serendib scops-owl

The birds of Sri Lanka largely surrendered during an Odonata tour there this spring, the easy highlight was this roosting Serendib scops-owl at Kithulgala.

Raphismia bispina - second record for Sulawesi?

Just back from leading the first Greentours Sulawesi and Halmahera tour, not many new dragonflies unsurprisingly as we mainly looked at birds and mammals. The big surprise came at Remang-Remang in South Sulawesi when we bumped into a single Raphismia bispina. I have been looking for this species for a long time so it was great to lay it to rest at last. The additional good news though was that is was perhaps only the second record for the island, the first and last being reported by Ris in 1910!

Paragomphus capitatus

Trying to post species from my photo collection that are not represented on the internet, this is Paragomphus capitatus. Endemic to Sulawesi and snapped on the Sungei Pattanuang during last year's Odonatours tour.

what katydid?

I joined inaturalist last week and it is a great resource for identifying lesser-known taxa. Doubtless I will be using it a lot in the future (although whether I will ever have time to make a serious contribution is another matter...). Imagine my surprise when the first photo I uploaded turned out to be the third ever record of the stunning katydid Pronomapyga grandis. Bwindi Forest (Uganda).

new BK moths in the garden

The fact that I am not in China this year bagged me a couple of great new moths for BK on the 15th October, with Mythimna l-album (above) and Lithophane semibrunnea (below) being the easy highlights of the month.

ischnura pruinescens

Fresh female Ischnura pruinescens had the ability to stop us in our tracks during my recent trip to Australia.

china crisis

The incredible Greentours 'Mammals of the Roof of the World' tour in China's stunning Qinghai province is struggling to fill up this year amazingly. If you fancy accompanying me and Jesper Hornskov to look for Pallas' cat and the suite of other species present at high-altitude in this region check out the Greentours website at

http://www.greentours.co.uk/Asia/MAMMALS-OF-THE-ROOF-OF-THE-WORLD/

austrolestes insularis

Working on the report from my recent trip to Australia at the moment and enjoying going through the photographs. Erland found us this superb male Austrolestes insularis on the first full day at Undara Volcanic NP in Far North Queensland.

sunlit dragon

Displaying male Draco spilonotus at Tangkoko in April. I hope to return to Tangkoko and  Sulawesi with a Greentours group in the near future.

sallow kitten

Moth-trapping in the garden continues every other night and keeps adding species to the BK list, I have been waiting for this beauty (Furcula furcula) for a long time...

Madagascan endemic - Lestes simulator

KD tells me this might the only known photograph of the Madagascan endemic damsel Lestes simulator... Zombitse, January 2016. As far as I recall this was the only species that I saw that was not seen by the rest of the group.

agami who art in heaven

The highlight of the Peten leg of my recent trip to Guatemala was this excellent Agami heron - a dream come true.