INDIA: Safari Assam — A Tea Country Safari for Rhinos, Hargila, & other Rare Species

March 7 – 17, 2026
eBird Trip Report
Kaziranga, Nameri & Manas
A Life List Podcast Event with Hillstar Nature
Photos by George Armistead

While India occupies a unique space within our mental landscape, as a place of great contrasts, conjuring images of brilliant color, earthy cuisine, and a unique cultural richness and heritage, relatively few people are as familiar with the state of Assam. Among the seven sister states of Northeast India, it is not necessarily easy to get to, and certainly the current state of global chaos made it all the more complex for our particular journey.

Great Hornbill in flight over Bhutan. The state bird of Kerala and for Arunachal Pradesh, some individuals have lived close to 50 years old in captivity.

Regardless, an intrepid group of 18 of us met up and set off from Delhi, and after a flight that provided views of Mount Everest, we touched down in the capital city of Guwahati. We were notably without a couple of friends we’d wished to have with us, including Michele who was stuck in Dubai and Mollee who ended up having an ordeal of an experience in the Middle East, before finally having to go back to the US, arriving there the day the tour began. The rest of us made it into Guwahati, where we promptly grabbed a couple bottles of booze, enjoyed a nice buffet lunch, while failing to identify a familiar Hollywood actor. Then we moved on, driving several hours to what some argue is the crown jewel of India India’s national park system, Kaziranga. 

A UNESCO world heritage site, known for its abundant wildlife, it consists of a mix of grassland, marshland, and humid broadleaf forest with several rivers crossing its boundaries, including the mighty Brahmaputra River. A massive river, the ninth largest in the world in terms of discharge, we would more or less remain in the valley of the Brahmaputra for the duration of our time in Assam. The park is named for a mythological couple, a boy named Kazi and a girl named Rawnga, who when their couplehood was not accepted by their families, disappeared into the forest never to be seen again. But the park today is most famous as the home to the Indian Rhinoceros, and hosts 2/3 of the world‘s population. In 1908 the population in the park was down to 12 individuals, and the global population was down to about 100. Through considerable conservation efforts, today their numbers are back up over 4000 globally. That 2/3 are at this single site continues to present a risk to the species. The Assam Trunk Road is the major arterial for vehicular traffic into and out of the area, and it is possible to see rhinos right from the main road, and we enjoyed our first individuals as we entered the park on our first afternoon.

With four nights in the area we had ample opportunity to enjoy many, many sightings of dozens of rhinos, including one memorable, small youngster (perhaps just 2-3 months old), that appeared to have the “zoomies” much like a puppy dog. It was absurdly cute. It melted the hearts of all of us and became one of the top moments of the whole trip. 

The Indian Rhino sports a a single horn. With a total population over 4000 now, in the early 1900s they were down to less than 100 individuals, and down to just 12 at Kaziranga. Today, the park host 70% of the population.

Rhinos are a big deal at Kaziranga, and they are fascinating and fun animals, but it is really just one aspect of a myriad. The amount of wildlife is staggering. Like any government run park it has its problems and challenges, but it’s impossible not to be impressed by the sheer number of large mammals and the diversity of birds. We saw many elephants each day, as well as Wild Water Buffalo (endangered), three species of deer, and even a porcupine. One afternoon we visited the remarkable Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary. There we were able to see not only the charming Hoolock Gibbons for which the sanctuary is named, but the dapper Capped Langur & also Pig-tailed and Stump-tailed macaques. The latter also known as the Bear Macaque for its shape & appearance, differs from other macaques in being a relatively more peaceful animal that has a variety of reconciliation tactics for resolving conflict within their rather large groups. The group that we encountered, we felt very lucky to see, as we found them just before we had to leave. There were about 35 individuals foraging herd-like along the forest floor, moving through the forest in search of fruit, desirable plant matter, and other tasty tidbits. Several of them paused on the trail right in front of us where we were able to appreciate their uniqueness at length. With all the Rhesus Macaques roadside in route, we would end up seeing a remarkable five species of primates this day. Of note also, was the butterfly activity at this site. We were amazed to see such variety and color of leps!

