What countries or regions are good for solo birding? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

How about birding in Sabah, Borneo?

 

[leonardo_simon]

I tend to think that the dangers of Australian wildlife are far over-rated in pop culture. I think I recall hearing recently that more people die from livestock related injuries than from wildlife encounters in Australia. As long as you use common sense you are fine, and most birders are going to be doing activities that sort of avoid the worst of the potential critter encounters.

I agree. Having lived in the Northern Territory a few years back, most of the bad wildlife encounters involved acts of extreme stupidity, drunkenness or both.

 

[Dortmundbirder]

A part which I think is very easy to do independently and also offer a quite variety of birds and a good start for tropical Birding is Yucatan. Birding Areas are very good accesible, roads are very good. And Birding in the dry forest is not as difficult as in lowland rainforest for example. All endemics are possible without a guide and you can also travel on a pretty low Budget.

I would recommend a car to get to some more remote areas as Calakmul or Tres Garantias but even by public transport you should get a good list of birds.

 

[earlytorise]

Has anybody here recommended Hong Kong yet? It's a fantastic place to acquaint yourself with birds in this region. Seeing 150 species in the space of a week is not too difficult. You can get anywhere by public transport.

In case you've been to Hong Kong before: Speckled Piculet and Bay Woodpecker have become more common as residents, not to mention the variety of rare Phylloscopus warblers that have become easier to find in the winter: Sulphur-breasted, Kloss's Leaf, Rufous-faced, Chestnut-crowned, White-spectacled, Alstrom's, Bianchi's... This is probably the biggest change in Hong Kong birding in the past few years.

 

[albatross02]

How expensive was Chile as a budget/solo birder? Trips there are overly expensive in my opinion.

Isn't Cyprus in huge problems with the illegal songbird trapping? Is it good because it's a migrant trap?

Southern Europe is every problem with shooting birds.
Big bird trapping is in Egypt which is south of Cyprus.
So escape distance in Europe is much more, maybe 3 - 5 more ) than I know it from US ( Texas, California ) or Argentina ( 4 x visit ).
If you stop car in Europe 400 feed away from raptor and open car door, raptor excape !

Rent a car costs much more than in US. Camping and accomodation was much cheaper than in US when I was there 10 years ago.
Preparing own food maybe same level.
I drow into national parcs with normal cars, but quality of national parc streets are far away from level in US.

I have to visit US again, maybe Florida in March or migration in April in Texas.

 

[albatross02]

How expensive was Chile as a budget/solo birder? Trips there are overly expensive in my opinion.

Isn't Cyprus in huge problems with the illegal songbird trapping? Is it good because it's a migrant trap?

Another big different to US I think is dog attacks in wildness but also in villages and huge towns.
In Germany 50.000 dog attacks happened per year, included dead cases every year.

I suppose in US this problem is much fewer because in case of dog attacks the dog owner have to pay high compensation if someone get injured ?

 

[opisska]

Cmon, what is this insanity? Nobody fears dog attacks in Germany. There is some risk of dog attacks in remote parts of the Balkans, but a few stones picked up solve the situation quickly.

And rental cars are FAR cheaper in Spain for example than in US

 

[louisthedog]

I don't think South Africa should be on this list. Having lived there for 8 years - and that was in the 90's! - I can say it was not altogether safe even for two people to venture out into the wilder areas, even including touristy places like the Drakensberg. The university team and Durban birding club members only ventured out in groups. I can't imagine it has gotten safer since then.

 

[louisthedog]

Glad to hear South Africa is safe, I keep hearing certain reports from some parts of the country that make me wonder how safe it is overall and Namibia is a beautiful surprise for solo traveling for sure.

In Malaysia was the birding in the mainland or Borneo? Did you have much difficulty finding your targets by sight or are you good with the bird calls?

I don't think South Africa should be on this list. Having lived there for 8 years - and that was in the 90's! - I can say it was not altogether safe even for two people to venture out into the wilder areas, even including touristy places like the Drakensberg. The university team and Durban birding club members only ventured out in groups. I can't imagine it has gotten safer since then.

 

[YuShan]

Suriname and French Guiana definitely seem easier in this regard, but in exchange, the quality of prime lowland habitat is lower, so easier access but lower chances to see mega species/families like Harpy Eagle, Gray-winged Trumpeter and Ground-cuckoo, plus there's no canopy tower/walkway like there's one in Guyana. But I've heard from a birder that went to Suriname that it's a really safe and easy to bird nation, even without leaving the capital you can get some Guianan Shield endemics like Blood-colored Woodpecker.

Suriname is very safe and great for independent backpack birding. Gray-winged Trumpeters walk around on the campsite at Brownsberg where I stayed. I saw Blood-coloured Woodpecker in the Cultuurtuin ("Culture Garden") in the Capital. Arrowhead Piculet is easy to see even on edges of populated area. Rufous Crab-hawk also easy to see in Weg naar Zee (literally "Road to the Sea"). Just a short bus ride from the capital. I didn't visit far inland (that requires river transport) so I haven't exploited all possibilities.

 

[albatross02]

Cmon, what is this insanity? Nobody fears dog attacks in Germany. There is some risk of dog attacks in remote parts of the Balkans, but a few stones picked up solve the situation quickly.

And rental cars are FAR cheaper in Spain for example than in US

Look at this video, what happened with this policemen.
No chance to throughing stones to push 25 big dogs away.

 

[opisska]

These dogs aren't even feral, they clearly belong to the people in the video. I get it, you have a fear of dogs, everyone fears something, but the video doesn't show anything really dangerous and these are exactly the kind of dogs that would back up if you picked a stone.

Also, don't forget you started with the idea that this is a problem in Germany, whereas the video is from Greece.

