I took the photo above from a cliff in Tulear, at the southern tip of Madagascar. We were looking out into the Indian Ocean, watching Blue Whales splashing, spouting and diving - a thrill! When I travel, I'm usually birding and looking for wildlife of all kinds. Birding is a sport that can lead you around the globe to see the world's bird species. Click the links below to see my photos. I returned from a three-week trip to the island of Borneo in July, 2018. Borneo is the world's third largest island, owned by Malaysia, Indonesia and the tiny kingdom of Brunei. We visited the Malaysian state of Sabah, on the northeast end of Borneo. We had beautiful views of Mount Kinabalu. Here's an article I wrote for The Chronicle newspaper: Birding in Borneo. Borneo was more pleasant than I expected, though the destruction of rainforests for palm oil plantations in eastern Sabah was shocking. My life list is now 2,912 species, about 26% of the world's 11,000+ bird species. I added a few more species in 2021 and 2022 with trips to Iceland and Alaska. On a trip to Costa Rica in March, 2018, I finally got great looks at a Resplendent Quetzal - stunning! We saw 25 species of hummingbirds on the trip. I toured Ecuador in late May-early June, 2017, with the college's international education class. It was my second time to Ecuador, and there was much new to see. I was thrilled to add five huge Andean Condors to my life list! I visited Belize with a group from the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society in January, 2017. We visited grassland areas, rainforests and the coast, seeing about 200 bird species. I traveled to western Brazil in July 2016, to the Amazon River Basin and then south to the Pantanal wetlands area. Here's a story I wrote about the trip, in The Chronicle newspaper: Joyce in the Jungle, Brazil. In March, 2016, I joined students and faculty on an international studies trip to the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. It was chilly but beautiful, with breathtaking architecture. In June, 2015, I finally saw the Grand Canyon - and California Condors! - on a trip with Field Guides, Inc. to Northern Arizona and the beautiful Flagstaff, Sedona and Grand Canyon area. I wrote a story for The Chronicle newspaper about this adventure, "Her quest to see California condors in the Grand Canyon." I was thrilled to go on a birding adventure to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru in August 2014, pictured on this page. We did several high-altitude mountain hikes (from 8,000 to 14,400 feet above sea level) to see rare birds that prefer those extreme habitats. We saw lots of hummingbirds. My total species of hummingbirds is now 100 - almost a third of the 330+ hummingbird species. Note: I'm a birder, not a wildlife photographer, so these are scenery shots. For bird photos from professional photographers, see this page for a slideshow. I visited Bali in May-June 2013 with a SUNY Adirondack International Studies class. We saw many Balinese dance, music and theater performances, took dance lessons and played in a gamelan orchestra at a school, visited many beautiful Hindu temples, hot springs, saw dolphins, monkeys and ancient volcanoes, rode Sumatran Asian elephants, took a yoga class, bargained in the marketplaces and much more. It is not a bird-rich island, but I added 16 new species to my life list for a total of 2,078. It is a beautiful island with gracious people. People decorate everything with flowers. In December/January of 2012-2013, I went birding in Trinidad and Tobago. We saw about 200 bird species. I added 86 new birds to my life list for a total of 2.062. My #2,000 species was Orange-winged Parrots in Trinidad. So far, I've visited these 35 countries or world entities for times ranging from an afternoon to a month:
Updated March, 2024. |