While on Safari in Kaziranga our group split up into smaller groups of four or five usually, and a couple of our jeeps barely missed seeing a King Cobra go down into a hole beneath the road. That would’ve been a thrill, indeed. A couple of our gang did get to see not one, but actually two Bengal Tigers, including the famous golden tiger of Kaziranga, which is a unique individual lacking black stripes. All of us were satisfied to enjoy close encounters with Tokay Geckos, and a couple different monitor lizards, including a large Asian Water Monitor, perhaps 5 feet in length.

Tokay Gecko is the third-largest species of gecko. U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, came to know this species by a different name.🤐

The herps & iconic mammals are a big part of visiting Kaziranga, but there are tons of birds as well. The wetland areas host good numbers of waterfowl and shorebirds, while the wooded areas feature forest birds aplenty. Continuously one hears bulbuls and barbets, and near dawn & dusk the chorus becomes more complex & varied. The wetlands and ponds and lakes were dotted with waterfowl, including hundreds of Bar-headed Geese, and dozens of Northern Shovelers, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and Indian Spot-billed Ducks. Highlight birds included Swamp Francolin, an active nest with 2 young of Pallas’s Fish-Eagle, and a location where we were able to see a stunning array of 5 stork species simultaneously, including, Asian Openbill, Asian Wooly-necked Stork, the handsome Black-necked Stork, and both Lesser and Greater adjutants. The latter is an endangered species and was one of the main targets of the trip. Today found mostly in Assam or in Cambodia, we enjoyed watching a couple Greater Adjutants, or Hargila, as they are known locally, drop into an open grassland and feed with a host of other birds. And, later we added sightings of Black Stork, so that we had a total of six species of stork for the cumulative trip list.

Eventually, it was time for us to move on to the second park of the trip, Nameri National Park. One of the top eBird hotspots in the country, and here the forest birds are really supposed to shine. Unfortunately, the sun did not do the same for most of our time here, which provide provided some challenges. Our first afternoon actually went shockingly well, considering the amount of rain forecast. We endeavored a rafting trip, to float down the Kameng River, locally known here as Jia Bharoli. This ended up being a real highlight of the trip. It’s hard to put into words the feeling of floating down a bubbling, white water river so peacefully with every new bend and twist revealing new birds and new scenery. It was also so quiet and removed from the hustle and bustle of the road. Driving almost anywhere in India is an experience one never forgets, and indeed the road is a feast for the eyes. Buzzing with color and animals and vehicular traffic, which might strike us as reckless driving & endangerment in the United States, here is simply part of the flow of people going about their daily business. After one surrenders to it, you realize people know what they’re doing. But it can be a bit exhausting. After a couple hours on the road, and bouncing around in Safari jeeps, the gentle glide along the river was a welcome change. And the photo opps were pretty good too. Hundreds of Small Pratincoles, could be seen hunting for bugs aerially, or resting on the stony shores of the riverbank. For a bird that is entirely clay-brown, the silkiness of their plumage, their cute faces with big black doe eyes, along with their long, tapered wings, make them pretty irresistible. Additionally, Ruddy Shellducks, so often an afterthought as we are birding, were in nice soft light here against the rocky shoreline, and suddenly glowed brick orange in a whole new way. Kingfishers featured along our float trip, as did a smattering of herons, including the newly split Little Heron. And there were a few redstarts, namely, Hodgson‘s and White-capped, and a Himalayan Buzzard also attracted our attention. After three hours, floating about 9 miles, we headed for our lodge tucked into a nice little patch of forest. And then, the rains really began to hit.

The following morning we were up and out the door by 5:30am, and the rain had stopped for the time being. We had about an hour drive back to the river, which we would need to cross before beginning our forest walk in search of a number of Woodland species. But just before we got to the river, I was surprised to spot a roadkill Banded Krait. Such a shame to see this beautiful snake dead on the road. But we had a little time to fret, and we loaded up into the wooden canoes to cross the river again and begin our morning long walk. We gathered up on the other side of the river and walked about a fifth of a mile into the forest where there was a ranger station and thankfully a small open air hut, because nearly as soon as we reached this spot, the thunder and rain picked up, and soon lightning joined them. 

