WINGS E-mail NewsletterContents

Estonia

A Long-tailed Tit of a white-headed race peers back at curious birders. Photo: James Lidster.

May 2-9, 2009: Tucked away in a forgotten corner of the Baltic Sea, Estonia is a fairytale land of extensive forest, wild bogs, and ancient grasslands all braided together by an amazing number of rivers flowing down to a coastline fringed by 1,000 islands. The country has developed rapidly since regaining its independence, but an enlightened series of protective measures has ensured that many species in decline in Western Europe have increased in Estonia; birds such as Corncrake and White Stork are an inseparable part of the landscape, and migration in early May is spectacular, with hundreds of thousands of geese, scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, loons, and shorebirds streaming along the Estonian coast on the way to their rich Arctic breeding grounds. James Lidster leads.

Read more on line about this tour to witness one of the great European migration spectaculars.

Arizona: Owls and Warblers

The striking Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher is just one of the many species restricted in the US to the mountains, canyons, and deserts of the Southwest. Photo: Gary Rosenberg.

May 9-17, 2009: From the rich Sonoran Desert around Tucson to the lush cottonwood groves near Patagonia, from the cool sycamore-lined canyons of the Huachuca Mountains to the high-elevation forests of the Chiricahua Mountains, southeastern Arizona is one of the great North American destinations. Equally remarkable is the diversity one finds in this transitional region between the Rocky Mountains and Mexico's Cordillera Occidental of Mexico. This compact tour visits virtually all of the area's major birding locations, and we may encounter as many as 10 species of owls and 12 species of hummingbirds, as well as most of the classic specialties. Although owls and nightjars will be a major emphasis, very late nights will not be necessary, as all of our comfortable hotels are close to our night-birding destinations. Gary Rosenberg leads.

Find out why Arizona is a prime birding destination at any season: read Gary's narrative of last year's tour, and have a look at the mouth-watering list of rarities and specialties this desert excursion can produce.

Alaska: Gambell

Old World shorebirds, seabirds, and passerines, such as this male European Bullfinch, occur every year at Gambell, one of the most famous sites in North America for Asian vagrants. Photo: Jon Dunn.

May 29 - June 7, 2009, with Nome Extension to June 10: Spring birding in Alaska is an experience unlike anything else on the continent. First, there's all the excitement of seeing species whose North American range is almost exclusively Alaskan--seeing them well and, in the case of seabirds, in almost overwhelming abundance. Second, there's the distinctly arctic flavor of birdwatching at a season of very long days filled with tundra wildflowers and birdsong. For the veteran birdwatcher there is island birdwatching at Gambell, where in most years an exciting variety of species from Asia occur. Finally, there is Alaska itself: huge, wild, varied, and always beautiful. For our 2009 edition of this ever-popular tour, we've added another full day of birding at Gambell. Jon Dunn leads.

Find out why so many birders return again and again to enjoy the unique birding experience that is springtime Alaska. 

France: Birds and Art in Provence

Greater Flamingos--an Old World species recently "split" from the American Flamingo--patrol the roadside ponds of France's Camargue. Photo: Rick Wright.

May 30 - June 8, 2009: Southern France is justly famous for the diversity of its birdlife and the richness of its 2,000-year-old culture. This relaxed tour is an opportunity to enjoy both, with a Mediterranean avifauna complementing artistic and architectural treasures from the Roman and medieval periods. On some days, birding will predominate, while others will be devoted primarily to historical sites, but most of our time will feature a balance between birds and culture. Relatively late starts most mornings, leisurely meals, and plenty of time built in for shopping, strolling, and enjoying the sights ensure a relaxed pace, and the food, the wine, and the varied landscapes of Provence combine to make this an especially appealing European sojourn for birders and non-birders alike. Rick Wright leads.

Summer in Provence is as bird-filled as it is lovely. Read more about the birds and the sights on the WINGS website.

Peru: The Manu Biosphere Reserve and Machu Picchu

A Curl-crested Aracari drops in at Manu Wildlife Center's splendid canopy tower. Photo: Gary Rosenberg.

