SOUTH WALES 28TH - 31ST MAY 2007

OUR mini tour from 28th – 31st May 2007 was almost totally dry, though not always warm, while the rest of the UK suffered torrential downpours! The birding was good with an excellent passage of Manx Shearwaters and European Storm Petrels along with lesser numbers of Sandwich Terns, Northern Gannets and Black-legged Kittiwakes. Raptors featured highly with the highlights being a splendid female Marsh Harrier – still a rare bird in Wales, a displaying male Northern Goshawk, two Red Kites, two Peregrines , two European Sparrowhawk and large numbers of Common Buzzards and Common Kestrels. Three Red-billed Chough showed well, Tree Sparrows , Linnets, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers were on the breeding grounds and a good variety of breeding warblers were seen including at least five Wood Warblers. Common Redstarts were also present in very good numbers and we enjoyed superb views of a Dipper feeding a well grown chick, a heavy passage of Common Swifts and a nice range of shorebirds including eight Pied Avocets, breeding plumaged Black-tailed Godwits and Dunlin and several Little Egrets. A most enjoyable few days spent in very good company.

TURKEY 23RD MAY - 3RD JUNE 2007

OUR second tour to TURKEY was another major triumph following on from last year’s spectacular success. However, it was noticeable that several other tour operators have decided to follow our lead and offer this wonderful destination as part of their programme, and this gives huge cause for concern, as in one case the group size was almost treble that of ours That tour cost £600.00 more than our tour and followed a carbon copy of our itinerary. Our group sizes [in this case 7] are deliberately set low to ensure a personal touch, as well as causing as little environmental impact as possible when visiting the most vulnerable sites and habitats, and we fail to see how a group of that size can be deemed responsible eco-tourism. We recorded 181 species this time around, which was slightly less than last year, but a total of eleven Iraq Babblers beat that of any other group, as we were able to pinpoint them again following our finding of them last year. This year, we were able to find four breeding pairs of Greater Sand Plovers at a site where we were given some superb information, five Broad-billed Sandpipers and the more expected highlights such as Caspian Snowcocks, White-tailed Robins, Upcher’s and Menetries Warblers, See-see Partridge, Striated Scops Owl, Kruper’s Nuthatch, Pied Kingfisher, Armenian Gull, Asian Short-toed Lark, White-headed and Marbled Ducks, Red-necked Phalarope, Spur-winged Plover, Radde’s Accentor, Crimson-winged Finch, Red-fronted Serin, Black Francolin, Citrine Wagtail and a hole host of other exciting species. We will be returning again from 24th May – 4th June 2008 with the tour cost held again at £1375.00 with no single room supplement

CHINA 7TH - 20TH MAY 2007

OUR inaugural tour to the migration hotspots of Beidaihe and Happy Island was a huge success with a superb selection and great numbers of birds present. We missed a few species, as they like us were experiencing some strange weather patterns this year resulting in either early or late arrivals of expected species and with so many of the birds there being migratory, it was inevitable that some would be missing. However, a total of 198 species speaks for itself and included the first record of Fairy Pitta for twelve years that was found by Neil at The Reservoir during an exciting fall of birds. Two Brown Hawk Owls included a very showy bird on Happy Island. Huge numbers of Brown Shrikes, Yellow-browed, Dusky and Pallas’s Warblers were present with good numbers of Red-throated, Yellow-rumped and Asian Brown Flycatchers also present, but we also found a pair of Elisae’s and a few Dark-sided and Grey-streaked Flycatchers too. Other warblers included Manchurian Bush, Spotted Bush, Pallas’s Grasshopper, Lanceolated, White-browed Chinese, Blyth’s Leaf, Oriental and Black-browed Reed, Thick-billed, Asian Stubtail, Yellow-streaked, Hume’s Leaf, Pale-legged Leaf and Two-barred Greenish and a good selection of thrushes included Eye-browed, Siberian, Grey-backed, Dusky, White’s, White-throated and Blue Rock Thrushes and Chinese Song Thrush. Siberian Blue Robins were seen on an almost daily basis and in good numbers, while at least three stunning male Siberian Rubythroat were absolute gems and a wide variety of buntings included Godlewski’s, Japanese Reed, Pallas’s, Chestnut, Chestnut –eared, Little, Black-faced, Yellow-breasted, Yellow-browed, Tristram’s and Siberian Meadow Buntings. Richards, Red-throated and Blyth’s Pipits all showed well, while raptors included several Amur Falcons, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Upland Buzzard, Pied and Eastern Marsh Harriers and widespread European Hobbies. Thirty six species of shorebird included Grey-tailed Tattler, large numbers of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Great Knots, Far Eastern Curlews, Grey-headed Lapwings, Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers, Pacific Golden Plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper and beautifully marked Dunlin of the race sakhalina and Red-necked, Temminck’s and Long-toed Stints all alongside each other, but sadly no Asian Dowitchers due to the persistently low tides. Black-tailed, Relict, Vega and Heuglin’s Gulls loafed on the beaches, while other notable species included Yellow and Von Schrenck’s Bitterns, Baillon’s Crake, Daurian Redstart, Indian and Oriental Cuckoos, Vinous Parrotbill, Plain Laughing Thrush, Red-flanked Bluetail, Rufous-tailed Robin, Chinese Nuthatch and Pacific Swift. The whole tour was a great experience and offers a wonderful opportunity to get to grips with the identification challenges posed by the wide range of species on display. We won’t be travelling in 2008, but will be returning with a longer, improved itinerary for May 2009