We sat in the hut, made conversation and entertained each other for about an hour until the rain let up a little bit, and eventually decided that we would endeavor a hike, through the drizzle, to at least attempt to see the critically endangered White winged duck. This is a species for which there are less than 800 individuals. Hunting and habitat destruction have conspired against the species, which needs swampy forest to live. Thankfully Nameri National Park has a bit of that habitat. We made our way to the known location for this bird, knowing that it is not always present and that in the rain, it could well be tucked away someplace where it would be invisible. But after about 30 minutes of walking we arrived and as chance had it, a pair of the ducks were clearly in view! We felt so lucky to be able to commune with these birds and enjoy lengthy views of them in a serene, if soggy, setting here in this wonderful wilderness. After soaking up some nice views, we left the ducks to their business and headed back. We got back to the hut to join a couple of our colleagues who had opted out of making the hike to discover that they had picked up Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, and to discover that the rest of us had picked up quite a few leeches! After a few minutes of searching each other and picking off leeches, we headed for the boats, crossed the river, and were back at the hotel in time for lunch. We dried out, and enjoyed a nice siesta after a very tasty lunch, and listened to the Rhesus Macaques banging about outside our bungalows, until the rain let up at about 4 PM. Then we decided to do a walk around the botanic reserve where the hotel was situated. Birding was slow at first, but soon we realized that there was a dramatic termite hatch/emergence underway, and the other wildlife was taking notice! The macaques leapt and jumped to snatch them and throw them into their mouth, while the Large Hawk-Cuckoos and Hair-crested Drongos hawked the termites high in the air. Dusk fell and a Brown Boobook jumped out, treating us to spectacular views as it got in on the action. This would end up being one of the most cherished sightings of the trip. The day felt like a week’s worth of spectacular events and memories.

White-winged Duck digiscope Video by Surya Ramachandran. Critically endangered with perhaps only 400-150 individuals remaining in the wild, this is also the state bird of Assam. See the White-winged Duck Recovery Project.

After a long travel day, featuring more rain, we made our way to our last national park back to the west, extremely close to the Bhutan border, Manas National Park. This too is a UNESCO world heritage site, and well known as a place for rhinos, elephants, and even Bengal Tigers, but is also an important site for the critically endangered Pygmy Hog, and the critically endangered Bengal Florican. While the hog is virtually impossible to see as they are largely nocturnal and park access at night is nearly impossible to achieve, the florican is active here in March. This was one of the main motivations for visiting Manas, in addition to seeing the diverse birdlife.

Our first morning at Manas was one for the books. Straight away, gamebirds were an obvious feature with the national bird, the Indian Peafowl conspicuous, both visually and aurally. The same was true for the notorious and comical Red Junglefowl. Adding a touch of class were the Khalij Pheasants strutting about the forest. The rain had led up this morning and the birds were active. As we moved through the western part of the park, there were birds chock a block the whole way. Between us, we had eight species of doves, raptors that included Black Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Collared Falconet, and Asian Barred Owlet. We enjoyed spectacular encounters with Great Hornbill, Sultan Tit, and a nice mix of babblers and laughingthrushes with a few showy old world flycatchers to boot. This would prove our most species diverse morning with our group collectively tallying well over 100 species between dawn and lunch.

On Safari in Manas, we cruised the grasslands in search of the Bengal Florican with success! We saw 3 males and, shockingly a female. Females are very rare to see due to their more retiring habits. Current population estimates land at fewer than 900 individuals. See the Bengal Florican Project for how you can help.

Our second day at Manas, we divided the day between a morning visit to the grassland areas of the national park and an afternoon visit to see the endangered Gee’s Golden Langur. The grassland birding in Manas proved challenging, but it started off with a bang when we quickly located the big bird of the trip, the Bengal Florican. We found three males striding through the grasslands and a few of us got to see one male display, briefly a couple of times. Later we even got to see a female. Females are extremely difficult to see, as they are much more retiring by nature, usually remaining well within taller grasslands where there are very hard to see. Our local guides were absolutely thrilled at seeing the female, in particular. There are only about 800 individuals remaining of this bird in the world, so this and the White-winged Duck may be the rarest birds several of us have ever seen. After lunch, most of us headed to the Golden Langur spot to learn about the ongoing remarkable conservation story. With extraordinary efforts by one local and with the support of several small communities, these animals are hanging on and with time one hopes might even prosper. Found only here and in adjacent Bhutan, it is an endangered species with less than 6000 individuals in total, despite being revered as sacred.