Few places on earth can produce such an incredible list of birds as southeastern Peru. Gary Rosenberg's exciting account of his 2008 visit makes it plain why this tour, chock-full of incredible birds in pristine settings, has become one of his personal favorites:

From Machu Picchu to the Manu Road and the lowland rainforest of Manu Wildlife Center, our 2008 tour was full of exciting experiences and fantastic birding. Once again we saw and heard more than 620 species in less than three weeks, including 22 species of parrot (including 7 macaws!), 35 hummingbirds, 8 toucans, more than 50 antbirds, 75 flycatchers, and 50 tanagers. The diversity offered by this region of Peru is just overwhelming! Add to this the incredible ruins at Machu Picchu, nine species of monkey, and such lovely lodges as Amazonia and the Manu Wildlife Center--and this tour truly is the trip of a lifetime....

Peru is a dream destination for every birder, with Manu and Machu Picchu among the best of the best even in that fabulous country. Read Gary's full narrative of our latest tour, then plan on joining him in October.

Chile: Tierra del Fuego to the Atacama Desert

The superb Diademed Plover inhabits dramatic Andean habitats in Chile. Photo: Steve Howell.

Fascinating birds combine with spectacular scenery to make Chile a captivating destination for any birder. Gavin Bieber recounts his latest tour to this slender land of immense variety and endless beauty:

As it does every time, this tour impressed us once again with its remarkable contrasts, from the windswept solitude of Tierra del Fuego to the richness of the Humboldt Current, and from the rich altiplano to the spellbinding barrenness of the Atacama Desert. Highlights were, as usual, too many to tally, but they included fantastically close eye-level views of a family of Magellanic Woodpeckers, impossibly long-winged Northern Royal Albatrosses wheeling around our boat, a flock of endemic Slender-billed Parakeets that suddenly appeared as if plucked from the ether, Andean Condors drifting majestically past postcard-perfect Andean ridges, and a beautiful Andean bog surrounded by purple and green scree slopes reaching up to snow-capped peaks with Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers. The list is inexhaustible....

Read more, and take a look at the photo gallery and bird list for a taste of Chile's stunning natural diversity. Join Steve Howell for our 2009 tour, October 25 - November 11.

Australia: Queensland and New South Wales

There may be no more stunning passerine in all of Australia than the brilliant Regent Bowerbird. Photo: David Fisher.

As David Fisher relates, the days in Queensland and the Sydney area on our tour of eastern Australia were filled with wondrous encounters, from the rainforest species of Queensland to the pelagics of the Tasman Sea:

To our amazement, we landed in Cairns in the rain. We went straight to the Esplanade, where we found two rather wet Beach Thick-knees feeding up at the top of the beach, a pair of Double-eyed Fig Parrots feeding (or excavating?) in a tree, and the more expected Varied Honeyeaters. After lunch in town we drove north along the scenic coast and then inland to Kingfisher Lodge, a new destination for this tour. Eyes were drawn immediately to the feeders, where colorful Blue-faced Honeyeaters dazzled and more subdued Red-browed Finches entertained. A walk around the property brought us a Papuan Frogmouth, huddled up at its roost....

Read David's complete narrative of this impressive tour, including his account of the best WINGS pelagic trip ever out of Sydney. Our 2009 Australia schedule includes four tours to the Island Continent, including the Outback, South Australia and Northern Territory, and Tasmania and Victoria--plus this perennial favorite visiting Queensland and New South Wales.

Hungary: Birds and Butterflies

 

One of the largest remaining populations anywhere of Great Bustard can be seen just an hour outside of Budapest. Photo: Bryan Bland.