 

[David_]

I have hiked and cycled in a lot of countries including some which have a reputation of having a “dog problem“. And from my experience feral dogs are not a problem. They quickly learn to be afraid of humans and keep their distance or to be nice and beg for food. They will bark and sometime even follow you for some distance but chances to be attacked are nearly null. Watchdogs and especially sheppard dogs in remote rural areas can be another story (those big sheppard dogs in the mountains of the Balkans don’t care about stones being thrown in their direction just give their herd some time and space to pass by) but if you use common sense and understand they are just protecting their home or their herd the chances to encounter a real attack are pretty slim.

I fully understand that some people are afraid of dogs (I also sometimes feel uncomfortable with dogs I don’t know) and there are definitely some irresponsible dog owners who shouldn’t be allowed to keep a dog. But pretending that there is a general problem with dog attacks in Germany is ridiculous.

 

[lgonz1008]

For anyone interested in some input about Guyana, I just finished a 12 day tour of the country (trip report of the coming soon) and I can confidently say that solo birding away from Georgetown is not possible.

A 4x4/high clearance vehicle is mandatory for the interior since the road is less than perfect in most parts but there is no car rental in the country that rents such vehicles. Also the lodge options are limited and you are required to bird with a local guide in each location, these guides can point out the species you want (great eyesight and call knowledge) but some of them don't even have binoculars, so you would have to bird with a local guide that doesn't have the equipment unless your trip coordinator brings it and that also requires transportation help to go between sites.

Overall, great birding destination, but not one to do on your own because of the lack of rentals and lodging options.

 

[kb57]

I'm with @albatross02 in being a little nervous of dogs myself - it is a hazard when walking in more remote areas, although people with more knowledge and confidence around dogs are probably better at assessing risk and reacting appropriately.
I can recall two dog-related incidents myself when out walking and birding - once when walking on my own in Poland in the woods between Rytro and Piwniczna I was just about to accept an invitation for a coffee in an impromptu trailside cafe, when their apparently innocuous little bundle of fluff rushed up and bit me firmly on the ankle! The other time was the first time we visited Sao Laurenco near Faro airport, and made the mistake of staying on the track leading from the salt pans towards the lagoon, rather than cutting through a belt of trees onto the edge of the golf course - it leads to a private farmhouse with some very scary dogs, which chased us back to the path..(my recently purchased southern Portugal Crossbill guide is very unclear on this point BTW, anyone who knows the Ludo - Sao Laurenco walk will know where I mean...).

 

[opisska]

For anyone interested in some input about Guyana, I just finished a 12 day tour of the country (trip report of the coming soon) and I can confidently say that solo birding away from Georgetown is not possible.

A 4x4/high clearance vehicle is mandatory for the interior since the road is less than perfect in most parts but there is no car rental in the country that rents such vehicles. Also the lodge options are limited and you are required to bird with a local guide in each location, these guides can point out the species you want (great eyesight and call knowledge) but some of them don't even have binoculars, so you would have to bird with a local guide that doesn't have the equipment unless your trip coordinator brings it and that also requires transportation help to go between sites.

Overall, great birding destination, but not one to do on your own because of the lack of rentals and lodging options.

How does it work with the compulsory guides - are all reasonable destinations reserves or private estates? Are they guarding the paths or is it enforced through the accomodations in lodges?

 

[Jos Stratford]

I don't think South Africa should be on this list. Having lived there for 8 years - and that was in the 90's! - I can say it was not altogether safe even for two people to venture out into the wilder areas, even including touristy places like the Drakensberg. The university team and Durban birding club members only ventured out in groups. I can't imagine it has gotten safer since then.

I would say absolutely the opposite - I have spent about three years travelling in South Africa and not only it is very simple logistically to travel independently, the reality is that it is safe in most areas likely to be visited by a birder, probably safer than in many areas that birders frequent around the world. Sure, I would not recommend random birding on the edge of Joburg and perhaps Durban, etc, but these are not main birding areas anyhow. Away from the cities, using normal common sense, South Africa is safe - be in it Kruger, Sani Pass, the Kwazulu birding areas or the Cape Peninsula for example.

 

[lgonz1008]

How does it work with the compulsory guides - are all reasonable destinations reserves or private estates? Are they guarding the paths or is it enforced through the accomodations in lodges?

Every lodge is almost exclusively booked by the international tour companies years in advance, if you want to book something you need to plan 2 years in advance.

As for the destinations, a lot of the birding can be done from the road as it is lowland rainforest all around, but the stays are limited to only those lodges and literally nothing else in the interior, these lodges are also placed within the reserves and boat rides are needed at times but most times they can only be catered through the lodges. So if you want to hit the trails for the skulkers like Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo and Black-throated Antshrike or you want to see the Rufous Potoo or the Capuchinbird lek, then you need to have the guide with you because you are birding in the lodge grounds.

The only lodge that didn't have a guide attached to it was Rock View Lodge, but in its place, the birding for the area was done in Surama EcoLodge and for that we met our guide before we even got off the car.

The guides honestly have amazing hearing and eyesight from years of experience and they can also help you find nesting cavities for certain species that normally you'd overlook. But there were times that I felt like we could do on our own if you could rent a 4x4 (which you can't in Guyana), this was especially obvious for Crested Doradito, Bearded Tachuri and most of the other savanna species.

 

[opisska]

I think this country is really asking me to come and see if it can be done my way

 

[lgonz1008]

I think this country is really asking me to come and see if it can be done my way

Best of luck, hardest hurdle will be to rent a 4x4 since without one, it is nearly impossible to go through half of the country and some back roads due to the potholes and dents made on the dirt road.

Also there's talks of a Brazilian/Chinese company building a road system which can potentially ruin a lot of the roadside birding once it is put up/being constructed.