Among the most handsome and endangered of all primates, the Gee's Golden Langur is found only in Bhutan and India, and due to conservation efforts is on the uptick.

We finished up with our farewell, dinner toasting some great birds and animals, some good times and some unseasonably, wet weather, but it all made for an incredible array of memories with a superb gang of great people. Thanks to the fantastic friends who joined and made this adventure possible.

See more pictorial highlights from here: Safari Assam 2026 Highlights

Colombia’s Santa Martas: The Caribbean Coast & Megadiverse Mountains

February 9 - 16, 2026
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Joshua Covill

Colombia’s “magical north coast” is a unique place for traveling birders who want to see a lot in a short amount of time. On this tour, we sampled a huge diversity of habitats and birds, but also foods, climates, and experiences! The ‘Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta’, the Santa Marta mountains, is a striking mountain range, known for dramatic landscapes that transition from tropical rainforests at lower elevations to snow-capped peaks at over 18,000 feet (5500m). This diverse ecosystem supports a wide range of biodiversity, with endemic species of plants, animals, and birds found nowhere else. Its varied climates and ecosystems make the Santa Martas a biodiversity hotspot, playing a critical role in this tour. The endemics of this range were the main focal point of the tour, shared only with the regional specialties of the Guajira peninsula.

Read Joshua’s full trip report

Blue-naped Chlorophonia by Joshua Covill

Colombia’s Santa Martas: The Caribbean Coast & Megadiverse Mountains

January 14 - 22, 2026
eBird Trip Report
Guided by George Armistead

Colombia’s Santa Martas: The Caribbean Coast & Megadiverse Mountains

January 7 - 14, 2026
eBird Trip Report
Guided by George Armistead

Panama: The Canal Zone & Western Highlands

March 15 - 24, 2025
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Holly Merker

Read Holly’s full write-up on Canva!

Hillstar Nature Pelagic: MD Waters aboard the Ocean Princess

11 Jan, 2025
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Zach Baer, Mollee Brown, Mikey Lutmerding & George Armistead

It was sort of like two days in one. For the first 4 hours of the day, we enjoyed pleasant seas and fabulous birding, with hundreds of alcids around. There were nice flocks of common loons on the water, a tremendous show of (mostly show-white adult) gannets, and big numbers of Dovekie and Razorbills. These sightings were punctuated with scarcer birds as well, including a pair of flyby common mirrors, regular visits from both first cycle and adult, black legged, kitty weeks, and a couple Atlantic puffins. We also enjoyed a nice visit from a pod of common dolphins. We had expected in the weather to change at about 2 PM, but that change came sooner than it was forecasted, and by 11 AM it felt as though we were in a washing machine. Winds from the west picked up as we turned back in shore, and things got wet and bumpy for most of the rest of the day. As we got close to shore, we again enjoyed slightly calmer waters with still, some numbers of Dovekie & Razorbills around, and the Inlet as always had a few nice birds, including a few Common Eiders. Thanks to all who joined, and to Captain Victor and Jeff for helping us get where we wanted to and to navigate some bumpy seas.

Colorado

8 - 13 Jul, 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by George Armistead

Colorado in summer is tough to beat. George Armistead guided a group of friends from the Atlanta area, seeing White-tailed Ptarmigan on the alpine tundra, the two prairie longspur species out at Pawnee Grasslands, and ponderosa and lodgepole pine special in Rocky Mountain National Park. Hillstar Nature partnered with Carl Bendorf of Colorado Birding Adventures for the third year in a row, and had a great trip.

