Dry January or Thank Goodness It's Over!

I'm sitting in my study tonight reviewing everything that has transpired this month. And I must say i'm blown away by the level of interest in Zoothera's birding tours - and I didn't even do 'Dry January'..! 

When 2024 began one whole month ago, which has felt like 6 months with the freezing British weather, it certainly feels really weird to be in the UK for the whole of January. So I have had some time to review in more depth what happens here from a birdwatching holiday booking perspective and it gave me some additional time to 'think outside the box' as to what to do with late April & early May. The Corsica House Party with a dash of Morocco was born, as was SE Turkey. Turkey now has one remaining space and I can't thank people enough for their feedback on this tour. Corsica is a slower burn but still has 4 confirmed bookings. Other tours have taken off quickly and year-to-date it's been the best start to any year since pre Covid. I am thankful to all of my loyal customers as ever, and also thrilled that 60% of new bookings this month are new customers. It's always hard to attract new customers, lots of clients are loyal to one birding company or another, so it really does feel great to have taken bookings from so many new customers. I have also been able to revise my seabirds again for the forthcoming Cape Horn Cruise and organise a little side-trip to see Hooded Grebe. I will hopefully be able to share my experiences of a new part of Argentina with you all very soon. 

So bring on February and let's go birding!

A little light reading....

SOUTH-EAST TURKEY MAY 2024 - 1 SPACE LEFT

Visiting South-East Turkey in the springtime guarantees some of the most exciting birding in the Western Palearctic, lying in a spectacular avian and cultural crossroads between Europe and Asia. Nowhere else in this region offers such a complex mosaic of habitats and resulting heady mix of mouth-watering species. We will explore the south-east corner of this fascinating country amidst habitats ranging from Mediterranean maquis, saline lagoons, marshes and beaches, through flower field fields, steppe and semi-desert, to alpine meadows and all the way up to the snow-capped Taurus Mountains. 

Caspian Snowcock

We will begin by meeting in Istanbul before a short, domestic flight to Adana where we will arrive mid-morning. Our first day will be spent along the coast looking for migrants and breeding species that could include the usual Mediterranean species such as European Roller, European Bee-eater and Eurasian Hoopoe, as well Pygmy Cormorant, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Thrush Nightingale or even a Semi-collared Flycatcher. Then we will head up to the eastern Taurus Mountains and in particular, Aladag Mountain where we will stay for a couple of nights at a delightfully secluded pension. We will use 4x4's to head high up towards the mountain tops early one morning in search of the main prize - Caspian Snowcock. Other specialities include Lammergeier, Radde's & Alpine Accentors, Wallcreeper, White-winged Snowfinch and Asian Crimson-winged Finch. Slightly lower down the slopes we will seek out Finsch's Wheatear, Western Rock Nuthatch, White-throated Robin, Sombre Tit, Red-fronted Serin, Black-headed, Ortolan & Cretzschmar's Buntings.

White-throated Robin

Heading further east we will arrive at the famous town of Birecik, home to some amazing birds. Here we can find See-See Partridge, Pallid Scops Owl, Syrian Woodpecker, Eastern Rock Nutjatch, Iraq Babbler, Upcher's Warbler, Dead Sea & Yellow-throated Sparrows, Heading west we will explore some lagoons and steppe country where Kurdish Wheatear, Calandra & Bimaculated Larks occur, Pale Rock Sparrow, Cinereous Bunting, Desert Finch and we will also look for Turkestan Short-toed Lark. 

Eastern Rock Nuthatch

Iraq Babbler

See-See Partridge

Moving on down to the famous Goksu Delta will take us across rocky hillsides where we can see Ménétries’s & Ruppell's Warblers, with Kruper's Nuthatches in the forest just inland, before reaching the lagoons, reedbeds and marshes a the delta. Here, anything can turn up and we should see some interesting migrants, as well as many shorebirds, egrets, herons, ibis, gulls and terns to end a fascinating trip to this Western Palearctic hotspot.

SEE FULL TOUR INFO HERE - BIRDING TURKEY MAY 2024

CORSICA HOUSE PARTY & NORTHERN MOROCCO

Another variation of our famous (or infamous!) house parties sees us on the mountainous Mediteranean island of Corsica where we will be starting our unique specialities tour that will also take us into the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Our primary targets on Corsica are Corsican Nuthatch and Corsican Finch, with both Marmora's & Moltoni's Warblers also high on our wishlist. There's a fine supporting cast with Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, Alpine Chough, and all the usual Mediterranean species. As it is a Zoothera House Party we have our own private cook to cater for us and there's going to be the odd drink or three in the evening as we discuss the day's birding events.

