WOODLAND WONDERS 1 - 8 May, 15 - 22 May, 29 May - 5 June 2010
This is the very best time to visit the ancient hanging oak woods of Mid Wales to see and hear the wonderful array of birds that breed there. Gems include Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Wood Warblers in full song - with their superb spring breeding plumage and few leaves on the trees, you can see these birds at their best. Along with such magnificent songsters as Garden Warblers and Blackcaps, displaying Tree Pipits and the chance of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, the woods will be truly full of wonders. Summer visitors such as handsome Whinchats, Whitethroats and Common Sandpipers will also be seen. Skomer will be a delight with Puffins, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and colourful wild flowers, with Bluebells at their peak. Spring migrant waders including Whimbrel and Sanderling will be passing through northbound. Click here to complete a Booking Request
Including a day trip to SKOMER ISLAND - £635
A PLETHORA OF PUFFINS! 12 - 19 June, 19 - 26 June, 17 - 24 July 2010
This is the peak time to visit Skomer Island. Comical Puffins and other breeding sea birds such as Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes will now be feeding their young. Expect to see Puffins coming into their burrows carrying sand eels and quite literally posing at your feet! With the chance of both Short-eared and Little Owls as well as butterflies and carpets of Thrift and Sea Campion, the coast and islands are a must at this time of year. Choughs should by now have fledged young and Peregrines will be feeding large chicks. Red Kites will also be busy finding food for their young. The estuaries will have broods of delightful baby Shelducks – “humbugs”. Woodland summer visitors such as Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts will be coming towards the end of their breeding season, but will still be visiting their nest holes with insects to feed their young. In recent years both Hobby and Black Guillemot have started to breed in West Wales. Click here to complete a Booking Request
Including a day trip to SKOMER ISLAND - £635
Co. WEXFORD TERN & WADER EXTRAVAGANZA 3 - 10 July 2010
“Dainty”, “elegant”, “amazing that they fly so far to winter!” – words so often applied to terns. Many thousands of terns, including all the species that breed in the British Isles, are found in Co. Wexford in the Republic of Ireland; expect to see Sandwich, Little, Arctic, Common and Roseate Terns. Waders will also feature, with some of the earliest southbound autumn migrants. In past years this week has produced some first-rate rarities in Co. Wexford, such as Short-billed Dowitcher, Elegant Tern, Wilson’s Phalarope and Green-winged Teal, alongside Spoonbill, Little Gulls and Marsh Harriers. You can expect to see Black Guillemots and Tree Sparrows, as well as one of the world’s rarest plants, Cotton Weed. From the ferry we will see many auks, including Puffins, as we pass the Pembroke Islands and equally large numbers of Manx Shearwaters feeding at sea. Storm Petrels can also be spotted with luck and diligence! Both crossings will be in full daylight and each takes approximately 4 hours. We will also see as many as possible of the key West and Mid Welsh birds. Click here to complete a Booking Request
3 NIGHTS IN IRELAND and 4 NIGHTS IN WEST WALES, all inclusive– £770
Co. KERRY SPECTACULAR Wed 1 - Fri 10 September (or Tues 31 August - Sat 11 September) 2010
Co. Kerry in South West Ireland is one of Europe’s migration hot-spots – expect rarities! Based on the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, we aim to make the most of everything the Kingdom of Kerry has to offer the birdwatcher. Resident birds such as Choughs, Ravens, Stonechats and Peregrines can seem mundane alongside the abundance of migrants. Whilst huge seabird movements are weather dependent, smaller numbers of skuas and shearwaters can occur in any conditions: Sooty, Great and Cory’s Shearwaters, Leach’s, Wilson’s, Bulwer’s and Fea’s Petrels, all four skuas, Bonaparte’s, Sabine’s and Ring-billed Gulls and Forster’s Tern have all featured. Waders can be exceptional both in numbers and quality, with American vagrants regularly seen. Past highlights include Baird’s, Semi-palmated, Pectoral and Terek Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, as well as Ring-necked and Black Ducks and Spotted Crake. Click here to complete a Booking Request
Note: At the time of preparing this we do not know whether the Swansea-Cork Ferry will be operating. If not, then we will take the ferry from Pembroke Dock to Rosslare, where we will stay for one night at each end of the holiday. We recommend that you stay with us at The Roost overnight on 31 August as we will be leaving early in the morning of 1 September. The price assumes that the Swansea-Cork Ferry is running and therefore the cost of these extra nights is not included.
BASED AT A GOOD QUALITY “IRISH” HOTEL, including ferry crossing - £920
AUTUMN MIGRANTS & WINTER VISITORS 18 - 25 September, 2 - 9 October, 16 - 23 October 2010
Seabird migration can peak at this time of year as vast numbers from the north are moving south to spend the winter out in the Atlantic Ocean. Many thousands of auks, as well as skuas, Kittiwakes and Scoters, are all on the move – this can be spectacular birdwatching. Wader migration will still be much in evidence, just as the winter wildfowl are arriving. Divers and Kingfishers will be along the coast, whilst Hen Harriers and Merlins are on their wintering grounds. Resident Red Kites and Choughs will be seen, with the possibility of a Yellow-browed Warbler or Firecrest. Mediterranean Gulls have become a feature during this period, whilst Dippers are starting to establish their territories for next Spring’s breeding season! Atlantic Grey Seals produce their pups at this time of year. Click here to complete a Booking Request
Including (sea conditions permitting) a day trip to SKOMER or RAMSEY ISLAND - £635
