January 2024

‘Japan is always a fascinating country to visit, with the food, scenery and, of course, the wildlife all providing a wonderful experience’ says tour leader Barrie Cooper. ‘This trip to the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido was no exception and provided many great memories for all participants. On Hokkaido, we had Red-crowned Cranes displaying and bugling just metres away. Steller's Sea Eagles and White-tailed Eagles provided us with stunning views while they fed on fish, also just a few metres away. The globally endangered Blakiston's Fish Owl was also seen well on two evenings; on one of these it stayed in view for almost three hours. 

At Jigokudani, not only did we watch Snow Monkeys performing their antics, we also enjoyed good views of the endemic Japanese Serow feeding out in the open on the nearby hillside. The highlight of our final day was a mixed flock of Japanese and Bohemian Waxwings posing in trees less than 20 metres away. We also had the bonus of seeing four species that are more usually found on Kyushu, with White-naped and Sandhill Cranes on Hokkaido and Saunders’s Gull and Black-faced Spoonbill on Honshu. All the different elements combined to make this an excellent trip to Japan in winter.’

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January – February 2024

‘We began our adventure in Siem Reap, which was ideally suited for visits to the UNESCO temple complexes of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon’ says tour leader Neil McMahon. ‘We also undertook excursions to the Royal Park and other areas nearby, which provided views of energetic Pileated Gibbons, day-roosting Flying Foxes and a variety of birds and arboreal mammals.

The next day saw us on boats traversing the channels of Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in south-east Asia and home to thousands of waterbirds. Herons, egrets, pelicans, ibises, cormorants, Oriental Darters and storks vied with kingfishers, bee-eaters, terns and raptors for our attention. We were very fortunate to get good views of the endangered Germain's Langur in waterside bushes and ended the day enjoying the antics of a small colony of Asian Golden Weavers at their nests. 

Next, we explored grasslands and open, flat agricultural areas interspersed with trees, where the remnant birdlife included the endangered Bengal Floricans and Sarus Cranes, stunning Pied Harriers, Spotted Eagles, Eastern Imperial Eagle, three species of owl and a huge variety of passerines, including a wintering flock of Yellow-breasted Buntings. Tmatboey gave us views of Cambodia's national bird, the Giant Ibis, plus endangered White-shouldered Ibis and the rich birdlife of the dipterocarp forest, with remarkable numbers of woodpeckers and other highlights such as Collared Scop's Owl and Savanna Nightjar.

Moving further east, our 'vulture restaurant' experience yielded all three hoped-for species of endangered Asiatic vultures and much more, while our adventures by boat on the Mekong River provided close encounters with Irrawaddy Dolphins, the range-restricted Mekong Wagtail and gorgeous Small Pratincoles. The highlands close to the Vietnamese border brought us new mammals in the shape of a Sunda Colugo, Southern Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbons and Black-shanked Douc Langurs, with bird highlights perhaps being Long-tailed Broadbill, Asian Fairy-bluebirds and colourful barbets and sunbirds.

Our last couple of days were around the capital, Phnom Penh, where we took in a tour of the Royal Palace, the National Museum and made sure we saw special birds such as Wreathed Hornbill, Great Hornbill and, of course, the charismatic and endemic Cambodian Tailorbird!'

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February 2024

‘Mull in winter always posed the risk of bad weather, but in fact we only had one really wet day and, to compensate, three lovely sunny days to enjoy wonderful wildlife and dramatic scenery’ says tour leader Mick Durham. ‘Mind you, on the last day we had it all – sun, wind, rain, hail, sleet and finally snow!

Despite some difficult viewing conditions, Mull gave us some spectacular sightings. One Golden Eagle (rather distant, unfortunately), lots of White-tailed Eagles, Common Buzzards, Hen Harriers, two Sparrowhawks, a male Merlin and surprisingly, a Goshawk. It was perched when one of the group first spotted it, so we all got good views. Seven raptors in a week. Only Peregrine was missing.

Other birding highlights included Whooper Swans, a pair of Dippers, a number of Greenshank, Red-throated and Great Northern Divers, two lovely Golden Plover resplendent in their breeding plumage and, to the surprise of all, including the guide, a Kingfisher!

Red Deer were seen in large numbers and a few Fallow Deer as well. Common and Grey Seals hauled out on a number of islands giving good views and although no hares were spotted, a few Rabbits put in an appearance. Of course, everyone wanted to see an Otter and, in the end, our Otter count was 12, including really good views of a mum and very small cub, and a mum with two adolescent cubs, all enjoying fishing in the rough waters of Loch na Keal.

The sunny days, with the bonus of snow-covered mountains, provided some spectacular scenery, especially around Ben More. Really, the week couldn’t have been any better.’