Corsican Finch

Corsican Nuthatch

Marmora's Warbler

Andalusian Hemipode

Moltoni's Warbler

After 5 nights on this beautiful island we fly to Fes in Northern Morocco and will spend 5 nights as we travel to Rabat and Casablanca targetting the Western Palearcic mega Andalusian Hemipode, as well as Maghreb Owl (split from Tawny Owl), Marsh Owl and Atlas Flycatcher. We should also see a some other pretty cool species such as Double-spurred Francolin, Barbary Partridge, Marbled & White-headed Ducks, Black-winged Kite, Eleonora's Falcon, Maghreb Lark (split from Crested Lark), Pallid Swift, African Blue Tit, Maghreb Magpie, African Chaffinch and more. And as it's prime spring migration time who knows what else we can find?

So let's go birding Western Palearctic style!

FULL TOUR INFO HERE

NEW TOUR TO TANZANIA - THE EASTERN ARC MOUNTAINS JULY/AUG 2024

Our tour to this rarely visited corner of Tanzania is guaranteed to be an adventure, as we search for some of Africa's rarest and least-known birds. The Eastern Arc Mountains are well off the usual Tanzania safari route and this tour is aimed at finding as many endemics, rare and extremely localised species as possible. We travel from the South Pare Mountains, to West Usambara & East Usambara Mountains, up into the Uluguru Mountains and finish up with a visit to the Ukaguru Mountains. Very few birders ever reach this remote area but there are so many great birds present that it makes the camping worthwhile! However, out of 15 nights on the main tour we camp for less than half of that time but it all adds up to an adventure of a lifetime!

Rubeho Warbler

We begin by heading to Same and some great habitat near Nyumba ya Mungu Dam for species such as Scaly Chatterer, Pringle's Puffbackand Pink-breasted Lark amongst many others. After that we will head for a small woodland just outside Mkomazi National Park, where we will hunt for species like Tsavo, Black-bellied and Hunter´s Sunbirds, Fischer´s Starling and others. Next up is the South Pare Mountains where we  look for the endemic South Pare White-eye and also Usambara Double-collared Sunbird before eventually reaching Magamba Forest in West Usambara. What a place this is! Here, we will search for species such as Usambara Akalat, Füllerborn´s Boubou, Usambara Thrush, Usambara Double-collared Sunbird, Montane Tiny (Usambara) Greenbul, Red-capped Forest Warbler and Usambara Weaver. It is also a very good area to find the much-wanted endemic Spot-throat as well before we reach the legendary Amani Forest in East Usambara Mountains. Here we will look for Fraser's (Usambara) Eagle-Owl, Mombassa Woodpecker, Kretschmer´s Longbill, Sharpe´s Akalat,  Short-tailed Batis, Usambara Hyliota, Long-billed Forest Warbler and Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird.  

Uluguru Bushshrike

Moving on to the Uluguru Mountains we target Böhms Bee-eater, Uluguru Bushshrike, Livingstone's Turaco, Loveridge’s Sunbird, Bertram’s Weaver, Orange Ground-Thrush and plenty more. Moving to a different section of the Ulugurus we can find Winifred’s Warbler, Olive-flanked Gound-Robin, Uluguru Greenbul, Chapin’s and Dark Batis. 

Rubeho Akalat

Staying at the very nice Hondo Hondo Camp there's a shot at Pel's Fishing Owl, as well as Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Stierling’s Woodpecker, Collared Palm Thrush, Hofmann’s Sunbird, Pale Batis, Cinnamon-breasted Tit, Stierling’s Wren Warbler, Eastern Black-headed Batis and more. We will also search the Kilombero River for the recently described Kilombero Weaver, before heading up into the Ukaguru Mountains for Rubeho Akalat and Rubeho Warbler and then we drive to Dar-es-Salaam where the main tour concludes. Or you can continue to Pemba Island for another 4 endemics: Pemba Scops-Owl, Pemba Green Pigeon, Pemba White-eyeand Pemba Sunbird. Plus chances of Dickinson's Kestrel and Mangrove Kingfisher. 

Chapin's Apalis

This is a different side to Africa than many other visiting birders have experienced, with secluded lodges, even more remote campsites, great food and some truly superb and rare birds. And it is only for a select group of 6 birders, making for a more personalised and productive tour!  2024 TOUR COST IS £4750.00

SEE FULL ITINERARY HERE: EASTERN ARC ADVENTURE 2024