Recent Tour Pictures.

ESTONIA, INDIA, BRAZIL, CANARY ISLANDS, ARIZONA, ALASKA, SPAIN, MIDWAY ATTOL.

for NAMIBIA Photos Click Here

SPITSBERGEN July 2004

CLICK HERE to go to the tour pages where you can see are more photos on each itinerary page, including accomodation and location pictures.

ESTONIA

COTO DONANA

INDIA

Painted Sandgrouse, India 2004, by Paul Willoughby

Brown Fish Owl, India tour 2004. Paul Wiulloughby

Painted Stork, India tour 2004. P Willoughby

BRAZIL

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CANARY ISLANDS

HOUBARA BUSTARD by Phil Palmer

One of the most sought after Western Palearctic birds, we watched this one by the tack at 20ft range!

CREAM COLOURED COURSER by Phil Palmer

One of the highlights of our desert exploration on Fuerteventura was the location of a pair of coursers with a downey chick. We also found Trumpeter Finches, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Stone Curlew. During our time on the island, we were also able to find several Canary island Chats, Ruddy Shelduck, Spectacled Warbler, Lesser Short-toed Lark and a Palm Dove, probably the first for the island.

Snowy Owl, Barrow

This female was one of 16 birds seen each day around the town in an apparently poor lemming year! The birds were breeding and males often perched on electric poles looking for prey.

The Bird Holidays Tour to Alaska, takes in the coastal glaciers, islands and fjords of Seward, with Sea Otters, whales and puffins the highlights, and Varied Thrush, Rufous Hummingbird and Two-barred Crossbill in the forest. Waterbirds such as Harlequin Duck, Sandhill Crane and divers (loons) are often encountered as we travel north to Mount Denali. Here, Gyrfalcon, Arctic Warbler and Trumpeter Swan may be seen, along with moose, caribou, bears and on the last visit, American Lynx.

Upland Sandpiper, Great Horned Owl and Smith's Longspur are searched en-route to Fairbanks. We then head to America's most northerly point, Barrow. Here we scan the thousands of duck, loons and shorebirds for the specialities: Snowy Owl, White-billed Diver (Loon), King, Steller's and Spectacled Eider. Polar Bear and Arctic Fox also occur regularly and Arctic (Hoary) Redpoll, Snow Bunting and Lapland Bunting (Longspur) feed in town.

An extension or pre-tour destination is the famous St. Paul Island, Pribilofs, where we see the delicate Red-legged Kittiwake, breeding alcids, such as Crested, Least and Parakeet Auklets, Tufted and Horned Puffins, Brunnich's (Thick-billed) and Common Guillemots (Murres). Endemic flowers carpet the old lava fields where Pribilof Rock Sandpiper breeds and rare Asian migrants rest.

Grey (Red) Phalarope, Barrow

This wonderful summer-plumaged female had just been competing with 45 others for the attentions of a single male...lucky boy!

American Golden Plover, near Denali

This stunning male was feeding on the gently rolling tundra hills, as his mate incubated eggs nearby.

American Golden Plover, Barrow

On his recce, Phil took a hide to photograph some breeding birds. Here the female plover had just walked off from the nest which contains 4 eggs. The male then walked to the nest to take over incubation duties, the eggs are just below him.

Arctic Fox, St. Paul, Pribilofs

The agile foxes on St. Paul can often be seen running along cliff ledges in search of seabird eggs.

King Eider, male, Barrow

This fine drake was photographed at 2am, illustrating that it is possible to birdwatch around the clock, just 1,000 miles from the North Pole.

Spectacled Eider, male in sea ice, Barrow

One of the world's most sought after birds. While many struggle, we have not failed to see them on our trips to Barrow.

Snow Bunting, male, St. Paul, Pribilofs

This male was singing from the edge of a collapsed lava tube, where his partner was incubating eggs in a nest lined with caribou hair.

Pomarine Skua (Jaeger), Barrow

Dark morph birds are rare, and this male is trying to impress the pale morph female. Three species of skua (jaeger) breed at Barrow, an excellent place to brush up on identification details.

Humpback Whale, Seward

Humpback, Orca and Dall's Porpoise are all regularly seen on boat trips from Seward, along with Sea Otter, and thousands of seabirds.

Tufted Puffins, St. Paul, Pribilofs

These birds were courting on the clifftops overlooking a large fur-seal rookery close to our hotel

If any of our tours interest you, please feel free to email us and check on availability. If you wish, we will hold space for you and send you our brochure, which includes a booking form that you will need to complete if you decide to go ahead.

BIRD HOLIDAYS, 10 Ivegate, Yeadon, Leeds, England, LS19 7RE

E-mail info@birdholidays.co.uk

Riglos

The impressive sandstone cliffs at Riglos, support Sardinian Warbler, Nightingale, Rock Sparrow and Black Wheatear, while Griffon Vultures soar overhead. The high peaks of the Spanish Pyrenees, hold most of Europe's desirable high altitude species. These include Alpine Accentor, Wallcreeper, Alpine Chough, Snowfinch, Lammergier, Rock Bunting and Citril Finch. By descending to the lower foothills, such as the Riglos area, one can find Bee-eaters, Red-backed Shrike, Orphean warbler, Spotless Starling, Booted and Short-toed Eagles.

Swallowtail Butterfly

The butterflies found in the Pyrenees are just as impressive as the birds, with some restricted completely to this region. The alpine meadows, have a great variety of plants that provide a spectacular backdrop.

San Juan de la Pena

The woods around this monastery hold Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper, Crested Tit and Black Woodpecker. We take a walk up the hillside to take-in this superb view over the monastery. On the cliffs, Lammergier is found, along with Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, and in 2001, a superb Golden Eagle roosted on a cliff ledge just metres away.

Spanish sheep farmer

The Spanish Pyrenees is not just about birds, the scenery is breathtaking. The architecture, people and the characteristic farming practices, make the whole experience very satisfying. The whole area is farmed in traditional ways, that are sympathetic to the needs of local wildlife.