June 20-28, 2009: The open steppes of the Hortobágy Puszta, the limestone hills and valleys of the Aggtelek, and the Bökk National Parks are some of the most secluded areas in Hungary--and among the very best areas in Central Europe for both birds and butterflies. We'll be based in those three locales, taking full advantage of Hungary's amazing variety of habitats ranging from wet meadows, alkaline marshes and steppes, to extensive oak, beech, and evergreen woods, limestone slopes, and volcanic hills. With the help of local guides, we can expect to see between seventy and one hundred species of butterflies, among them many rarities--plus, of course, a wide variety of birds. We'll be staying in small, comfortable hotels and family-owned inns, where we'll be surrounded by marvelous scenery and fascinating local culture at all times. Richard Lewington and a local guide lead.

Review the bird and butterfly lists from Richard's Hungary tours, and be sure to read the full narrative of his latest trip, full of marvelous scenery, fascinating culture, and winged creatures of all kinds.

Argentina: The Pampas, Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego

An Andean Condor takes a roadside pause near Perito Moreno Glacier. Photo: Judy Davis.

November 21 - December 6, 2009: Argentina stretches from the sub-tropical forests around Iguazú Falls to the sub-Antarctic island of Tierra del Fuego. In between, the landscapes are as breathtakingly varied as the birds. Our tour starts in the pampas southeast of Buenos Aires, home to countless waterbirds and raptors, and moves south to explore the Valdez peninsula, which typifies many people’s image of Patagonia: dry stony plains covered with xerophytic bushes and dotted with tinamous and rheas, remote shingle beaches teeming with elephant seals and sea lions, whales just offshore, and colonies of seabirds. We’ll visit Los Glacieres National Park to see one of the world’s few advancing glaciers, then search the forests and steppes for birds from seedsnipes to sierra-finches. Finally we’ll visit “the land of fire,” Tierra del Fuego itself, where we’ll look for Magellanic Woodpeckers in beech forests and sail down the Beagle Channel among albatrosses, penguins, and sea-lions. Judy Davis leads.

This tour can be taken in conjunction with our tours Argentina: A Week at Iguazú Falls and Argentina: The High Andes.

 Argentina is a land of birder's dreams, full of must-see birds and birding sites. Judy's 2008 tour narrative provides a sense of just how exciting it can be to bird this exotic land of "green mansions." 

Guyana

The incredible Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is just one of the flashy tropical species we'll encounter in Guyana. Photo: Wilderness Explorers.

October 16-29, 2010: Long overshadowed by its better-known neighbors to the west and the south, English-speaking Guyana, on the northeast coast of South America, preserves vast expanses of unbroken forest among its startling range of habitats. The sun rises relatively late here, just north of the equator, making it possible to take advantage of dawn birding without keeping extreme “birder’s hours,” and the country’s impressive system of rivers makes for easy travel by boat to many of the best birding areas. This tour to South America’s best-kept secret is an ideal introduction to the continent’s birds and a unique opportunity to enjoy the region’s many endemics, some of them recently split.

The Guyanese government is working closely with indigenous peoples to create a sustainable ecotourism economy in the country’s interior, and our use on this tour of indigenous guides and lodges in local communities contributes directly to that effort, an experiment in conservation on the grandest possible scale. Gavin Bieber leads.

Join Gavin and his Guyanese colleagues to explore this neglected jewel of Neotropical birding. The impressive prospective birdlist and photo gallery give just a hint of the full experience that awaits!

WINGS Aloft

Steve Howell has turned in the final manuscript of his Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North American Birds, and is now working on finishing up Rare Birds of North America with Will Russell and Ian Lewington.

Congratulations to Chris Wood, who has been nominated to a seat on the Board of Directors of the American Birding Association.

A butterflying trip in Tucson led by Rich Hoyer with Jim Brock turned up a Xami Hairstreak, one of Arizona's rarest breeding butterflies.

Will Russell's review of Martin Garner's Frontiers of Birding was published in the March 2009 edition of Birding.

The same issue of Birding prints "Birder Undercover: The Life and Times of Alexander Milton Ross," by Rick Wright. Rick also published two articles in the March/April issue of WildBird: "Southwestern Purple Martins" and "Guatemala: Earth and Soul."

Read more about what WINGS leaders are up to at The Wingbeat.