Wed. 11th Aug. To Colca Canyon to see the Condors.

John & myself up at 2.00 am. for the 120 km. bus ride over a 4,900 m. pass to Colca Canyon.
A stop on the way to take the tourist photographs.
At a spot called 'Cruz del Condor' we spent almost an hour watching these birds with their 2 metre wing-span.

7th Day LHI. Fri. 23rd Jan.

A bit stiff, but still able to cycle round the island.
More birds! I think I'm turning into a 'twitcher' - it'll be anorak & binoculars before long.
This first is 'Blinky' the Masked Booby in attack mode.



In the afternoon I went for a 2 hour snorkel in the lagoon and for 10 minutes swam with a beautiful large green turtle

5th Day LHI. Wed. 21st Jan.

A spot of tennis against Jake - possibly my first games in 12 years!

Biking around the place, Paula spotted some baby Terns. There's no nest, the single egg just laid on a tree branch and the little fella just lives there until it's time to fly off.

RARE BIRD ALERT!!!!The Lord Howe Island woodhen, a flightless bird - LESS THAN 300 IN THE WORLD!
The population was down to 37 and a breeding programme has them back up to 250 to 300. This one was just walking under a tree and came right up to my feet.

An evening BBQ with a pure blonde.

Rare Birds!

Now, I have to say upfront that I am not a 'twitcher'. I enjoy seeing the lorikeets & cockatoos in my garden but don't chase after them with binoculars & camera.
However, I was watching a show on 'Animal Planet' the other night - as one does.
I was informed that the extremely rare 'Tibetan Black Necked Crane' had as few as 3,000 individuals left! (Wikipedia reckons 5,000 to 6,000)

You could have knocked me over with one of it's tail feathers.
I'd seen a pair - and even had the photos to prove it!
In 2006, on the road from Everest Base Camp on the northern, Tibetan, side, to Tingri we spotted a couple of large birds.
Here they are;


Take that you serious twichers!