Hi all,
Last year I went to Sulawesi and West Papua for birding. In general Sulawesi had very good oppertunities for bird photography, especially the Kingfishers which were not shy at all. Light was quite bad but there was often time to use a tripod so those pictures turned out quite well. In contrast West Papua was quite difficult (Arfak Mountains/Waigeo), the hides for birds of paradise were nice but it was hard to take decent pictures while walking; vegetation is quite dense, light is bad, birds are usually far away and often there's backlight.
So I'm looking for another destination to do a couple of weeks of birding. I know from experience that Africa has a lot of easy to photograph birds (I've been to Kenya/Uganda), but I do prefer exotic birds and having done Asia last year I'm leaning more towards central or south America. I've been to Panama/Costa Rica like 5 years ago, I do like the 'more wild' feeling compared to Asia, wasn't really into bird photography at that time but there were some others who were complaining about a lack of birds and generally dark conditions, it was wet season though). Two years ago I went to Peru/Bolivia/Chile, didn't go into the Amazon so didn't get to see the same amount of 'into the wild' feeling like in Panama/Costa Rica (love the cloudforests), but got a nice taste of hummingbirds in Arica, Chile and around Machu Picchu (Blue-Naped Chlorophonia, several nice species of Tanagers).
Some random thoughts
- I would like to see the resplendent Quetzal as I didn't get a good view five
years ago. Still there are other species of Quetzal in South America which
would suffice as well, I like trogons in general. Also like hummingbirds, especially the exotic ones.
- I'll probably go independent, maybe I'll try to find a companion on
Birdforum or join one. I don't speak Spanish, and (guiding) costs are a
consideration. Probably higher compared to Indonesia?
- I'm leaning towards Ecuador. Colombia seems good as well but I don't
speak Spanish so that's probably not a good idea. Same for some countries like Guatemala, what about Belize?
- I also like diving, if affordable would be a big plus
Hope my rambling makes any sense, help would be appreciated!
Last year I went to Sulawesi and West Papua for birding. In general Sulawesi had very good oppertunities for bird photography, especially the Kingfishers which were not shy at all. Light was quite bad but there was often time to use a tripod so those pictures turned out quite well. In contrast West Papua was quite difficult (Arfak Mountains/Waigeo), the hides for birds of paradise were nice but it was hard to take decent pictures while walking; vegetation is quite dense, light is bad, birds are usually far away and often there's backlight.
So I'm looking for another destination to do a couple of weeks of birding. I know from experience that Africa has a lot of easy to photograph birds (I've been to Kenya/Uganda), but I do prefer exotic birds and having done Asia last year I'm leaning more towards central or south America. I've been to Panama/Costa Rica like 5 years ago, I do like the 'more wild' feeling compared to Asia, wasn't really into bird photography at that time but there were some others who were complaining about a lack of birds and generally dark conditions, it was wet season though). Two years ago I went to Peru/Bolivia/Chile, didn't go into the Amazon so didn't get to see the same amount of 'into the wild' feeling like in Panama/Costa Rica (love the cloudforests), but got a nice taste of hummingbirds in Arica, Chile and around Machu Picchu (Blue-Naped Chlorophonia, several nice species of Tanagers).
Some random thoughts
- I would like to see the resplendent Quetzal as I didn't get a good view five
years ago. Still there are other species of Quetzal in South America which
would suffice as well, I like trogons in general. Also like hummingbirds, especially the exotic ones.
- I'll probably go independent, maybe I'll try to find a companion on
Birdforum or join one. I don't speak Spanish, and (guiding) costs are a
consideration. Probably higher compared to Indonesia?
- I'm leaning towards Ecuador. Colombia seems good as well but I don't
speak Spanish so that's probably not a good idea. Same for some countries like Guatemala, what about Belize?
- I also like diving, if affordable would be a big plus
Hope my rambling makes any sense, help would be appreciated!
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