Hawksbill Turtle © Sara Frost

‘This 10-day tour in the Maldives had certainly been a long time coming for all of us, and what a lovely holiday it was!’ writes tour leader Sara Frost. ‘Our time spent cruising around the beautiful islands and atolls provided us with gorgeous purple-red sunsets over remote coral islands, a dazzling variety of colourful fish, and a visual daily feast of innumerable shades of turquoise. On all but one day we were joined by playful groups of dolphins (Spinner, Spotted, Striped and Risso’s), many of which bounded over to our boat to greet us and play in the water around us. An undoubted highlight was the group’s encounters with Manta Rays (plus Mobula Rays and stingrays) while snorkelling, with the rays appearing and disappearing alongside us as they fed upon the abundant plankton.

Every morning and evening the group enjoyed a pre-breakfast and pre-dinner snorkel on coral reefs, where the colour and variety of fish was wonderful! Vibrant parrotfish, many different types of butterflyfish, Moray Eels, triggerfish, both White- and Black-tipped Reef Sharks and Hawksbill Turtles were just a few of the underwater highlights. Birds aren’t abundant in the Maldives, but we had superb views of the elegant White-tailed Tropicbird, plus some Lesser Frigatebirds, Tropical Shearwaters and Black-naped and Saunders Terns. After many of us had not travelled overseas for so long, this cruise through a tropical paradise was a wonderful way to resume wildlife travel.’

‘Clients were treated to a variety of birds (including all five endemics) on this picturesque Caribbean island, along with a wealth of butterflies and Pantropical Spotted Dolphins, with plenty of time for relaxation too’, writes tour leader Dave Jackson.

‘Our January tour to the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Lucia was perfectly timed to escape the British winter with daily temperatures around 28 °C! We enjoyed many excellent meals in the company of exotic birds such as Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, Carib Grackle and Bananaquits and we’d seen all five endemic birds by the second day.

We watched Pantropical Spotted Dolphins leaping and enjoyed a boat ride to the island’s capital where we were taken on an aerial tram tour, seeing hummingbirds at eye level amongst stunning scenery. We were even treated to an amazing culinary experience at the hotel’s organic farm after visiting Sulphur Springs, the world’s only drive-in volcano.

Our leisure time was spent snorkelling off the private beaches, exploring the magnificent surroundings or just soaking in the sun, glass in hand!’

‘Our January tour provided us with a wealth of birdlife, wonderful food, excellent weather and some amazing encounters’, writes leader Chris Griffin. ‘Firstly, we explored the forest finding plenty of its specialities but the undoubted highlight was the passage of a flock of Brambling heading north. A couple whizzing overhead were followed by others and we watched spellbound as more sped past, comfortably totalling in excess of 250 birds! We also went out spotlighting one evening, seeing plenty of Fallow and a single Muntjac Deer before finding our target – a stunning male Wild Boar just metres from our vehicle!

After a day at Slimbridge WWT enjoying the many ducks, geese and swans at fantastically close quarters and watching several Common Cranes, we made our way down to the Somerset Levels. Here, several different conservation bodies manage a network of nature reserves, each with its own individual character and we explored as much as we could, from Steart WWT on the coast to Avalon Marshes near Glastonbury. The diversity and quality of birdlife is amazing, and we had wonderful encounters with Merlin chasing snipe at Greylake RSPB, stunning views of male Hen Harriers at both Catcott SWT and Ham Wall RSPB, numerous Cattle, Great White and Little Egrets and even three Glossy Ibises! But all of this couldn’t match the experience of watching the Starlings coming in to roost at Ham Wall. Hundreds of thousands of birds wheeling in the air before plummeting into the reeds created a spectacle that simply took our breath away.’

‘We had an unseasonably mild January visit to the Cairngorms’, writes tour leader Jonathan Willet.  ‘It did mean that our early morning visits to the pine wood (10 minutes’ walk from the hotel) to see Red Squirrel were not arctic expeditions, and on each of our three visits we enjoyed the squirrels’ antics and marvelled at their tree ascending and descending prowess. Whilst watching, we were tantalised by Crossbills calling just out of sight and Crested Tits high up in the trees.

Our trip to the coast was amazing, the possible highlight being around 1,000 Knot wheeling over the Findhorn Estuary. However, close views of the amazingly well-camouflaged Purple Sandpipers at our lunch stop were pretty good, as were the 40 Eiders in the harbour that were illuminated by beautiful light.

Our trip up Dava Moor was the raptorial highlight. First, a perched Peregrine Falcon on the skyline, which looked brilliant in the binoculars, then a Kestrel hovering very low, followed by a silhouetted Red Kite in the distance with a Red Grouse zooming away behind it and lastly, a much closer view of the kite in brilliant light, illuminating all its colours (with two Ravens close by). All in the space of 30 minutes!

The quality of the wildlife was matched by the brilliant landscapes, beautiful light and very civilised early morning walks just after breakfast (it doesn’t get light until 8am). The hotel was superb and our location perfectly situated for all our day trips and morning walks.’