This is the series that launched 1000’s of people into the hobby of birding (or bird-watching if you prefer). Now available as Instant Streaming from Amazon.
This is my affiliate link so I do appreciate you using it for this or any other purchase.
Here’s part 3 of the series I shared yesterday, enjoy!
I thought I would share this stunning video from National Geographic of a research expedition in the Okavango Delta. You can read the full story on their website.
The mission of the Okavango Wilderness Project is to secure the Okavango Delta and its vast untouched catchment in perpetuity. The film Okavango is a rallying point for the global community of stakeholders, government officials, researchers, activists, tourism operators, community members, conservationists and guides that support the protection of the Angolan catchment. Readers can help build up to our 8-week expedition over 1,000 miles down the length of the Okavango River in 2015 by sharing this epic, once-in-a-lifetime research and conservation expedition down the full length of the Okavango River through an abandoned wilderness into the Delta. — Steve Boyes.
PART 1
PART 2
Wired Science recently did an article on the Mysterious Behavior of Amazonian Macaws of Tambopata. They interviewed several researchers, including the director of the project, Donald Brightsmith. Long-time readers of my blog know that Tambopata is a personal favourite birding location of mine and I plan a return trip in 2016.
The article is very interesting and gives a more in-depth look than most eco-tourists get. I do find it sad that the younger chicks are no longer being rescued and hand-fed by the researchers. They used to do this in the past, that’s why the “Chicos” still hang around the lodge and try to steal people’s breakfasts! I would be much happier if the younger chicks were still being rescued, even if they were subsequently relocated to another habitat to interbreed with other Scarlet Macaws.
Call me a softie or whatever, but it would be a shame if these beauties had been left to die!
If anyone is planning to be in Brisbane in early July, you may be interested in the presentation on the Norfolk Island Green Parrot Recovery Program.
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A trip here is on my to-do list but Air New Zealand doesn’t seem to release award space for Star Alliance members. Hopefully that will change but in the meanwhile, a paid seat is the only way to get here. For more info see the Norfolk Island website.
Abi Smith will be doing a presentation on the Recovery Program at the Parrot Society of Australia’s bi-annual conservation dinner. For more details and registration, please visit their website.
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Along with optional excursions to Xcaret and the Belize Bird Rescue, this year’s 6th annual Parrot Lover’s Cruise has a fantastic line up of guest speakers.
Joining us on the cruise will be the charismatic
Dr. Sam Williams from Echo, an organization dedicated to helping protect Bonaire’s Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrot (Amazona barbadensis).
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon is considered Vulnerable to extinction, with just a few thousand remaining world-wide – and of those an estimated 800 are found on Bonaire.
I personally recommend going one day early and spending the night in Galveston to avoid any problems with flight delays.
The Parrot Lover’s Cruise has been adding more activities and speakers which are exclusive to those who book the cruise via the official travel agency.
Sometimes you can help conserve wild birds with just a simple Facebook “like”.
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The original page is in Spanish but Google Chrome will auto-translate it. Here is some of the text:
What is the target of the campaign Likes Responsible?
This campaign aims also to reach more people with the same vision of responsible and sustainable tourism, sponsorship 24 hectares of Amazon forest ArBio be protected by a conservation project that seeks to protect the rainforest and stop the negative impact of Inter-Oceanic Highway, ArBio read more about here .
How to achieve this?
For every 200 likes, ie 200 new followers or fans on our Facebook page, Responsible Travel Peru agree to donate the amount of money corresponding to sponsor an acre (10,000 m2) located in the concession area ArBio. As you probably know, is worth more intact forest conservation and the generation of oxygen, a reforestation area. Thanks to our community of followers or Facebook fans, this hectare may have the people, equipment and other resources to be monitored and protected from all threats, ensuring their preservation against deforestation illegal mining, ranching, agriculture and poaching.
Currently, respons is collaborating with the protection of 10 hectares, but have set the goal of caring for an additional 24 acres with the help of our supporters, and keep safe 34 hectares of Amazon forest.
How much time do we have to do?
This campaign has a start date of April 22 and only have 30 days to reach the goal set, ie only until May 22, 2014, however, we hope with your help to reach the goal before then and then continue with new RESPONSible actions.
How to know the progress of this campaign?
All developments of this campaign will be posted on Facebook and the pair create an article on this blog that constantly update with all the latest news: ha achieved, certificates attesting donating money to ArBio, pictures project and everything you need to keep you constantly updated .
How I can help protect those 24 acres of forest?
