554
222
Bonaire,
Netherlands Antilles
Aug 1985
1 week SCUBA diving with 1 day birding
My father & sister
46
2
El Triunfo, Chiapas, MEXICO
Apr 1986
10 days
VENT tour (15) led by Victor Emanuel, Kevin Zimmer
204
59
Sinaloa & Nayarit, MEXICO
Feb 1987
8 days
Bob & Rose Tintle, Robin Abbey
145
32
PERU
(Paracas, c. Andes, Amazon Basin in northeast at ExplorNapo &  southeast at Explorer's Inn)
June 1987
23 days
Bob Tintle, Dan Singer, Donna Lion, Robin Abbey
494
202
Churchill, Manitoba, CANADA
June 1988
6 days
Robin Abbey
68
3
BORNEO [Sabah, Malaysia]
Aug 1988
11 days
alone
141
128
SUMATRA, JAVA & BALI [Indonesia]
Aug 1988
(continuation of preceding trip)
19 days
KINGBIRD tour (7) led by Ben King, Dennis Yong
201
128
EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC w/ 5 days Hawaii; stops at Santa Cruz I., Galapagos & Cocos I.; 5 days Costa Rica; 5 days Ecuador
Aug-Nov 1989
4 months on research cruise; brief port calls monthly
As a seabird observer aboard NOAA ship McArthur w/8 others
82 at sea
298 on land
25 at sea
63 on land
PHILIPPINES
[Luzon, Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, Mindanao]

see
Trip Report

Feb-Mar 1990
27 days
KINGBIRD tour (6) led by Ben King, joined by Tim Fisher at Mt. Katanglad camp
276
148
Netherlands
Oct 1991
6 days
Attend Euro rarities committes mtg on Texel; 50+ hotshots present but mostly w/Graham Catley, Andreas Berg
95
12
n. & e. ECUADOR
(incl. a week at La Selva Lodge)
Apr 1992
14 days
Rita Carratello
321
54
SEYCHELLES
Nov 1992
5 days
FIELD GUIDES tour (8) led by Rose Ann Rowlett & Terry Stevenson; w/Rita Carratello et al.
36
14
MADAGASCAR
Nov-Dec 1992 (continuation of preceding trip)
17 days
Continuation of tour (now 12) led by Jan Pierson +; w/Rita Carratello
163
127
MAURITIUS & REUNION
Dec 1992 (continuation of preceding trip)
6 days
Continuation of tour (12) with Bret Whitney, T. Stevenson+; w/R. Carratello
27
17
IRIAN JAYA, New Guinea [Indonesia]
July 1994
26 days
J. Spencer tour led by S.F. Bailey & Will Betz; w/ Rita Carratello, Mark Sokol, Laney Langlois, John Rothman & Bill Keener
270
76
Oaxaca & w Veracruz, MEXICO
Dec 1995
12 days
Rita Carratello, Bob & Rose Tintle
207
28
GABON

see
Trip Report

July 1996
15 days 
ABA tour (6) led by Ian Sinclair & Patrice Christy; w/Rita Carratello, Bill Bouton +
281
179
SAO TOME e PRINCIPE
July 1996 (contintion of preceding tour)
6 days
Continuation of preceding TOUR
47
23
eastern
SOUTH AFRICA
July-Aug 1996 (post-tour extension by Rita & me)
10 days
Rita Carratello
143
37
NEW ZEALAND (North I.), e & s AUSTRALIA, NEW CALEDONIA
Dec 1997-Jan 1998
18 days
Rita Carratello; day w/ Yves Letocart in New Caledonia, 2 days w/Phil Maher in N.S.W.
295
72
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC & PUERTO RICO
Jan 1999
7 days
Rita Carratello
88
33
southeast & central BRAZIL
[Patanal & Rio Cristolino]
Aug 1999
17 days
Rita Carratello; Pantanal part guided by Paulo Boute
401
130
LESSER ANTILLES
[St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent, Grenada, 1 day Puerto Rico]
Mar  2000
10 days
FONT tour (6) led by Armas Hill & locals Donald Anthony, Bertrand John-Baptiste +
109
28
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

see
Trip Report

Mar  2001
5 days
Rita Carratello, Dan Singer, Steve Bailey; 1 half-day with Colin  Richardson
128
22
nw. & ne. 
INDIA
[Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam]

see
Trip Report

Mar-Apr 2001
25 days
Rita Carratello, Dan Singer, Steve Bailey; w/local guides arranged by Raj Singh
421
163
sw. ENGLAND (extension of preceding trip)
Apr 2001
5 days but only 1 day birding

Rita Carratello;
1 day w/local Neil Lukes

~50
2
El Triunfo,
Chiapas,
MEXICO

see
Trip Report

Mar 2002
10 days
VENT tour (19) led by Victor Emanuel, Greg Lasley, Brad Boyle
230
10
UGANDA

see
Trip Report

July 2002
15 days
Rita Carratello
with driver/guide
Hassan Mutebi & local guides as needed
392
90
northern
TANZANIA
with brief stop
in Kenya

(continuation of
preceding trip)

Aug 2002
14 days
Rita Carratello; 11 days in Tanzania w/John & Elaine Sorensen;
driver/guide
Yoda Mkai
305
23
BORNEO [Sabah & Sarawak, Malaysia]

see
Trip Report

July-Aug 2003
25 days
Rita Carratello; sev. local guides esp. Wangkong Intel at Borneo Rainforest Lodge
240
41
northern CHINA [Manchuria & Qinghai Plateau]

see
Trip Report

June 2004
20 days
SUNBIRD tour (8) led by Paul Holt; w/David Fisher et al.
244
93
southwestern  AFRICA
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana

see
Trip Report

July 2005
29 days
Rita Carratello; private ROCKJUMPER tour with Richard White
282
114
PHILIPPINES
[Luzon, Mindoro, Palawan, Negros, Bohol, Cebu, Mindanao]

see
Trip Report

Dec 2005-Jan 2006
30 days
private tour led by Tim Fisher w/Blake Matheson, Jon & Anne King, Volker Schmidt
308
[group total ~345]
48
TRINIDAD
Dec 2006
3 days
Rita Carratello; and guide David Ramlal for 1 day
95
6

COSTA RICA

see trip report

Dec 2007
12 days
Rita Carratello;
plus local guides at times: Alex Martinez, Kevin Martinez, Kenneth Alfonso, Abram Gallo, Luis Sandoval
285+
39

PHOTOS: All photos on this page are © 2008 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.

TOP

TO LIST OF BIRD FAMILIES OF THE WORLD

TO ENDANGERED & THREATENED PAGE

TO MONTEREY COUNTY PAGE

TO HOME PAGE

Page created 8-10 Dec 2001, last updated 21 Jan 2008