A YEAR OF BIRDWATCHING …

Fifteen years ago, WildWings started out as a specialist travel agency for birdwatchers.  Since then, Managing Director John Brodie-Good and his team have continuously sought innovative, out of the ordinary itineraries for their escorted birding program, as well as ensuring that they offer excellent value for money.  And now, not only is it possible to spend a whole year birdwatching around the globe with WildWings, but also some of the trips are still unique to the company. Interestingly, as the destinations are fascinating in their own right, many trips are suitable for a wide range of enthusiasts from the keenest birder to the most casual naturalist.

 

JANUARY                    Goa Bird Festival  

The former Portuguese enclave of Goa is rapidly establishing itself as one of the premier winter birding destinations for European birders - and the reasons are not hard to find. The well-developed infrastructure and easy, inexpensive travel by bus and taxi, as well as the guaranteed sunshine and the discounted price, all contribute to make WildWings birding extravaganza great value for money. And, in a relatively small area one can find almost endless habitats from estuaries and mangroves to rice fields and monsoon forests.  With the tameness and approachability characteristic of the Indian Subcontinent, the species list is remarkable including parakeets and lorikeets, bee-eaters and rollers, hornbills and barbets, orioles and drongos, bulbuls and babblers, flowerpeckers and woodpeckers.  Based in Baga, the hotel overlooks rice fields and marshes, offering an opportunity for real doorstep birding. 

 

Dates: from London Gatwick: 28 Jan – 12 Feb 2006 (also 4-19 Nov 2006 & 13-28 Jan 2007)
Price: £899 per person sharing a twin room with en suite facilities, a fridge and ceiling fan, including flights, airport/hotel transfers, accommodation with breakfast, WildWings tour leaders and local guides.  

 

FEBRUARY                  Antarctica, the Falkland Islands & South Georgia

Combining all the attractions of the Antarctic Peninsula with the wonderful wildlife of two amazing sub-Antarctic island groups, this 19-day voyage begins with a visit to the Falkland Islands where sixty species of bird, of which two-thirds feed on land, arrive seasonally to breed.  Among these migratory visitors, the wandering albatross and its smaller relatives, such as the black-browed albatross, are perhaps the most enigmatic.  In the company of the great wandering albatross the ship sails southeast from the Falklands to the remote, rugged and hauntingly beautiful island of South Georgia where a sea of 100,000 colourful king penguins crowd the beaches at Salisbury Plain and another 75,000 nest at the Bay of Isles. South Georgia is also home to the comical macaroni penguin and important populations of albatross. 

 

A magical world of icebergs and ice-covered mountains awaits among the bays and channels of the Antarctic Peninsula and frequent shore excursions by inflatable Zodiac will provide fantastic opportunities for close-ups of Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins.  Accommodation is onboard the 100-passenger expedition vessel, Akademik Ioffe, which has the reputation of being the closest thing possible to 'luxury' in the polar expedition cruise fleet whilst still retaining the adventurous feel of a true expedition. 

 

Dates:  5-23 February 2006; 5-23 February 2007 from Ushuaia, Argentina.  Prices: £5525 pp (February 2006), £6170 pp (February 2007) sharing a main deck twin cabin (excluding flights).

 

MARCH            Atlantic Odyssey

The annual Atlantic Odyssey, sailing from Antarctica to the Tropics, is an epic 6000 nautical mile sea journey which begins in Ushuaia, Argentina and visits not only the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetlands, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Orkneys but also the even more remote and seldom visited South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale, St Helena, Ascension, Gough and the aptly named, Inaccessible Island.  The 30-day voyage ends in Ascension with an RAF flight to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. 

                                                                                                                                   

Rare birds with exotic names such as the spectacled petrel, Tristan albatross, Ascension frigatebird and Inaccessible Island rail, as well as the ultimate ocean travellers, the wandering albatross, are all expected during the journey.   With humpbacks and orcas alongside the ship as she moves through the ice and possible rare species such as southern rightwhale dolphins, spectacled porpoise, strap-toothed whale and Gray’s and Anoux’s beaked whales the potential cetacean sightings are also astounding.  All of this at a price well within the reach of many people due to the annual repositioning of the comfortable 52-passenger expedition ship, Professor Molchanov, on her journey north to Arctic waters.   

