Chris Townend (Wise Birding)
Tour Leader / Freelance Ornithologist.
Love all wildlife, particularly birds, the challenge of rarity finding & searching for elusive cats, especially Lynx & Snow Leopard.
Bird & Mammal Tours: www.wisebirding.co.uk
Beaver Walks: www.devonbeavertours.co.uk
- Despite monsoon rain and very strong wind in Sierra de Andujar, our perseverance finally paid off and we had some special views of two Lynx together late this afternoon. A well deserved result for a great team! #Mammals #IberianLynx #WiseBirding
- Great to finally see some Greater (Euro) White-fronted Geese on the patch, thanks to Ranger Rick 👍🏻 A flock of 22 birds in total. Last time only the patch was back in December 2021, so a very welcome sight on an otherwise miserable grey and windy day. #DevonBirds
- It’s a wrap! Great team!🙌 All to go again next year…..
- That’s the @wisebirding.bsky.social Thailand tour finished for this year. Over 400 species, starting with Spoon-billed Sandpiper, ending with Slaty-backed Forktail, with many goodies like this Blue Pitta in between #WiseBirding #Thailand 🇹🇭
- Always a good read👇🏻👇🏻 #DevonBirds
- Come and join us in Mongolia in May/June 2026 and see some fabulous birds, amazing landscapes, wonderful people and some great mammals too. It really is a fabulous country! #Birds #Mongolia #WiseBirding
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- A couple of South African Shelduck on the patch late this evening. I was hoping they were going to be Ruddy Shelducks, as a talking point at least! 😂 Sadly not, despite the right hand bird looking superficially like one. Though could even by a hybrid.🙄 #DevonBirds
- We have just had 2 places come available for our South Pantanal and Emas NP Mostly Mammals Tour in July. Please contact us if interested for this guaranteed departure at discounted price and just group size of 5: www.wisebirding.co.uk/brazil-emas-... #Mammals #WiseBirding
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- One of, if not THE most wanted species on this tour. A new site from previous years produced fab views this morning 😮👇🏻👇🏻 We will be running this again next year. #WiseBirding #Senegal #WorldBirding #Birds
- The Scissor-tailed Kite roost in Senegal really is one of the stand-out highlights of our tour here.😍 #Birds #Senegal #WiseBirding
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- Exciting news from the field from Colin with an exciting bonus mammal from our current Thailand birding tour 😍 #Mammals #WiseBirding
- More from our Senegal tour yesterday as Dave and the group spent a full day birding in the far north near Podor. #Birds #WorldBirding #Senegal #WiseBirding
- A great start to our Senegal tour with Dave and Carlos leading.👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 #Birds #WorldBirding #Senegal #WiseBirding
- Looks like the first day of the Wise Birding Thailand tour started with a bang then!😍 👇🏻👇🏻 #Birds #WiseBirding
- This evening, I managed to get closer to the Little Stint I found on the Otter Estuary NR yesterday. An interesting plumage for UK of what appears to be Juv moulting to 1st winter plumage. Be interesting to see if it stays the whole winter….. #UKBirds #DevonBirds
- An unseasonal and slightly odd plumaged Little Stint on the Otter Estuary NR late this afternoon was a surprise. Always distant & fading light, but couldn’t turn it into anything rarer….. #UKBirds #DevonBirds
- Great to see the Slavonian Grebe again on the patch today, feeding on what I think are Sand Goby? #Birds #DevonBirds
- Happy Days. A mighty patch tick and pretty certain it’s a first for the Otter Estuary too. Slavonian Grebe 😊 Thanks AJ👌🏻 #DevonBirds #Birds
- Snow Leopard on your wish list for the New Year? We have a guaranteed departure in Feb: www.wisebirding.co.uk/mongolia-win... #Mammals #SnowLeopard #WiseBirding
- There are certainly plenty of domestic cats out in Oman and often in remote places, but this male was one of the best candidates for the Arabian subspecies of African Wildcat during our recent trip. #Mammals #Oman #WiseBirding
- More exciting birds from our current Oman tour with this fabulous Desert Owl😍 #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Our private Birds and Mammals Tour of Oman is now in full swing and we have spent a few nights looking for mammals. Arabian Wolves have certainly been one of the highlights. #Mammals #Oman #WiseBirding
