2012 TRIP CALENDAR
Sit back, scroll down and shop for birds (and a better life).
Here's the preliminary lineup for 2012 (plus a photo workshop in December of 2011). More trips are coming, so check back from time to time. Registration is required for all outings (except the Digital For Dummies workshop on December 2). Send along your questions to Bryan.
First Mondays of the month (plus a few bonus dates) throughout 2012
Hampered by hawks? Stumped on sparrows? Flummoxed by flycatchers? The Better Birding lecture series will solve your avian anxieties. With slides, videos, humor and exuberance, Bryan will offer his secrets and easygoing approaches to birdwatching enjoyment ... and enlightenment. Two workshops for beginners will be free. Here's the complete course list.
Location: First Baptist Church of Montpelier, a block down School Street from the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Here's a map.
Fee: $10 per session.
May 19, 20 / 7-11am
Berlin Pond trips are back! Situated only a few miles from the cities of Montpelier and Barre, the waters and woods of this pond have become a legendary Vermont birding destination. Sparrows and swallows, thrushes and tanagers, warblers and woodpeckers, eagles and egrets – we've seen it all. Bryan has been birding at Berlin Pond for nearly three decades, seeing more than 150 species in the process. With a warm affinity for the pond, Bryan will reveal its treasures and secrets for a small group of birders during the best month of the spring migration. You'll be busy and happy.
Here's a report from one of our trips to Berlin Pond
Location: Berlin Pond – Berlin, Vermont
Price: $35
Friday-Sunday, June 1-3, 2012 or
Monday-Wednesday, June 4-6, 2012 (WARBLER WEEKDAYS)
Northern Vermont not only offers some of the best forests for northern warblers and other songbirds, it is home to wonderful country inns. Warbler Weekend moves this year to the comfortable setting of Quimby Country Lodge & Cottages in Averill, Vermont. Highlights this weekend (besides a goal of 20 or more warbler species) include Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Jay and Boreal Chickadee. This trip, among our most popular outings, is all about nature and nurture. We're offering two trips this year.Here are more details.
Note: We are sad to report that our home for Warbler Weekend for the past 14 years, Highland Lodge, had closed. We thank the good folks at the Lodge for a great 57-year run of fine hospitality and wish the Smith family well. Vermont Bird Tours is looking forward to this new venue and a new tradition.
Location: Averill, Vermont (and nearby New Hampshire)
Fee: $385 per person
Off the coast of Maine, Monhegan Island is one of the nation's most stunning
places. This tiny, island (with no cars) is a premier spot for fall migration.
During this four-day outing, we'll see everything from falcons to warblers, from
migrating monarchs to lounging harbor seals, not to mention a rugged coast with
ocean cliffs. Highlights from our prior trips to Monhegan ranged from Clay-colored
Sparrow to Dickcissel, from Northern Fulmar to Yellow-headed Blackbird.
Check
out the Vermont Bird Tours Gallery for a few snap-shots from last year's trip. Here are more details on the Monhegan trip.
Five-Day Trip: September 22-26, 2012
Four-Day Trip: September 27-30, 2012
Four-Day Trip: October 1-4, 2012
Location: Off Maine's Midcoast near Rockland
Price: To be announced The trip fee includes ferry transportation from Port Clyde, Maine, dockside parking,
all lodging, full breakfasts, wine and cheese,
snacks, relaxation, peace of mind and tons of birds.
Here's a trip with all the songbird excitement of Monhegan Island, but with cars and greater bird diversity. Block Island may lack the small scale of Monhegan, but it's got charm and much more habitat. That diversity means that we'll get nice looks at plenty of songbirds, but also shorebirds, waterfowl and usually something rare. We've seen Pacific Loon, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Fish Crow on this outing. Blue Grosbeaks are to be expected, along with more than 100 other species on this trip.
Location: Off the coast of Rhode Island, near Point Judith, RI.
Price: Stay tuned for prices. The trip fee includes ferry transportation from Point Judith, dockside parking,
all lodging, full breakfasts, wine and cheese,
snacks, relaxation, peace of mind and tons of birds.
November 3-4, 2012
Early November is primetime for east coast rarities along the coast of Maine. Our exploits south of Portland over the past several years have turned such oddballs as Pacific Loon, Western Grebe, American Avocet, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Western Kingbird, Black-throated Gray Warbler and Grasshopper Sparrow, just to name a few. And that list doesn't include the usual suspects, including Harlequin Duck (pictured to the right), Red-necked Grebe, Great Cormorant, Purple Sandpiper and Lapland Longspur. This has become one of Bryan's favorite outings. Expect to be busy with birds.
Location: Scarborough, Maine and environs
Fee: $195
(includes one night's lodging, birder's breakfast and snacks)
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BIRDING BERLIN POND
COASTAL MAINE MIGRATION