After a really successful Batwatch Nicaragua - 40 species, 2 new records - I am now offering Batwatch Big Bend with co-leader Dr. Loren Ammerman. Go to Tours for more details.

I have some new trips coming up - look for details under Tours

Costa Rica - Feb 11-25, 2012 a new tour, similar to 2011 but with an extra night and a trip to the remote Osa Peninsula, home of the wilderness species of the region. Ever popular, this trip takes you to my favorite places in the country, based on over 25 tours I have led there!

BATWATCH Nicaragua - November 12-20, 2011 . NEW WORKSHOP!  Batwatch trips are a new concept in bat study, whereby a small group of participants will spend a week in one area, studying and identifying bats. These tours are designed to accomplish the following:

Increase the knowledge of bats in a poorly known region, thus contributing to their conservation and the local awareness of bats

Bring in expertise and funds to a region and support local bat biologists

Allow bat enthusiasts a chance to get to know a location and its bats through hands-on study including surveying for roosts, use of bat detectors and capture-release.  In-country bat biologists and international experts will provide assistance in the field, technical information and lectures on bat identification and biology.

Check under Tours for more information on Batwatch Nicaragua!

Amazon river boat tour. A private trip operating August 12-23 this year has one cabin available!  PRICE IS CHEEP CHEEP!! This trip will be similar to the August 2010 itinerary (see Tours), but we will spend more time on the Rios Negro and Branco. Contact me SOON if you are interested.

 Sri Lanka.  Nov 28 to Dec 10 2012 All-new tour! A safari in search of mammals, birds and more - see Leopards at Yala, Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys, Gray Slender Loris at Sigiriya, and Blue and Sperm Whales at Mirissa. See Tours for details.

   Please contact me for further information (email is fiona.reid at xplornet.com). You can also see pictures of some past trips and some of my artwork on Facebook - check it out!

Most recent tour: Argentina and Chile. November 1- 16, 2010. This was a truly fantastic trip! We has close encounters with so many animals, saw habitats from endlessly flat pampas to dramatic mountains, with windswept Patagonian coasts along the way. For a full trip report with photos go to argentina-and-southern-chile-tour-report-illustrated pdf 

Here are a few photos:

Torres del Paine 

I went to Thailand in September, mostly because I wanted to see and draw from life the Bumblebee Bat (world’s smallest) and the Painted Bat (arguably world’s prettiest). Both of these bats I had already painted for the Golden Guide to Bats of the World, and I really don’t like to draw an animal I’ve never seen… so I set off with 6 Brits for a bat adventure, followed by a few days in two national parks with two of the same British group.

Thailand was great. An excellent place to visit for wildlife, bats, Buddhas and more. the scenery is awesome, the food good (though I have to say not quite as good as I expected!) and the bats are really impressive. Here are a few pictures from my trip (more can be seen on my Facebook page).

The tiny Bumblebee bat in hand. So small it was very hard to draw life size

                                                                                                                                              Lyle’s Flying Foxes, the largest bats we saw in Thailand

Last but not least, my Painted Bat painting