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February 2024

‘We had another superb trip around the sunshine state of Florida’ says tour leader Matthew Capper. ‘As ever, this is a wonderful escape from the British winter weather, enjoying both sunshine and warmth. However, 2024 was unusual in that the effects of the El Niño climate phenomenon were being felt across the south-east of the United States. During such weather patterns, Florida experiences cooler and wetter winters than the average and more storms sweep their way across the state.

We didn’t experience any of the direct effects whilst we were there, but it was clear that water levels in the southern Everglades were higher than normal, spreading birds across the landscape. It also seemed to have brought in a number of rare and unusual birds for us to see and the resultant trip list was the highest and most varied we have experienced to date.

Birds such as American Flamingo, Bufflehead, Louisiana Waterthrush and Rufous Hummingbird for example, were all new and well outside their usual expected range. But they were just a small part of the wonderful range of wetland birds, waders, warblers and woodpeckers that make up this tour.

However, there is always a trip highlight and I think it would be hard not to say that this year it was the owls that stole the show. We can usually rely on the Burrowing Owls to put on a good show but this time we added a very smart Eastern Screech Owl snoozing in the hollow of a tree stump and, best of all, was a wonderful half hour standing beneath a pair of Great Horned Owls and their chick. Just magical!

And of course, it isn’t just about birds. Florida always delivers with lizards, butterflies, Alligators, dolphins, Manatees and this year, we even got to know a 14-foot brute of an American Crocodile called Freddie!’

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February 2024

‘This was a simply fabulous tour of Oman, taking in the Muscat region, the north-eastern and eastern coasts, the desert interior and the Dhofar region in the far south’ says tour leader Simon Woolley. ‘We encountered a wonderful array of landscapes and enjoyed two offshore boat trips, racking up five dolphin species and several highly-prized seabirds, such as Flesh-footed Shearwater, Jouanin's Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird and both Brown and Masked Boobies.

Around Muscat, we enjoyed both migrant waterbirds and desert inhabitants, and scored with the localised Hume's Wheatear. Further east, we encountered the legendary Crab-plover, and started to see numerous desert specialists, such as Desert Wheatear and Desert Lark, Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Asian Desert Warbler, Cream-coloured Courser and (notably) all four regular Omani sandgrouse species. Scarce winter visitors like Pacific Golden Plover and Pin-tailed Snipe were found. Migrant/wintering passerines included interesting birds like Menetrie's Warbler, both Isabelline and Red-tailed Shrikes, and Masked Shrike.

Birds of prey featured heavily, with six species of eagle, Crested Honey Buzzard, Black-winged Kite and others. The very special region of Dhofar in the south (around Salalah) turned up almost all of the regional endemics and highly localised species we could have asked for: highlights included Bruce's Green Pigeon, Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak, Yemen Serin, (South) Arabian Wheatear, Spotted Thick-knee, Abdim's Stork, Socotra Cormorant, African Paradise Flycatcher and Arabian Sunbird. Omani rarities in Dhofar included Cotton Pygmy Goose, Spur-winged Lapwing, Red-knobbed Coot and Intermediate Egret.

We made a special trip on the last day to a remote oasis and were successful in our quest for both (Grey) Hypocolius, at perhaps their only regular Omani site, and Nile Valley Sunbird. This made for a spectacular end to a simply wonderful trip, and one thoroughly enjoyed by all.’

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February 2024

‘During an action-packed week on the beautiful island of Jamaica, we explored forest, farmland and coasts, visited the Blue Mountains and the John Crow Mountains in the east, touched on the edge of the remote Cockpit Country in the west and experienced a wonderful cross section of Jamaica’s scenery and wildlife’ says tour leader Andy Smith. ‘The 28 currently recognised endemic bird species were high on most people’s target lists and in the end, we saw all of them, from Streamertails, Todies and Vireos to Crested Quail Dove, Jamaican Woodpecker, both species of Parrot and the dinky little Arrowhead Warbler. Some played harder to get than others and excitement at finally finding the subtle Jamaican Pewee was out of all proportion to the glamour of the bird itself. Others, however, were just plain thrilling to encounter, including the mighty Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo, the extraordinary Lizard Cuckoo and the wonderful Jamaican Owl.

Beyond the endemics, tiny Vervain Hummingbirds, noisy Olive-throated Parakeets, enigmatic Northern Potoos and bizarre Smooth-billed Anis were just some of the birds that added further spice to our explorations and we all enjoyed the various colourful North American warblers that illuminated every forest excursion. Along the coast we encountered a variety of herons, waders and other wetland species, along with Brown Pelicans, occasional White-tailed Tropicbirds and the ever- present Magnificent Frigatebirds hanging effortlessly in the air above. With the climate and the lushness of the vegetation came a host of colourful butterflies and a few good reptiles, topped by the bright green Jamaican Giant Anole.

All of this, along with the rich and laid-back Jamaican culture that we found ourselves immersed in, made for a very memorable and highly enjoyable week.’

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