10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

As introductions to tropical Pacific birding go, you could do a lot worse than Fiji. It was just such a layover that landed me in Fiji a few years ago. As myself and some other stranded Kadavu-bound travellers sat watching the grey clouds over the sea with a beer or two I also managed to find a tiny Fiji Parrotfinch in the grasses.

Fiji 169

Fiji Solomon Islands Parrots Los Angeles 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

The species was in the news because some scientists had finally managed (or bothered – it’s much the same thing) to locate the population high in the mountains of the Solomon Islands, and catch and photograph one. Unsurprisingly the ones that most stick in the mind were the lost species. Box after box of egg. Bush Wrens.

Collecting 224

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2012

One such tricky bird is the Bristle-thighed Curlew , a species that complicates the matter by looking suspiciously like the common or garden Whimbrel. You can encounter them from Hawaii across to French Polynesia and Fiji. It’s also fun to think about the massive disparity between the winter and summer range of the species.

Fiji 183

Fiji North America Hawaii America 183

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2013

For some it allows you to enjoy the marvel of nature, for others it allows you to tick the many amazing species of fish and sea life that is down there (even the occasional vagrant). Diving has taken me to places like Belize, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Egypt, places that coincidentally are fun to bird. Kina, or Sea Urchin.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Goats Vanuatu Fiji 161

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. Here in New Zealand te only potential big tick would be a lost vagrant painted snipe, and we’ve already established that I don’t enjoy that kind of vagrant hunting.

Family 163

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

There were two species there, even, of a type I had never heard of. Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji. You’ll find pardalotes over most of Australia, but only four species in all.

Australia 172

Australia Fiji Hunters Thailand 172