Goals for 2011?

So does anyone have any special trips planned or target species for this year?

I will have my nose to the grindstone all year working on finishing my dissertation, but will be visiting Bodega Bay, CA, 4 corners area, Florida, and San Diego.  I am personally hoping to knock off a few more chipmunks (Hopi, Sonoma), Blue Whale and perhaps a rarer whale species on a three day pelagic in San Diego, and Manatee in Florida.

I might also be making a trip to England for research, and will probably at the least do a weekend trip to the Black Hills (Black-footed Ferret, Bison, etc)

15 Comments

  • John Fox

    Great topic, Morgan

    I’m thinking about a half dozen different trips, will compile them into a coherent post soon.

    Right now I have a trip to LA booked 1/27-1/29. Going back to Carrizo Plain and try for Kit Fox again, and the three other rodents Curtis Hart found last year. I hope it’s not sopping wet!

    As always, any company would be welcome. Are you going to be in town, Vladimir?

    John

    • Curtis Hart

      I think I did so well that night because it was wet. Nothing was underground. I was only on the first two miles coming from the south, and I easily saw 60+ rodents in two hours.

  • vladimir dinets

    Me and my wife are both defending our Ph.D’s next spring and looking for jobs, so it’s difficult to plan anything. We don’t even know what we’ll do for the spring break (Mexico? Dominican Republic? Alaska?). But for the summer, it looks like N Italy in May, Indochina in June-July (with a possible detour to Sabah), and then, if we have August/early September off, Malaysia, Myanmar and probably a week on Sulawesi. If there’s no job for either one of us by October, we might continue to India and Sri Lanka or China and Ussuriland.

    • John Koprowski

      Congrats Vladimir and best of luck with the job search for you and your wife…the market is tough but good people land good jobs. Long ago we talked about graduate studies and I am glad that you found the right place for you. Didn’t realize that you had landed at Miami…say hello to Mike Gaines for me, a member of my PhD committee about 20 years ago. Keep taking pictures of squirrels…we have a month or two before we stop adding photos for Squirrels of the World and it should be out in late 2012-ish. We have photos of about 215 of 285 species but I am already thinking about a 2nd edition in 8-10 years and we can hopefully add a few more species! Take care and good luck to you. John Koprowski, University of Arizona

  • Curtis Hart

    I am not currently able to plan my year due to current events in my life, but there is a chance for Costa Rica, another night at the Carrizo Plain, hopefully get to CA for a Blue Whale, and if I’m lucky drive/ferry all the way up to Labrador in search of Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, and Polar Bears.

    • vladimir dinets

      If you mean Translabrador Highway, it’s a great drive, but it doesn’t reach lowland tundra and passes only a small ridge with mountain tundra, so the only tundra species you are likely to see is Labrador collared lemming, and even that is far from certain.

      Other things to expect there are abundant American water shrews and various forest species, plus great scenery and Northern lights.

  • Matt Miller

    I’ll be going to India this spring, my first trip to Asia. We’re visiting Kaziranga, Gibbon WLS, Kanha, Bandhavagarh, Chambal and Bharatpur. I can’t wait.

    In Idaho, my top search will be for pygmy rabbits.

    I also hope to get in some regional trips around the West, but don’t have anything planned yet.

  • Denielle

    Although I am not an animal expert I do load myself up with regional mammal guides and book all my vacations based on the wildlife I would like to see. I thoroughly enjoy reading about everyone’s lists and “hot spots” for wildlife veiwing. In ten days I am returning to India for the second time and while my husband is working in Delhi I will be visiting as many parks and reserves as I possibly can. Thanks to Jon’s posting about river dolphins i am planning on visiting the Chambal River areas to look for Dolphins (despite the fact that my husband’s Indian peers say i should not travel to that area because of dacoits/bandits). Does anyone have advice on hiring a boat/driver for this? None of the local lodges are willing to help me because I am not staying in their lodge and I am not sure I want to wait until i get to the area to secure these arrangements- I only have one day in this area.
    Any suggestions would be appreciated.
    I am also going to visit two local animal rescue sanctuaries where they have sloth bears and other native wildlife then will be heading down south to Kerala.

    • vladimir dinets

      Kateraniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is a much better place for dolphins than Chambal. It also has lots of gharials, otters, and forest wildlife.
      You can also see Irrawadi dolphins in Orissa if you’d like – they have daily viewing tours.

    • Duncan Wilson

      We did a boat trip on the Chambal a few weeks ago with Chambal River Lodge. We didn’t stay at the lodge (day-tripped from Agra by public bus) and they had no problem with us doing this, having made advance arrangements by email.

      Had several dolphin sightings plus a Jungle Cat on the river bank.

  • John Fox

    My effort turned into a list of mammals I’ve never seen and have some idea of where to try. It got a little out of hand so I put it at

    http://wp.me/p12yCV-27

    What I can actually do depends on how my year goes. Last year I was trying to fly 100,000 miles on United so had an ulterior motive to make short trips across the country. Not sure if I’ll do that again this year.

    • vladimir dinets

      I was in New Orleans a few days ago, and spent half an evening at Bayou Sauvage NWR, which is within the city limit. At night they lock the gate to the main boardwalk, but if you don’t mind “no trespassing” signs, you can walk on the other side of a small canal for about a mile. I saw dozens of swamp rabbits, one woodrat, lots of armadillos and impressive-looking feral pigs.
      From what I know about ribbon seals, Nome would be a better base than Barrow.

  • Jon Hall

    I am not sure this year as a few things are up in the air. But my priority is to visit Dzanga Sangha in the Central African Republic. I ought to be back in Australia at some point and will try to see Cape Pangolins in the Kalahari en route. Would love to try for Snow Leopards again later in the year… oh and I just got a great site for Spectacled Bears in Peru that I now want to visit. Gee … all I need is to win lotto and I’m set. Oh, and Ribbon Seals would be great too.

  • Greg

    If the airport opens up in Punta Arenas I’ll be in Torres del Paine next week looking for pumas. I also have a family trip to Mexico and Guatemala to see the ruins–If anyone has info regarding mammal watching in the areas around Tikal and Palengue, please let me know.

    • Curtis Hart

      Tikal itself is really good. I was there a few years ago, but Coatis, Gray Fox, Mexican Howlers, and CA Spider Monkeys were easy. Kinkjou and Tayra are both findable as well. When I was there, if you ate at the cheap resraunts, El Corazon de Jesus, was where I was, rangers would want you to bribe them to go into the park at night. You could also just avoid the evening patrols and stay in to spotlight. I never had any problems coming out late, they just made sure I didn’t go back in. You can also walk along the road at night. If you’re there in the dry season, the only water source is the pond by the visitor center. According to some guides, if you sit out of the way quietly, at night, you can hear animals come to drink. The guys said all the cats, paca, deer, and tapir were possible. I only saw the deer.

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