Tours

Corsica - Mountains in the Mediterranean

Sunday 22nd April - Sunday 29th April 2012 (Leaders Mike &  Liz Read)

Sunday 29th April - Sunday 6th May 2012 (Leader Mike Read)

This will be our 12th successive year of leading tours to this most rugged and mountainous of Mediterranean islands.  There are two endemic species of birds (Corsican Nuthatch and Corsican Citril Finch) and we usually locate these during our first few days in the mountains.  We are based in the spectacularly scenic Restonica Valley close to Corte for the first 4 nights.  From here we explore the upper Gorges de la Restonica and the nearby Asco Valley where we expect to see high-level species such as Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, Alpine Chough and Water Pipit.  Don't worry about the altitude though, the vehicles take the strain of getting us up to the high ground!  Everywhere we go there will be carpets of wild flowers and this includes the common Spring Sowbread, endemic Corsican Hellebore and Corsican Crocus as well as the spectacular Pink Butterfly Orchid. 

The main movement of spring migrants takes place around the 'coastal zone' so we spend 3 nights close to the Etang de Biguglia, Corsica's premiere wetland site.  Here and at other wetlands we may find Purple, Squacco and Night Herons, Reed and Cetti's Warblers and Marsh Harriers.

Cap Corse is perhaps the best migration watchpoint in the whole of France.  Resident Marmora's and Sardinian Warblers will be joined by masses of birds if the weather holds them up.  On one previous visit here, birds on passage included Montagu's Harrier, several Red-footed Falcons, Wryneck, hundreds of Whinchats and other passerines and even a Nightjar being pursued by a Marsh Harrier!

For more details and price click here..

Po Delta in northern Italy

Saturday 19th - Friday 25th May 2012 (Leader Mike Read)

This will be the second Travelling Naturalist tour to this, perhaps one of Europe's most ignored wetlands by birders.  This huge river delta attracts a wide range of breeding and migrant species and includes Europe's largest tern colony.  Here too we find the most westerley Pygmy Cormorants breeding alongside Ferruginous Ducks and Red-crested Pochards (below right) as well as all of the European heron species.

For many years the delta has been somewhat overlooked as a tour destination but with increased legal protection, the delta is now an excellent place to visit.  Greater Flamingos, Spoonbills and Glossy Ibises will vie for attention with waders like Black-winged Stilts (left), Kentish Plovers and probably some waders which will be on migration to high Arctic breeding grounds.  Caspian, Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns also occur here as do classic Mediterranean species such as Golden Oriole, European Bee-eater and Scops Owl.

Not far from our hotel in Comacchio lies the Parma region which we will visit for two nights at the start of the tour.  Here, the Taro riverbed is particularly productive for Stone Curlews while nearby we could encounter Lesser Kestrel, Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Grey Shrike, Roller, Hoopoe and Serin. 

Other birds we might encounter during this tour include Spectacled, Cetti's and Fan-tailed Warblers, Penduline Tit, Bearded Reedling, Slender-billed and Mediterranean Gulls and Collared Pratincoles.  Needless to say we will also be keeping our eyes open for all other kinds of wildlife too including Butterflies, Dragonflies, Mammals and Flowers.

 In keeping with typical Travelling Naturalist style, we will enjoy good food (what else would you expect with Mike leading!!) and walks will be in our usual relaxed, easy-going style.

For more details and price click here. . 

Vercors National Park

Saturday 3rd June - Saturday 9th June (leader Mike Read)

Mike is to begin leading wildlife photography tours for a brand new company called Focus4Nature and this tour is specifically tailored to flower photography.  Among the limestone hills of this 'Parc Naturelle', the limestone supports large quanities of wild flowers including good numbers of wild orchids.  On one previous visit to the area, Mike recorded 36 species and these ranged in size from the diminutive Coralroot to the large and showy Lady's Slipper.  The scenery is spectacular too!

We will not only be photographing individual flowers but will also be aiming our cameras at the wonderful alpine meadows that occur there.  After dinner at our hotels (this is a two centre tour), we will have time to view the days' pictures and discuss them over a glass of wine.  We may also spend some time viewing images during the middle of the day when the light is not at its best.  Throughout the tour, Mike will be there to help you with any photography problems and also assist you in capturing great shots of a broad range of styles of flower photography.

For more details and price click here.

Vercors National Park

Sunday 10th - Sunday 17th June 2012 (Leaders Mike Read & Liz Read)

This two-centre tour takes us either side of the high, mountain domain known as the Reserve Naturelle des Hauts Plateaux .  Spectacular scenery greets us wherever we go.  In 2009 clients were saying "...the scenery cannot get any better than this".  Then we moved to our second centre at Chichilianne and they changed their opinion!  In 2012 we will be visiting Chichilianne first.

The limestone of the area supports huge quantities of beautiful flowers and on one trip, this included 36 species of orchid ranging is size from the diminutive Coralroot to the large and showy Lady's Slipper.

Birds come in a variety of 'styles' too.  The conifer woodlands attract Goldcrest, Firecrest, Crossbills, Crested Tits and Black Woodpecker as well as two species of owl which we often seek out at the Hauts Plateaux, namely Pygmy and Tengmalms.  Other owls occur at lower levels and we have even had Scops owls from the hotel in La Chapelle.

We will visit numerous 'high' locations but the excellent road system here allows us to drive very close to the best locations such as Font d'Urle.  Here we walk through a beautiful Alpine Meadow full of flowers of various hues to seek out Alpine Choughs, Alpine Marmots and Chamois.  The re-introduced Griffon Vultures in this region seem to be drawing in other vulture species and over the years our sightings have included Black and Egyptian Vulture and a juvenile Lammergeier.

For more details and price click here.

Iceland - The Land of Ice and Fire in Summer

Sunday 1st - Wednesday 11th July 2012 (Leader Andy Jones and Mike Read)

Here, where the tectonic plates of two continents meet, we visit an island formed by volcanoes and carved out by glacial action.  The sub-arctic summer produces an exciting range of fora, birds in abundance and cetaceans just a short distance off shore

Our local guide, Andy Jones, used to be head of species protection at the RSPB so he knows about birds, he is a trained geologist so he knows about this land of ice and fire and, living in Iceland, has learnt much about the Icelandic Sagas.  He will keep us thoroughly entertained throughout the 10 day tour.

We visit various parts of this rugged land including the seabird colonies along the western part of the south coast where tens of thousands of auks (Puffins,Razorbills, Guillemots and Brunnich's Guillemots) breed alongisde similar numbers of Kittiwakes and Fulmars.  Also here we will walk to or onto the edge of the Solheimajökull glacier.

Everywhere we go on Iceland we are likely to encounter various waders including Snipe, Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Golden Plovers and Whimbrel as well as many Red-necked Phalaropes.  Two boat trips in 2009 produced good sightings of Orcas, White-beaked Dolphins, Harbour Porpoise, Minke and Humpback Whales.  Glaucous Gulls and Common Eiders are common on the west coast when we visit Snæfellsnes.  While in the north at Myvatn there are thousands of ducks to be seen including Barrow's Goldeneye, Long-tailed Duck and Harlequin Duck.  Gyr Falcons are seen on most of our visits to this area too.  We complete the tour with a drive across the interior of Iceland and emerge close to Gullfoss (a huge and spectacular waterfall) and Geysir.  This is a wonderfully diverse and entertaining tour.

For more details and price click here.