- Well that’s the first of this year’s Oman tours wrapped up, with a total of 230 species. We ended in style yesterday with great views of Sociable Lapwing and this cracking Caspian Plover. Now onto tour 2 with some time for mammals too 🤞🏻 #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Seeing juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagles in Oman, up close and personal, really is a treat and a privilege. 😍 #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Masked Boobies sat on the Arabian Sea in Oman. Just one of many highlights from our pelagic with Captain Hatem today.😍 #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Exciting night birding in Oman with Egyptian Nightjar (photo), Sykes’s Nightjar and Arabian Eagle Owl in recent days. #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- An exciting morning on Masirah Island when this odd looking pipit landed in front of me and gave an odd call. A great Wise Birding team effort to secure everything needed to confirm id as Oman’s 1st Paddyfield Pipit. Big thanks to Magnus Robb for confirming sound recording. #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Baillon’s Crake was one of a number of nice birding surprises whilst birding Masirah Island, Oman today. #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Masirah Island in Oman is a fantastic island for a Crab Plover spectacle and for looking for rare/scarce migrants. Just some of the 800 Crab Plovers seen at one site today.😍 #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Just a small selection of birds from our first couple of days on the current Wise Birding tour of Oman. Hume's Wheatear, Indian Roller, Juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagle and Plain Leaf Warbler. #Birds #Oman #WiseBirding
- Our recent tour to Namibia and Botswana ended at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Over 415 species of bird and over 50 mammals. See just some of our photo tour highlights here: wisebirding.co.uk/latest-news/ #WiseBirding #Birds #Mammals #Namibia
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- Relocated the Swift again a couple of times briefly this morning but only managed v poor photos. Severely pushing the limit on lighting edits! One sharpened the other not. Certainly Pallid features, but not sure how much you can really trust the poor image…. #DevonBirds #UKBirding
- Exciting & frustrating! 😮Returned home from Namibia this AM and find a Common/Pallid Swift on the patch this PM (3.20pm - 4.20pm) over Otter Estuary NR. Brief views appalling light & distance didn’t allow photos or much help with id features.🙄Fingers crossed it returns tomorrow. #DevonBirds #UKBirds
- Exciting & frustrating! 😮Returned home from Namibia this AM and find a Common/Pallid Swift on the patch this PM (3.20pm - 4.20pm) over Otter Estuary NR. Brief views appalling light & distance didn’t allow photos or much help with id features.🙄Fingers crossed it returns tomorrow. #DevonBirds #UKBirds
- Another great bird from our final birding in Namibia before heading to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe was this stunning Rosy-throated Longclaw.😍 #Birds #Namibia #WiseBirding
- Another great day’s birding in Namibia close to the Chobe floodplains produced this lovely Dickinson’s Kestrel catching reptiles. #Birds #Namibia #WiseBirding
- More great birding in the Bwabwata NP in the Caprivi region today with displaying Racket-tailed Rollers being just one of the day’s highlights. #Birds #NamibiaBirding #WiseBirding
- We had to work hard today to find this mega owl, but perseverance paid off! A great day exploring the Pan Handle of Botswana with this superb Pel’s Fishing Owl. 📷 by tour participant Lori Louth 👌🏻 #Birds #Botswana #WiseBirding
- A fantastic day’s birding in the Okavango region of Namibia yesterday with killer views of two big target birds. The very localised Souza’s Shrike and Rufous-bellied Tit. A very happy group!😊 #Birds #Namibia #WiseBirding
- Our time in Etosha NP was memorable as always, with fantastic birding and of course mammals. Lions were easy to see including these two rather impressive brothers. #Mammals #WiseBirding
- More high quality specialities from our ongoing Namibia Birds & Mammals tour over the last couple of days have included Hartlaub’s Spurfowl, Herero Chat, Karoo Long-billed Lark and Ludwig’s Bustard. Etosha now beckons where the mammals are sure to impress….. #Birds #Namibia #WiseBirding