 

Dates: 10 March – 8 April 2006 & 5 March – 3 April 2007.  Prices: £3299pp (2006), £3465pp (2007) sharing a twin cabin (excl. international flights). Flights available UK-Ushuaia from £450 & Ascension-UK from £425

 

APRIL              Colorado

More species of grouse are found in Colorado than anywhere else in North America and springtime offers unusually prolonged 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 trip moves through Colorado in search of the different species, the small group (maximum of 7 participants) will make sure they’re in position by dawn to watch as each new spectacle unfolds with the sunrise. For an hour or more the frenzied activity of the males will captivate the audience but, as the females depart, it’ll be time for a well-deserved breakfast.  Certainly a trip designed for birders who are in bed early and ‘up with the grouse’!

 

As the tour vehicle makes its 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: £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.

 

MAY                 Poland

Unique to WildWings is the opportunity to join a flexible, low cost, birding extravaganza set in one of the finest remaining virgin lowland forests in the far northeast of Poland - a popular birding hotspot.  Everyone from the keenest birder to the most casual naturalist will find that the flexible arrangements are the key to the week’s enjoyment.  Personal itineraries are set each evening from a wide choice of exciting guided (and non-guided) walks setting off at dawn, after breakfast and lunch and, sometimes even, 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 and, by heading into the adjacent forest, the bird and mammal list is even more mouth-watering. 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.

 

JUNE               Pioneering Birdwatching in the Ukraine

A two-centre birdwatching tour to the Crimean steppes and the 2200 square mile wetlands of the Danube Delta where, in late spring and early summer, the Delta’s Biosphere Reserve literally bursts with activity as it becomes a breeding ground for hundreds of bird species, including the majestic white and dalmatian pelicans.  Using a quiet, unobtrusive electric boat to explore into the heart of the Danube Delta provides excellent views of the Reserve’s wide variety of herons, gulls and terns.  One of Europe’s last remaining areas of natural virgin steppe at Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve will feature in the trip with opportunities to see semi-wild Saiga antelopes as well as the rare Przewalski’s horse, whose distinctive shape was frequently painted on cave walls by early humans

 

Dates: 3-12 June 2006. Price: £1169pp sharing a twin room including flights, all ground transportation, accommodation in rooms with private facilities, full board and services of WildWings leader.

 

JULY               Ultimate Galapagos

On an exceptional 10-night itinerary onboard the Cachalote, an elegant three-masted topsail schooner, WildWings offers a memorable opportunity to circumnavigate almost the entire Galapagos archipelago with the aim of seeing all the endemic birds, mammals and reptiles of the islands.  Sailing at night will mean plenty of time during the day for exploring, snorkelling, photographing and just enjoying the unique wildlife of the islands.  The Galapagos has one of the highest rates of endemism of any island group with, up until recently, a staggering 26 species of endemic birds including the endangered waved albatross, Galapagos penguin and the famous Darwin’s Galapagos finches.  In 2005 the WildWings group saw all possible 26 species and now, with the recent split of the barn owl to a full species increasing the total to 27, they will be aiming for a full-house of 27 species in 2007.

 

Dates: 13-28 July 2006. Price: £3399 per person sharing a twin cabin Including scheduled flights from Heathrow, pre and post-voyage hotel accommodation in Quito, full board on vessel, all excursions and WildWings leader and local guides.

 

AUGUST             Eastern Hungary

Led by Gerard Gorman, Hungary’s top guide and author of ‘The Birds of Hungary’, ‘Where to Watch Birds in Eastern Europe’ and ‘Woodpeckers of Europe’, WildWings’ birdwatching tour of eastern Hungary is well timed for late summer when the country sees their wealth of resident birds supplemented by passage waders and influxes of raptors. Highlights include the scenic Bukk Hills where eastern imperial eagle, black stork and grey-headed, white-backed, Syrian, lesser and middle spotted woodpeckers are among the attractions; the flood-plains at Tokaj and the adjacent Zemplen Hills where, during a good breeding year, there are chances of Eagle and Ural Owls and, finally, the bird-rich marshes and steppe of the famous Hortobagy region where specialties include the aristocratic great bustard as well as the white-tailed eagle and Saker falcon.