If you want to support this initiative to have a better future, the first thing to do is become a fan of our Facebook page giving to click “like”. If you already are, then help us spreading this article and all Facebook posts to people who, like you, they like RESPONSibly traveling through Peru, working with the sustainable development of communities and the protection of our natural wonders through campaigns like RESPONSible Shares.
Remember: every 200 “likes” on our Facebook page is a new hectare of Amazon forest safe.Help us keep! We and we appreciate the jungle!
Likes RESPONSible Why?
We have two main objectives. On the one hand, we want to help preserve more than 24 acres and 10 we sponsor to help slow deforestation and climate change. Furthermore, we aim to create an online community of people interested in travel involving economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability in order to disseminate more than 70 Peruvian communities we work together for development, as we are the link between these communities and the tourism market.
If you need more information you can leave your comments or questions below.
The VIII International Parrot Convention, organized by Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundación, will take place in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, from 22nd to 25th September 2014.
This conference takes place every 4 years and is one of the best conferences that is geared for conservationists and eco-tourism. Several of the speakers represent parrot research projects from all over the world. See the full program.
The cheapest way to get to Tenerife is by using miles from a OneWorld airline member such as American Airlines or British Airways on Iberia. The Tenerife Norte airport (TFN) is closer to the conference location of Puerto del la Cruz although the southern airport (TFS) can also be used with a longer commute by bus or taxi.
Iberia flights to Tenerife Norte
Availability is limited so you want to get in quick! You should arrive well before 19:00 on Monday when the conference has the inauguration speech. Here is availability for Monday, 22 Sept.
To use American miles or British Airways Avios, you need the Iberia site to show availability in Blue class. These flights can be added on to any other OneWorld redemption, for example LAX-DFW-MAD on American or Iberia, then connection to Tenerife. I’d be shooting for the morning flight as the one that gets in at 17:35 on a Monday is cutting it too close. Actually, we are flying in the day before and have had our tickets booked for months!
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If you want to play it safe and arrive the day before, here is availability for Sunday, 21 Sept.
As you can see, only the first flight has availability in Blue class. If you miss out, you can book using Iberia Avios (transferred in from British Airways or SPG) at a higher level.
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To get back to Madrid and subsequently your homeward flight, start with one of these flights on the 26th (after the conference) which show availability in Blue class.
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Using the example of Dallas as a nice central AA hub, we see good availability on British Airways on the 20th which can be used with one of the Iberia flights above. Beware that using British Airways can come with a hefty fuel surcharge of $312! Since the AA website doesn’t show Iberia’s availability, you could experiment with the Iberia site to try to make a good connection or simply call American Airlines to find the space. If you travel on the 19th instead of the 20th on American Airlines, the taxes are only $5. The savings of $307 would more than pay for a night at a hotel in Madrid or Tenerife! You will need 60,000 miles for the round-trip in economy all the way from the USA to Tenerife which could be easily obtained by getting a Citibank credit card or two!
From Australia you are looking at 90,000 round trip in economy and the fuel surcharges/taxes could go as high as $500-ish if you can’t avoid British Airways.
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If you are new to the world of miles and points, the above may be a bit confusing so please feel free to ask questions in the comments if you need further clarification.
This is one of the areas I will be visiting in 2015 on my big Africa trip. This newsletter and video describe some of the conservation efforts to save wild Cape Parrots in the area.
Children learn about conservation
Please read this latest National Geographic NewsWatch blog:
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/05/involving-children-in-conservation-is-easy/
The Cape Parrot Project and our community-based conservation project, the iziKhwenene Project, are multi-generational projects that aim to stimulate positive change for Cape parrots, other threatened forest endemics (e.g. the Hogsback frog), local communities, and the degraded Afromontane forest patches they all depend upon for food, shelter and environmental services. We are working more and more with local children and through our “micr0-nurseries” and “Forest Custodians Program” hope to establish them as the future stewards and custodians of the communally-owned indigenous forests near their homes. Please watch this amazing 14-minute video on the iziKhwenene Project to learn more about our work.
While gathering information for a future “bucket list” trip to the Marquesas to see the spectacular Ultramarine Lorikeet, and possibly also to Rimatara for Rimatara Lorikeets, I found this article in a pdf version of Air Tahiti’s magazine. Also see the MANU website.
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This is excellent news as the birds could otherwise be difficult to find given the lush mountainous topography of these islands. The local guides would know where to find them.
There are very few airlines that get you to Tahiti on miles, only Air New Zealand (Star Alliance) and Air Tahiti Nui (non-alliance partner with American Airlines & Delta). You need a South Pacific award which falls into the same region as Australia in most cases.
Once you are there, you need to pay full price for the Air Tahiti flight as they don’t have any mileage options…………..and the flights are not cheap!