Alaska: Outposts & Utqiagvik

6 - 15 Jun, 2024
ebird Trip Reports: Outposts & Utqiagvik
Guided by George Armistead and Alvaro Jaramillo

Visiting St. Paul Island in the Pribilof Archipelago and Nome on the Seward Peninsula for Hillstar's Alaska Outposts tour, and Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) inside the Arctic Circle as an extension, our intrepid group of friends experienced a thrilling birding adventure. See the eBird trip reports here for this "code-share" between Hillstar Nature and Alvaro's Adventures.

Costa Rica 🇨🇷: A Birder’s Paradise

10 - 21 March, 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Joshua Covill

India: The Taj Mahal, Wondrous Wetlands & Tiger Country

9 - 21 Feb, 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by George Armistead

Visiting Madhya Pradesh, the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, we sought Earth’s biggest cat, the Bengal Tiger. India hosts 80% of the world’s total population, and there are more in Madhya Pradesh than anywhere else. We saw 9 tigers over our 6 days on safari and also 3 leopards, 2 Sloth bears, and many other mammals. Then we headed for the Chambal River which featured Gharial, Mugger Crocodiles, Ganges River Dolphin and critically endangered Black-bellied Tern. We finished off with wetland birding at Bharatpur and then the Taj Mahal.

Colombia: High Times in the Cordillera Central

9 - 15 Feb, 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Mollee Brown & Yessenia Tapasco

Colombia’s famous “Coffee Triangle” is featured on this route that Mollee Brown and Yessenia Tapasco guided. Visiting some of the nation’s best birding sites such as Rio Blanco, the Tinamú Birding Reserve, and the National Natural Park of Los Nevados, we enjoyed a fantastic array of hummingbirds, some snazzy antpittas, along with birds like Gray-breasted and Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Parker's Antbird, Black-backed Bush Tanager and more.

Colombia’s Santa Martas: The Caribbean Coast & Megadiverse Mountains

3 - 10 Feb 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by Joshua Covill

Josh Covill guided a group of fantastic Hillstar friends around, arguably, the greatest biodiversity hotspots on Earth. Despite some at times challenging weather, they still enjoyed a great round-up of endemic birds including documenting a large antpitta (similar to an Undulated) that appears to be an undescribed species! Prior to its rediscovery last month, apparently it had not been seen since 2015. Even apart from this dramatic occurrence, our group enjoyed a great bunch of birds.

India: Jewels of Gujarat

1 - 8 Feb 2024
eBird Trip Report
Guided by George Armistead

Visiting extreme western India, George Armistead and Manisha Rajput guided a group of Hillstar Friends around the Saurashtra of Gujarat, India hitting well known wildlife spots such as Gir National Park, Velavadar, Nalsarovar and the Little Rann of Kutch. Dual focus on birds and mammals, with copious amounts of Masala Chai ingested along with lots of sweets, including Adadiya.

Winter Pelagic: Hillstar Nature in MD Waters - December 29th, 2023

As winter pelagics go, this trip off Ocean City, MD was bordering on colossal. 

From 730am til 330pm we were constantly in the presence of Dovekie. We totaled 5156 on the day, which at least in eBird appears a new state high count. It was extraordinary. In addition to this spectacle, we enjoyed 246 Red Phalarope, 22 Atlantic Puffins, 84 Razorbills, 1 Little Gull, 21 Black-legged Kittiwakes, and 8 Manx Shearwaters, including one that followed the boat for almost 2 hours & landed around us, extremely close, feeding on our chum. 

To top it off we also had what appears to be the first winter record of a Black-capped Petrel in Maryland. And as if that wasn’t shocking enough, soon after that Cory Husic spotted a whale that as we got closer, we began to realize was a good candidate for a Northern Right Whale. This is one of the rarest animals on the planet with only about a 360 in existence. Photos confirm what we saw in the field. 

All in all it was an incredible day and we’re so thankful to everybody who was there and helped make it happen. 
Thanks!

View eBird trip report

Overnight NJ Pelagic Sept 6th & 7th, 2023

Leaders: George Armistead, Zach Baer, Emma Price & Scott Barnes

Aboard: The Gambler

Out of: Point Pleasant Beach

Image credits:

Bridled Terns by Emma Price

Cory’s (Scopoli’s) Shearwater by Brian Zylich

Cuvier’s Beaked Whale by Jessica Coss 

Sunrise aboard The Gambler atop 8000 feet of Atlantic Ocean water, about 100 miles offshore from Pt. Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.