 

Dates: 5-12 August 2006. Price: £759 per person sharing a twin room including flights, all ground transportation, accommodation on full board basis and services of the WildWings leader in Hungary.

 

SEPTEMBER            Trinidad & Tobago

For easy birdwatching and a good introduction to many of the tropical birds of South America, WildWings birding holiday to Trinidad and Tobago can be operated exclusively for just two people or is ideal for a group of friends travelling together.  The perfect combination is a full week in Trinidad’s idyllic Pax Guest House (Bill Oddie and David Attenborough are both past guests and huge fans) visiting the best birdwatching sites on the island, three nights at Asa Wright exploring the forest trails and to see the strange but stunning oilbird, and four nights in a tropical paradise location on Tobago - for more birding or just relaxing in a hammock on a classic Caribbean beach.  Although any combination is possible as WildWings offer the most flexible arrangements available and the trip can be customised to suit specific dates and requirements. 

 

Dates: 21 October 2006 and throughout the year. Price: Typically, two-weeks birdwatching in Trinidad and Tobago would cost from £1649 per person (competitively priced when compared with other tours on the market) including flights, transfers, accommodation, guided birdwatching excursions and most meals.

 

OCTOBER                   Beidaihe, north-east coast of China

WildWings’ birders have been enjoying Beidaihe’s spring migration – as well as the region’s excellent Chinese food - for almost 10 years now and WildWings are presently planning a piece of the ‘autumn action’.   Around 240 species are expected in spring, whereas in the autumn these numbers are hugely inflated by the summer’s young birds migrating for the first time.  A major highlight of the autumn tour will be the ‘fly by’ of the mythical, yet critically endangered, Siberian white crane.  And, some of the UK’s top birders will be on hand to help spot and identify much sought after Siberian and other far eastern species such as Siberian rubythroats, Siberian blue robins and Siberian thrushes, as well as Mugimaki flycatchers and Asian dowitchers.

 

Dates: 21 October – 5 November 2006. Price: £975 per person sharing a twin room with private facilities on bed & breakfast basis, including flights to Beijing, ground transportation, 12 nights in Beidaihe, 2 nights in Beijing and services of the WildWings guides.

 

NOVEMBER                 Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand

Ideal for birdwatchers, botanists, photographers and island enthusiasts, these 19-day wildlife cruises onboard the intimate 48-passenger expedition ship, the Spirit of Enderby, sail south from New Zealand’s southernmost city of Invercargill to the Sub-Antarctic Islands of Australia and New Zealand – home to a rich diversity of plants, seabirds and marine mammals, including penguins, albatross and sealions.  Known as the Galapagos of Antarctica, these unspoilt and forgotten islands of the South Pacific include Snares, Auckland, Macquarie, Campbell, Antipodes and the Bounty Islands.  Auckland and Campbell Islands are home to up to 15 species of albatross, eight species of penguin and many different species of petrels, prions and shearwaters head an awesome wildlife list.

Dates:  16 November – 4 December 2006 (from Invercargill, New Zealand). Price: £3839 per person sharing a twin cabin including the voyage, all meals, shore excursions, onboard lectures, pre-cruise hotel night with dinner and breakfast, group transfers hotel/ship/airport.  Price excludes international flights.

           

DECEMBER                 Christmas Island

Frequent flights from Perth (and also Bali) make the tropical paradise of Christmas Island a convenient 5-night add-on for birders, snorkellers and dolphin watchers alike. Lying south of Indonesia and northwest of Australia the island boasts two full endemic seabirds - about 3000 pairs of the albatross-like Abbott’s Booby and 2000-2500 pairs of the Christmas Island Frigatebird are found on the island. In addition to the birding, superb snorkelling is on offer, as well as a resident group of spinner dolphins and whale sharks at certain times of year. 

Dates: December and year round.  Price: £695pp sharing an ocean view twin room at the aptly named ‘Sunsets’ including flights from Perth, five nights accommodation with private facilities, balcony and fridge.