Outings
Here are a few final trips for 2010 and the start of the 2011 birding season. Sit back, scroll down and shop for birds (and a better life).
More trips are coming. Check back for
workshops on photography and birds.
September
20-23, 2010 (Monday-Thursday) or
September 25-28, 2010 (Saturday-Tuesday)
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 trip details.
Location: Off Maine's Midcoast
Fee: $595 for single occupancy and $565 per person for double occupancy. The price includes ferry transportation from Port Clyde, dockside parking, three night's lodging, full breakfasts, birding, wine and cheese, snacks, relaxation, peace of mind and tons of birds.
[Register]
November
7-8
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,
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: $225 (includes one night's lodging, birder's
breakfast and snacks)
[Register]
2011
Escape the final grips of winter for warmth, southern warblers and specialties such as Black Rail, Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Painted Bunting. This seven-day outing to coastal and inland North Carolina is timed to include the arrival of Swainson's Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Hooded Warbler and other "southerners." We'll take leisurely walks in marhes for rails and along beaches for shorebirds. This area of North Carolina is close enough (for the ambitious) to reach by car from Vermont but far enough south for some exciting early-spring birding. You'll be back north in time for waves of other migrants that we won't see on this trip.
Location: Based in and around Havelock NC
Fee: Stay tuned
[Register for updates on trip developments]
Some
of the continent's finest spring birdwatching awaits us at Point Pelee
National Park in Ontario and McGee Marsh Wildlife Area in northwestern
Ohio. Our goal is 30 species
of warbler,
including Prothonotory, Cerulean, Hooded (above), Kentucky, and perhaps
Kirtland's (shown to the right from Pt. Pelee). But the waves of migrants
at these hotspots will include tanagers and thrushes, orioles and grosbeaks,
pouring from the skies. Yet woodland birds aren't the sole focus of this trip. We'll spend time with shorebirds, marsh birds and even a few prairie species, including breeding Lark Sparrows. This is spring birding at its best, with legendary fallouts always possible and rare birds always on our agenda. Here are more details on this outing.
Location: From Port Clinton Ohio to Leamington, Ontario
Fee: Stay tuned.
[Register for updates on trip developments]
EARLY SPRING IN NORTH CAROLINA
SPRING FALLOUTS AT POINT PELEE AND MAGEE MARSH