Bergen and home
May 9 in Scotland ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
A lovely day spent exploring Bergen on foot and needing to buy something small for the odd family member. Prices so high compared to what we are used to at home that nothing seemed good or best value.Read more
A bit of bother in Bergen
May 8 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
On berthing at Bergen we found a “hop on hop off” city tour bus which we took to our air B and B in a beautiful part of the city close to the shore. Unfortunately the place was coated in more dustRead more
Kristiansund and beyond
May 8 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Kristiansund was apparently the Clipfisk or Stockfish capital of Norway and has a statue of a woman holding one such fish. She seems to be the emblem of the place too, as I saw her on a rather niceRead more
Trondheim south to Kristiansund
May 7 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
After a superb 9-course meal with some excellent wine in the fine dining restaurant last night we slept a little fitfully and awoke to Beverly’s significant birthday as we berthed in Trondheim. ARead more
Crossing the Arctic Circle
May 6 in Norway ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
A quiet day for us without formal expeditions. A smooth journey in lovely weather where absolutely no movement of the boat could be detected with eyes closed. We crossed the latitude of the ArcticRead more
Tromso and the Lofotens
May 5 in Norway ⋅ 🌙 4 °C
A very beautifully sung (tenor) and played (flute, piano and organ) midnight concert in Tromso last night but in the Old Cathedral and not the famous new one.
Today we awoke in Harstad and threadedRead more
Hammerfest to Tromso
May 4 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C
Hammerfest is Norway’s most northerly town,almost totally destroyed during WWII. Great to leave the boat here for an hour of fresh air with Snow Buntings thronging the houses like sparrows.Read more
Kirkenes to Hammerfest
May 4 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
First leg of the journey north and west via seven small ports including Vardo, Norway’s easternmost town. NW Russia visible as we went. A few whale blows seen ahead of the vessel and one good viewRead more
Aberdeen to Kirkenes
May 2 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 3 °C
Three flights with Wideroe via Bergen and Tromso. It’s still winter up here at the top of Norway. Much snow still present with sparse birch forest. Everything (food, alcohol and taxi) as expensiveRead more
Overview
May 2, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Find Penguins not a great success this time owing the the remoteness of our destinations (Northern Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur) and lack of signal. Given that each day began wellRead more
Expedition nearly over!
April 25, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
At last enough of a signal to send a post written near the start of the trip! Now too tired to send detail of days missed but suffice to say that I’ve about 300 new species on my bird list and haveRead more
Manipur to Nagaland to Assam
April 14, 2024 in India ⋅ 🌙 29 °C
An update after a few days without internet. Two incredibly exciting long road journeys, first to the village of Khonoma in Nagaland where we stayed in a home stay run by incredibly friendly people.Read more
A second stab at Indian Grass-bird
April 11, 2024 in India ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Birdwise, enough to say for most followers that I added another 30 or so to my list and had fabulous views of the very hard to nail down Indian Grass-bird. But perhaps an equally life-enhancingRead more
Thirty-something new birds before 8am.
April 11, 2024 in India ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
A grassland and wetland morning, out by 4am in the cool when birds are most active. Extremely rural area with many people working in the fields, including cutting reeds and similar for cattle feed.Read more
Imphal, Yellow-throated Laughing Thrush
April 10, 2024 in India ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
One of our main target species under our belts and so rare it thrilled all our group members. But, given that every bird here is new for me they all have more or less equal value to me, so Long-tailedRead more
It starts.
April 9, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌬 11 °C
Easy travel from Doune to Edinburgh; Edinburgh to Heathrow and now waiting to board the Virgin Atlantic aircraft “Fearless Lady” for Delhi. There will be a 10 hour or so wait there for ourRead more
Always hopeful
April 5, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌫 5 °C
Four days to go and I’m obviously far too keen! Packed already, including with things I still need here - like wellies and other waterproofs, not to mention bins and scope.
Fantasising about allRead more
One week to go
April 2, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Thinking about packing now - for comfortable birding in varied weather conditions. What to include? What to leave out? Wellies? Imodium? Mozzie net? Lightweight stool? Umbrella? Crocs?
Homeward bound
March 20, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
A two hour “navigation”, as they’d call it in Galapagos, from Port Ellen to Kennacraig. Flat calm and parties of auks feeding all over the place relatively close to Islay. Also more divers thanRead more
Too much whisky
March 19, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Not a birding day in spite of the best weather yet. A tour of the Bruichladdich distillery was much more engaging than I expected and at daughter’s long-distance insistence I spent more on a bottleRead more
Ardnave Point for Choughs
March 18, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
After a fine walk to the west on Machir beach and a highly recommended visit for coffee, lunch and the purchase of some very fine whisky at the Kilchoman distillery for an upcoming ‘brothers longRead more
A day on the Oa
March 18, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
A party of five drove to the Oa - a cliffs bulbous peninsular, good for raptor species. Fog was a problem for much of the time and no eagles performed for us. We did see a female Hen Harrier and had aRead more
A wet and windy one
March 17, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Very little birding done because of the weather. Best Cullen Skink ever in a bistro in Port Ellen though. No photos.
Loch Gruinart
March 15, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 8 °C
A windy but sunny day in the Loch Gruinart area. Barnacle Geese in their hundreds and also many lovely Greater White-fronted Geese of the Greenland subspecies feeding in the rougher grasslands. A notRead more
Queuing at Kennacraig
March 14, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 8 °C
A drive with the caravan from near Stirling. Pretty wet and pelting with rain as we wait for the ferry, the timing of which has been put back and put back several times. Due to land on Islay aroundRead more



































































































































































Michael and Helen CookWelcome home
TravelerWelcome home - we leave from home tomorrow at 03.00hrs follow on Facebook