Part of the thrill of a pelagic trip is that you just never know what you’re going to see. It can be slow at times out on the water, but typically there is always something you see that makes it rewarding. And occasionally you get to see really spectacular things. The Sept 6-7 Overnight pelagic out of point Pleasant, New Jersey, was notable more for the wildlife than for the bird sightings, but we did have some great birds, too. 

Tropical Terns: Most notable was we had two groups of tropical terns, which are hard to come by in New Jersey waters. One pair of terns flew by keeping some distance from us. At the time we strongly suspected Bridled Tern would be the species involved, but inspection of photos by leader Emma Price show a juvenile and an adult Sooty Tern. This species is hardly seen in New Jersey when not associated with a tropical storm, so this was quite a surprise and one of only 4-5 sightings in the past decade. Later we located 3 Bridled Terns resting on flotsam amid some sargassum weed. A juvenile with two adults, these birds probably have ventured north from the nearest breeding grounds in the Bahamas or perhaps further south in the Caribbean. These are the first sightings documented in New Jersey waters in over a decade.

But it was really the cetaceans and other wildlife that stole the show. Leaving the dock at Manasquan Inlet at 9PM, by 4AM we reached our starting point. We stopped the engines, put out some chum and began to drift, and to look and listen to the waters around us . With just light winds out of the south it was a beautiful night, and we could see Saturn glowing orangish on the horizon. A couple of warblers briefly approached the boat, and then kept moving. The water temperature here was about 75° and the ocean floor was close to 8000 feet below us. We had made it out to “the deep”.

Soon after we settled into our drift, the lights of the boat began to attract some wildlife. There were dozens of Webbed Flying Squid all around the boat. We managed to bring some onboard into a bucket to observe them, and we watched them ink the waters, and change color as their body pulsated. Schools of them darted around and below the boat. Our photos of these animals mark one record of less than 10 ever in iNaturalist.

While we waited for it to get light we watched moon jellyfish push past us in the water, and several Wilson’s storm Petrels came into the boat, landing on it. We had wonderful studies of these remarkable seabirds, one of the most widespread animals on the planet, yet one hardly ever seen so well as this. As the sun rose, a blue shark began circling our boat, attracted to the chum, and more and more birds began to appear. Then a distant pod of striped dolphins emerged, and they hustled along, and soon after that we had a distant sighting of a sperm whale. Cory’s, Great, and Audubon Shearwaters came in providing close views, and photos show that at least one of the Cory’s we saw was of the Scopoli’s (Calonectris diomedea diomedea) subspecies (image above), a taxon elevated to species by most taxonomists (though not by eBird/Clements). The Great Shearwaters came in and landed right next to the boat. At times, we could hear the Wilson Storm-Petrels, and the Great Shearwaters as they vocalized to one another. We tried in vain to record Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, for which there are only a total of 10 audio recordings in eBird.

As the sun rose, the sea revealed more amazing animals. We began to see large groups of Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, which average 15% larger than and differ genetically from the well-known inshore ones we see along our beaches. Mixed among the Offshore Bottlenose were pods of Short-finned Pilot Whales, including one hulking bull male. Later we began to encounter Cuvier’s Beaked Whales. While this is the most widespread member of the beaked whale family (Ziphiidae), it is still quite a rare thing to see, and a really rare thing to see well. We encountered three separate pods, including a pair that we watched rising repeatedly and rapidly before diving and leaping out of the water right next to our starboard! It was a spectacular thrill to see these animals so close and thanks are due to the many photographers onboard who snagged shots that allowed us to identify these animals.

All in all it was a darn nice haul!

Birds Seen Offshore:

Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Sooty Tern (2)
Bridled Tern (3)
Black Tern (2)
Common Tern
Royal Tern
Wilson's Storm-Petrel (626)
Leach's Storm-Petrel (4)
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (3)
Cory's Shearwater (45; >1 Scopoli’s)
Great Shearwater (30)
Audubon's Shearwater (4)

Non-Avian Taxa

Cetaceans
Striped Dolphin 45
Bottlenose Dolphins 60
Risso’s Dolphin 9
Sperm Whale 2
Short-finned Pilot Whales 45
Cuvier’s Beaked Whales 9

Sea-Turtles

Sea Turtle sp. 1 (small, Ridley-type or Green)

Loggerhead 16

Fish

Blue Shark

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

Flying fish sp.

