10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

As introductions to tropical Pacific birding go, you could do a lot worse than Fiji. It was just such a layover that landed me in Fiji a few years ago. As myself and some other stranded Kadavu-bound travellers sat watching the grey clouds over the sea with a beer or two I also managed to find a tiny Fiji Parrotfinch in the grasses.

Fiji 169

Fiji Solomon Islands Parrots Los Angeles 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2012

You can encounter them from Hawaii across to French Polynesia and Fiji. Among the threats are low level hunting in its winter range, introduced species and possibly gold mining in its breeding range. It was a particular relief to see one actually, as it was basically the first new bird I had seen in 4 months on the island!

North America 184

North America Fiji Hawaii America 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2013

Diving has taken me to places like Belize, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Egypt, places that coincidentally are fun to bird. The dive was a gentle one, as dive goes, with a lot of kelp to get under to hunt for interesting fish, lobsters, sponges and rays. Kina, or Sea Urchin. I was a diver before I was a birder.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Goats Vanuatu Fiji 161

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Here in New Zealand te only potential big tick would be a lost vagrant painted snipe, and we’ve already established that I don’t enjoy that kind of vagrant hunting. I’m fairly sure the only family I’m missing in Europe is the Wallcreeper (Tichodromadidae), assuming you don’t lump it with the nuthatches.

Family 163

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I remember looking at a single skin of a Long-legged warbler from Fiji, the only known specimen or record of its particular subspecies, the sum total of all knowledge about its kind. Unsurprisingly the ones that most stick in the mind were the lost species. And most haunting was the cupboard of mounted specimens of extinct species.

Collecting 225

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 225

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji. Pardalotes are actually their own family, and a family entirely endemic to Australia.

Australia 172

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 172