HIDDEN WALES 7TH-12TH JUNE 2007

Our HIDDEN WALES tour for Bird Watching magazine from 7th – 12th June produced a very good variety of species. We began with cracking views of Little Owl, Dartford Warblers, singing Yellowhammers and several juvenile Northern Wheatears. Dipper and Grey Wagtail also showed well, while our boat trip to Worms Head undertaken in glorious weather produced fantastic views of a pod of fifteen Common Dolphins, 100 Manx Shearwaters and large numbers of Northern Gannets, Common Guillemots and Razorbills, as well as a couple of Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Atlantic Grey Seals. Back on land, a pair of Red-billed Chough were at Pennard, while our woodland walk in Clydach produced fantastic views of a pair of Pied Flycatchers, a Wood Warbler gathering food, a male Common Redstart and a very active Spotted Flycatcher. A male Honey Buzzard at the usual site on the third day was the highlight, but three Red Kites were also there, along with numerous Common Buzzards, a male European Sparrowhawk, four Common Ravens and a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. At least three Bullfinches were also present, as well as a singing male Blackcap on what was a very hot day. Day four produced a major bonus bird in the form of an Osprey over Kenfig Pool on another very hot day, where we also saw Reed Bunting and Reed and Sedge Warblers, but on a nice day of mixed wildlife, we also saw Small Skipper, Clouded Yellow and Dark Green Fritillary butterflies and Red-veined and Ruddy Darters as well as Emperor Dragonflies. Two Little Ringed Plovers and four Grey Partridges were the highlights of day five, but we also saw Little Owl, Yellowhammers and four Tree Sparrows as well as good numbers of Northern Fulmar and a Red-billed Chough. We also saw the first Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and both Wall and Meadow Brown butterflies and Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly. The final day was cloudy and breezy, so we started by sea watching off Porthcawl, which produced 100 Manx Shearwaters, five Northern Gannets, two Razorbills and two unseasonal Black-headed Gulls. At the Kenfig Rivermouth, we enjoyed a splendid breeding plumaged adult Mediterranean Gull, as well as a mixed flock of terns that included nine Sandwich and single Common and Little Terns. Five Sanderling, a pair of Ringed Plovers, a Stock Dove and a Common Cuckoo rounded off the birding here, but we also saw several Beautiful Demoiselle dragonflies. A return visit to the raptor watch point male European Sparrowhawk and a cracking male Northern Goshawk to round off a really successful and enjoyable trip.

NORFOLK 6TH - 9TH JUNE 2007

OUR ORIOLES, AVOCETS AND THICK KNEES tour from 6th – 9th June produced an astonishing array of birds. Eight Eurasian Woodcocks, five Stone Curlew, three Eurasian Nightjars, five Hawfinches, Barn, Tawny and Little Owls, Golden Orioles, Garganey, Firecrest, Turtle Dove and two Wood Larks were the highlights of the first day! The second day was very wet, but a pair of Montagu’s Harriers doing a food pass helped cheer everyone up and we also saw Little Tern, Little Gull, Common Greenshank and Corn Bunting. On the final day, we had great views of Honey Buzzard, then Dartford Warbler, Tree Pipit, two Barn Owl, two Bearded Tits, a breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper and finished with a female Red-backed Shrike!! If you would like to see this kind of selection of birds, then why not join us next year for some of the best summer birding available anywhere in the UK.