SPRING 2006 TRIPS - BIRDWATCHING & WHALE WATCHING

Bristol based wildlife tour operator, WildWings, has availability on a few

Spring birdwatching breaks as well as unexpected space on the popular

whale watching trip to Baja California.  Departures in March, April and

May 2006.

 

Birdwatching in Colorado

More species of grouse are found in Colorado than anywhere else in North

America and springtime offers fantastic views of their totally spellbinding display rituals. Each species has its own unique and bizarre performance involving ritualized dancing, inflammation of brightly coloured air sacs, curious vocalizations and extraordinary postures.  As the small group of maximum seven participants make their way from the Great Plains up to almost 12,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains, there’ll be visits to leks of greater sage grouse, Gunnison sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chicken; displays of blue grouse and wild turkeys and coveys of scaled, gambel and northern bobwhite ptarmigan. 

Dates: 15 - 27 April 2006. Price: Reduction of £100, down to £1599 from £1699 per person sharing a twin room including flights UK-Denver, all ground transportation, accommodation on a room only basis, lek visits and services of WildWings leader.

 

Birdwatching in Israel

 

Bird migration is the theme of this WildWings trip to Israel where birders will be accompanied by Dominic Mitchell, editor of Birdwatch Magazine, together with James Smith, one of Israel’s most experienced field birders.  The trip is perfectly timed to coincide with the waves of late-migrating raptors, shorebirds and passerines that funnel through this compact country.  Excursions into the barren Negrev Desert close to the Egyptian border, to the far south and the majestic mountains of Eilat, and to the shores of the Dead Sea on the border with Jordan are all included.  The annual passage of honey buzzards through the country is an amazing sight and a large percentage of the world’s population can pass through within little more than a week.  Optimum conditions in May can produce single-day counts of 100,000 or more. 

Dates: 30 April - 8 May 2006. Price: £1499 per person sharing a twin room with private facilities including breakfast, lunch and dinner, return flights London Heathrow/Tel Aviv, ground transportation and services of the WildWings & Birdwatch magzine leaders. 

 

Birdwatching in Slovakia

Slovakia has some of the wildest mountain ranges in Europe and this WildWings birding tour takes in four of the country’s key mountainous areas including the High and Low Tatras, Slovensky Kras and, an area largely unknown to ‘western birders’, the Volovske Mountains.  Habitats such as alpine meadows, old coniferous and magnificent broad-leaved forests will provide opportunities to see water pipit and wallcreeper, firecrest and nutcracker, wood warbler and red-breasted flycatchers, as well as all ten European woodpecker species.  Signs and tracks of both brown bear and wolf are likely in the areas we’ll be visiting, although the chances of actually seeing one of these carnivores is slight.

Dates: 2 - 9 May 2006. Price: £895 per person sharing a twin room with private facilities including breakfast, lunch and dinner, flights via Prague to Kosice airport, ground transportation and services of the WildWings leader in Slovakia. 

 

Birdwatching in Poland

Flexible, low cost, birding extravaganza set in one of the finest remaining virgin lowland forests in the far northeast of Poland.  Everyone from the keenest birder to the most casual naturalist will find  the flexible arrangements are the  key to the week’s enjoyment.  Each evening, personal itineraries are chosen from a wide choice of exciting guided (and non-guided) walks setting off at dawn, after breakfast and lunch and sometimes after dinner too for owls.  Bicycles are available to explore the forest’s criss-cross grid of excellent paths and forest roads and the Bird Festival coaches are on hand to explore further afield.  The hotel is situated on the edge of Bialowieza village and, within a few hundred yards walk, there are opportunities to see otters and beavers. Speciality birds include all nine north European woodpeckers plus white-tailed and lesser-spotted eagles.

Dates: 13 - 21 May 2006. Price: £699 per person sharing a twin room includes return flights London-Warsaw, transfers to and from the hotel, accommodation on a half-board basis (breakfast and evening meal) in twin-bedded rooms with private facilities.  Single supplement £69pp.

Direct flights from Manchester at a supplement of £25 per person.

 

Whale Watching in Baja California & the Sea of Cortez

Space has unexpectedly become available onboard the 88-foot, ‘Spirit of Adventure’, for the ultimate whale watching holiday to the island studded marine wilderness of Baja California and the Sea of Cortez.  This 14-day trip is usually an immediate sell-out and the space is only available due to a late cancellation.  Baja California, one of the longest and widest peninsulas in the world, is flanked on one side by the cool Pacific waters and on the other by the warm nutrient rich waters of the Sea of Cortez.  The area is outstanding for whale and dolphin watching as these waters provide rich feeding grounds for blue, fin, humpback, gray, Bryde’s, Minke, sperm and short-finned pilot whales.  Also on the itinerary is San Ignacio Lagoon, a major gray whale calving lagoon off the west coast of Baja California, which attracts literally hundreds of whales.  Using small Mexican boats or ‘pangas’ the animals are approached unobtrusively and the ‘friendly’ gray whales have a reputation of coming to within arms length providing excellent photographic opportunities.  

Dates: 27 March-9 April 2006.  Advance registration also being taken for 28 March-10 April 2007.

Price: £2649 per person sharing a twin cabin includes return flights London Heathrow to San Diego, overnight accommodation in San Diego, travel and accommodation onboard the 28-passenger ‘Spirit of Adventure’  including all meals onboard, transfers, services of leaders and shore excursions.