The Weekly Recap
Hello and welcome back to the (not so) weekly recap! This recap will cover posts from June 19 to 30th. I’m sorry it’s so late, I’m sure you haven’t known what to do with yourselves in my absence 😉 I hope no one has resorted to … well… birdwatching.
Anyway, starting off the recap is this great trip report from China, full of gorgeous photos of Giant Pandas, misty scenery and other mammals.
This trip to Costa Rica back in 2022 includes a very inquisitive Tapir, flexible Two-toed Sloth and 19 other great species.
A video report of an epic trip to Australia is here, with all the classics! All that’s missing is a 6ft4 man (full of muscle) eating a vegemite sandwich.
A trip report from Greece details how to find a Mediterranean Monk Seal in Kefalonia. I still remember tracking one down in Croatia with my dad and brother in what definitely felt like a Fast and Furious worthy chase scene (the Furious being my dad if we failed and the Fast being the speed at which he’d disown us if we saw it and he didn’t).
This road trip to California and Arizona saw 66 species despite being described as quick!
Next is Nairobi National Park, Kenya: Southern White and Eastern Black Rhinos, a Southern Tree Hyrax and many more cool sightings.
This report from Mexico recounts the sighting of two epic sea mammals: the Dwarf Sperm Whale and the almost extinct Vaquita, with sadly fewer than a dozen thought to be left. If you want to hear more about Vaquitas and this trip, check out the newest episode of the Mammalwatching Podcast.
Finally, this report summarises two African trips from 2022, Tanzania and Namibia. In Tanzania they (a family of five!) saw 50 species in 2 weeks, with amazing photos from White-bellied Hedgehogs to Lions chasing an African Buffalo. In Namibia it was 42, including a Temminck’s Ground Pangolin, Cape Crested Porcupine, and Black Rhinos.
Speaking of Tanzania, if you’d like to join an organised trip there then Cat Expeditions will be going next year on a special photography tour in search of Servals and Caracals.
This manual created in preparation for a trip to Svalbard could be useful for anyone thinking of going, giving good information on which species can be seen where, the ship used, the itinerary…. If only it mentioned how many boxes of hot chocolate powder to pack, it would be perfect.
As usual, a few mammals need some help being identified – this time it’s some rodents and Pikas from China, so please comment if you have any ideas.
And if you’d like to brush up on your identification skills in general, this article is a guide to field identification of Hodgson’s and Bhutan Giant Flying Squirrel, which apparently are often confused.
Someone is wondering where the best places for coyote photography are. And last but not least, the next post in the “What if?” series is about mammals being reintroduced to Harare.
Also, don’t forget that Charles Foley (one of the coolest mammalwatchers) and Jon Hall (my father, unfortunately) will be giving a talk at the UK Birdfair this weekend, 5:30pm on Saturday to be exact. They’ve even designed t-shirts for the occasion, so don’t let them down. If you need a further incentive, knowing the two of them I’m sure the talk will contain at least one stab at birders, and – knowing my dad – several at me. I hope for his sake the shirts are bulletproof.
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Thanks for reading:)
Katy
Cover photo: Family outing – Ian Thompson
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