USA 17th July-12 August

There is simply way too much to write about this trip, so I am going to try and sum it up with a load of photos! It wasn't in anyway a birding trip, instead a bus tour travelling from San Francisco to New York, stopping at numerous locations on the way. It was pretty incredible...

Terrapin in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

Some of the many birds I saw in the same park: Pygmy Nuthatch, Western Gull, Pied-billed Grebe, Anna's Hummingbird, House Finch, Costa's Hummingbird and California Towhee. Other species seen included the fantastic Western Scrub Jay, Wood Duck, American Coot, Brown Creeper, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant and Downy Woodpecker, amongst numerous others!

The stunning Yosemite National Park, certainly somewhere I will spend more time in the future!

California Gull at Mono Lake

Least Sandpiper at Mono Lake

Mono Lake

The lowest point in North America, Death Valley. It really was an extraordinary place, remarkably supporting a healthy population of House Sparrows! A Coyote was also seen here.

The Grand Canyon- WOW!!!!

Western Pocket Goapher at our campsite next to the Grand Canyon NP. In the first picture, it is trying to reach a grape that someone had dropped and in the second, some lettuce.

Great-tailed Grackle, Grand Canyon NP

Western Kingbird, Grand Canyon NP

A very friendly Elk at the Grand Canyon NP

Monument Valley in Utah. Definitely one of the most stunning places I have visited!

Lesser Goldfinch, Mesa Verde NP, Utah

Mountain Chickadee at Mesa Verde. Other birds here included Cordilleran Flycatcher, Black-throated Grey Warbler and Pine Siskin, amongst a huge number of species around these stunning Pueblo ruins.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas. Texas was my favourite state that I visited- the wildlife was incredible! 

Great Blue Heron, Pearl River, Louisiana

Alligator in the Pearl River. Bizarrely, our guide fed them hot dog sausages and marshmallows! 

Feral Pigs at the Pearl River. These pigs are descended from hybrids between farm pigs and the introduced Wild Boar and now run rampage around the swamps of Louisiana. They too were fed marshmallows...

Northern Cardinal and Red-winged Blackbird at the Pearl River

Shenandoah NP, Virginia

George Washington memorial in Washington, D.C.

Ring-billed Gull, Liberty Island, NYC

View of the Manhattan skyline from the base of the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty

I will definitely be returning to this extraordinary country as soon as I possibly can, it really did blow me away. Personally, the overall highlight was camping out under the stars in Utah's Monument Valley, and from a wildlife perspective, seeing approximately 25 Common Nighthawks feeding around the streetlights in the carpark of a Walmart in San Antonio (Texas) was pretty hard to beat! A Greater Roadrunner sprinting past while eating lunch at Cameron Trading Post in Arizona was pretty cool too.