Mahi mahi

Needle/gar type 

Cephalopods

Webbed Flying Squid (Ommastrephes caroli)

Montana: Glacier to Grasslands

9 - 15 July 2023

eBird Trip Report 

Guided by Joshua Covill

Tour leader Joshua Covill and participants Kathy Calvert, Debbie Samac, Colleen Crank, Linda Mack, Yvonne Lenter, and Paul & Maureen Wolter.

I am so grateful to have led such an amazing group for Hillstar’s first tour in Glacier NP and this part of Montana. I have been dreaming of this route for years, and finally making it happen was so exciting! More importantly, it was a smashing success! Everyone had a great time exploring some of the most spectacular landscapes in the country and enjoying some of the best wildlife in the West!

In addition to the 177 species of birds, we encountered 20 species of mammals with highlights being Black Bear, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Moose, Pronghorn, Coyote, Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Snowshoe Hare, and Yellow-bellied Marmot.

View full trip report PDF.

Colorado 2023: Best of Summer Birding

11–16 Jun 2023

eBird Trip Report

Guided by Carl Bendorf & George Armistead

A vibrant exploration of Rocky Mountain National Park, Pawnee Grasslands, and the Pinyon-Juniper of central Colorado, we enjoyed highlights including White-tailed Ptarmigan, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Thick-billed and Chestnut-collared Longspur, Pinyon Jay and more.

Join us next year!

Hillstar Nature - Prairies 2023

2–9 Jun 2023

eBird Trip Report

Guided by Josh Covill & George Armistead

183 species over 7 days of birding tallgrass, mixed and shortgrass prairies with a little forest and riparian birding around Yellowstone thrown in at the end. Highlights included multiple Baird’s Sparrows, great experiences with both the prairie longspur species, Sprague’s Pipits, Ferruginous Hawks, and Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Wilson’s Phalaropes and so much more.

Join us next time!

Tanzania 2023

18–30 Mar 2023

eBird Trip Report

Guided by George Armistead & Kennedy Elly

March is a little "off-the-beaten path" in terms of travel to Tanzania. The bulk of visitors come in the dry season in June-August. But the birds don't know this and don't care. The animals are certainly aware of how much rainfall there is, as it affects almost every aspect of their lives. But the fact that March/April is often a time of significant rain in Tanzania works to our advantage. Birds like weavers, estrildid finches, and the many wading and water birds we encounter are here at this time in no small part because of the rains. Also it is a time of migration for many birds. Various cuckoos, European Rollers, European Bee-eaters, shorebirds, Common Buzzards, Lesser Kesterls, and many others birds are on the move and in evidence. For birding, it is one of the best times of the year. But of course the birds are only half the story, or less. A birder's visit to Tanzania is as much about the food, the animals, and the people who live here too. With the help of our good friends, Humphrey Mrosso and Joel Amon, we saw a fair piece of northern Tanzania, including about 400 species of birds and over 40 species of mammals.

Join us next time!

Life List Colombia 2023 Tour

10–19 Feb 2023

eBird Trip Report

Guided by Mollee Brown & George Armistead

In February 2023, our group of intrepid travelers and loyal listeners embarked on our first Life List Podcast tour in the magical Central Andes. We ventured around Caldas, Colombia in search of an array of the region's - and the world's - most colorful, unique, skulky, and spectacular birds. After several nights around Manizales and into the Páramo, we traveled to Cali to enjoy the field trips, presentations, and social activities of the Colombia Birdfair. Throughout the trip, we met many birders from all over and individuals who are each working to support conservation through ecotourism in Colombia. Among the 383 species were many highlights including Horned Screamer, Chestnut Wood-Quail, White-throated Daggerbill, Crestcent-faced Antpitta and Lyre-tailed Nightjar.

Join us next year!