Living off memories - TRIP INDEX 2025>1974

The following lists and gives links to the relevant blogs of all the foreign birding and some family trips that I have been fortunate enough to have done. It is ordered by year with the most recent first. Blogs of the older trips use scanned slides, some having degraded badly with age, or digitised prints of varying quality. Some use photos taken by those I was with. These are usually easy to tell as they are significantly better than mine (and in most cases acknowledged). Many of the older blogs are based on my unreliable memories as my notes were very lacking in detail, other than the birds seen, something I now greatly regret. The blogs were initially done to find a 'home' for boxes of old slides which I had not looked at for years, my dad giving me his slide scanner providing the necessary impetus to digitise them. Doing these blogs has brought back many very happy memories, and a few sad ones. I’ve been very fortunate to have various like-minded friends whom I have been able to travel with. Sadly several are no longer with us.

Kagu, New Caledonia August 1998 (digitised print originally taken with an instamatic).  One of my all-time top five birds. Giant Pittas (1987), displaying Wilson's Bird of Paradise (1993), displaying Western Parotia (2013) and Royal Penguins (2023) are the others. Recent Hooded Grebe (2024) and Waved Albatross (2025) are not far behind although a top 10 requires a bit more thought

2025:   FRANCE Somme (June) here

            GALAPAGOS (May) starts here

            INDIA North East (January) starts here

2024:   ARGENTINA Southern (November) starts here

             SPAIN Cantabria (September) here

            USA Alaska (June) starts here

            CYPRUS (March) starts here

            PANAMA (February) starts here

2023:   NEW ZEALAND and BIRDING DOWN UNDER Cruise (December) starts here  

            FRANCE Boulogne (June) included here

            INDIA South and Andamans (January/February) starts here

           

2022:  FRANCE Somme (September) here

           BRAZIL SW Amazonia (May/June) starts here                

           COSTA RICA (April/May) starts here

2020:  SPAIN Fuerteventua (February) starts here

           MYANMAR (January) starts here

2019:   FRANCE Somme (September) here

            (BALI and) BORNEO (August) starts here
            NORWAY Varanger Fjord (March) starts here

            SRI LANKA (January/February) starts here

2018:  MADAGASCAR (October) here

           SPAIN Mallorca (September) here
           PERU North (June/July) starts here

           FRANCE Somme (May) here
           ECUADOR (February) starts here

2017:  BOLIVIA (November) starts here

           GREECE Northern (October) here
           FRANCE Somme (September) here
           MONGOLIA (May) starts here
           GUYANA (March/April) starts here
           TRINIDAD and TOBAGO (March) here

           JAMIACA (February) here

2016:  GHANA (October/November) starts here

           FRANCE Somme (September) here

           JAPAN (June/July) starts here
           NORWAY & FINLAND (May/June) starts here
           MEXICO Southern (February/March) starts here
           USA California (January) starts here

2015:  BRAZIL (September/October) starts here

           FRANCE Somme (August/September) here

           INDONESIA Lesser Sundas (August) starts here
           USA Arizona (April/May) starts here
           ECUADOR (January/February) starts here
          

2014: FRANCE Brittany (September) here

          COLOMBIA (July/August) starts here

          SPAIN Extremadura (April) starts here        

2013: FRANCE Normandie (September) here

          INDONESIA West Papua (August) starts here

          FRANCE Corsica (May) starts here

2012: FRANCE Somme (September) here

          MALAYSIA Sarawak & Sabah (July/August) starts here

          TURKEY (June) starts here

          

2011: TAIWAN (April/May) starts here

          ETHIOPIA (February) starts here

2010: UGANDA (June) starts here

          CHINA Shanghai, Wuishan, Yangxian & Pingtai (May/June) starts here

2009: VIETNAM Cat Tien & Da Lat (April) starts here

2008: NAMIBIA (July/August) starts here
          PHILIPPINES (April) starts here

2007: INDIA Eaglenest (March/April) here     

          

2006: PAPUA NEW GUINEA (July/August) starts here

2005: INDONESIA Sumatra & West Java (June/July) starts here

          USA Texas (March/April) here  

2004:  PAPUA NEW GUINEA (June) starts here

           CUBA Western (April) here
          

2003:  CAMEROON (April) here

           JAPAN (January) starts here

2002:  CHILE (April) here

2001:  GAMBIA (October/November) here

           PUERTO RICO & DOMINION REPUBLIC (April) starts here

2000:  CHINA Qinghai (June/July) starts here

           CYPRUS (April)

           

1999:  ECUADOR (August/September) here

1998:  AUSTRALIA and NEW CALEDONIA (July/August) starts here        

1997:  VIETNAM (March/April) here 

1996: NEW ZEALAND (August) starts here

          PHILIPPINES (April) here

1995: MADAGASCAR (August) starts here

1993: INDONESIA Irian Jaya (August) starts here

1992: INDONESIA Sulawesi and Halmahera (August) starts here

1991: SOUTH AFRICA (August) starts here

1990: ARGENTINA (August) starts here

1989: ICELAND (June) here

1988: BRAZIL (July/August) starts here

          THAILAND Peninsular (March/April) here 

1987: MALAYSIA Sabah and Peninsular (July/August) starts here

1986: ECUADOR and VENEZUELA Henri Pittier July/August 1986 starts here

          AUSTRALIA Queensland and Northern Territory (March/April) starts here

1985: COSTA RICA and PANAMA Canal Zone (July/August) starts here

1984: BOTSWANA (December 1984-January 1985) starts here

          PERU (July/August) starts here

1983: KENYA (July/August) starts here

1982: VENEZUELA (December 1982-February 1983) starts here

          ASIA (January-July)

           MALAYSIA Peninsular (January/February) starts here          

           THAILAND North (February) starts here

           NEPAL (March/June)
              Jomson Trek (March) starts here
              Kathmandu/Ilam bailout/Kosi/Kathmandu (April) starts here

              Everest Trek (April/May) starts here
              Kathmandu/Chitwan/Kathmandu (May) starts here

              Langtang Trek (May/June) starts here

              Kathmandu to Delhi (June) here

          INDIA (June/July)
              Ladakh starts here
              Kashmir starts here

1981: AUSTRIA (July) here

1980: THAILAND (December 1980-January 1981) starts here

          CANADA Ontario (May) starts here

1979: NEPAL (November 1979-January 1980) starts here

          CANARIES (June/July) starts here 

          ISRAEL (March/April) starts here

1978: THAILAND (December 1978-January 1979) starts here

1977: KENYA (December 1977-January 1978) starts here

          MOROCCO (April) starts here

1975: FRANCE Carmargue and Pyrenees (May) included here

1974: MAJORCA (October) brief mention here