WELCOME TO THE BLOG OF WINGSPAN BIRD TOURS



ALL NEWS, BIRD SIGHTINGS AND TOUR UPDATES WILL ALSO BE RECORDED ON MY WEB-SITE BLOG PAGES FOUND HERE


http://www.wingspanbirdtours.com/blog




FURTHER DETAILS OF FUTURE TRIPS CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEBSITE:-



http://www.wingspanbirdtours.com/






FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT PARTICIPATED IN A WINGSPAN TOUR DURING 2017, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CUSTOM & YOUR COMPANY AND WE WISH YOU HEALTH AND HAPPINESS FOR 2018.

THE PROGRAMME FOR SPRING 2018 IS NOW ON MY

WEBSITE BUT HERE IS A PREVIEW



Jan 2nd - 5th - Somerset Levels

Jan 7th - 20th. - Sri Lanka. £1850

Feb 16th - March 3rd Costa Rica - full

Mar 20th - 30th Morocco - 10 nights. - full

April 2nd - 9th - Andalucia migration tour. - full

April 10th - 18th - Coto Donana & Extremadura - £950 - 2 places

April 19th - 27th - Coto Donana & Extremadura - £950 - full

April 28th - 5th May. - Lesvos - full

May 6th - 13th - Portugal - £950 - 4 places

May 15th - 22nd - Northern Greece - full

May 23rd - 30th Bulgaria - £850 - 4 places

May 23rd - 30th - Andalucia birds and butterflies - £850

May 31st - June 7th. - Extremadura and Sierra de Gredos - £950

June 12th - 20th - Pyrenees and Picos de Europa - full


FLIGHTS NOT INCLUDED IN THESE PRICES



BOOK NOW TO SECURE YOUR PLACE SEND AN E-MAIL TO:

E-mail: bobbuckler49@hotmail.com





















Red-throated Bee-eater

Red-throated Bee-eater
join us for a fantastic tour of The Gambia this November

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

AUSTRALIA - HOLIDAY/RECCE TOUR - DAY 37 - NOV 2ND - CURRUMBIN

 
CURRUMBIN ECO VILLAGE - COASTAL MANGROVE SWAMP


After a late night last night I got up at 7am and went for a walk around the village and down to the lake. I looked first at the fig tree where a flock of Topknot Pigeons were joined by Figbirds, Noisy Friarbirds, Lewin’s Honeyeater and a few Crested Pigeons. Lots of Kangaroos loafed around on the grass verges in the village they have become unafraid of humans allowing close approach before they hop off.
another photo of those very large Australian Rabbits - amazing

 Down at the lake I concentrated on the grassy margin at the west end where I found small groups of Superb Fairy-Wrens, Red-backed Fairy-Wrens and also Golden-headed Cisticola and Tawny Grassbird. A pair of Brahminy Kites flew over and a hawk, which looked very much like our Eurasian Sparrowhawk, circled the hillside but as I never had my scope so I couldn’t  ID it.

After another lovely, leisurely breakfast on the deck Guy and I set off for a canoeing adventure, we took one of Guy’s two-man canoes down to the creek and jumped in, our plan was to canoe down the creek looking for the Azure Kingfisher. It was a marvellous trip, what a way to watch wildlife,  a lot of species allowed close approach and within 10 minutes we found a pair of Azure Kingfishers, another lifer for my list. I was using Dawn’s new camera and whilst I was photographing the Azure Kingfisher her battery ran out and the spare wasn’t charged, how annoying, so no more pictures.

great guiding by Guy,  he led us straight to this species - Azure Kingfisher
 
 
Over the next kilometer or so we found 3 pairs of Sacred Kingfishers and another great sighting for me, a Dollarbird flew around us showing off its wonderful greenish/blue plumage and its circular white wing patches (the dollars), it landed right above is, wonderful and although it wasn’t a lifer it was my first good viewing of this species. Our luck continued when the very next bird was a Masked Woodswallow, a great sighting and another lifer, this bird also posed well for us.

Straw-necked Ibis
 We rowed for about 4 kilometers before pulling over for a bite to eat and a drink before heading back. Sightings came thick and fast throughout the journey, Striated Herons, White-faced Herons, Darters, Little, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Pelicans, Cormorants, ducks and lots more kingfishers, we added Forest Kingfisher a little later on the trip. Large flocks of Little Corellas fed on the banks of mangrove swamp and Rainbow Lorikeets regularly flew over.

 The whole experience was wonderful and I really enjoyed it, thank you Guy. After lunch Dawn and I had to pack because ae were due to go back to the coast at ‘Concrete’ Beach to finish our holiday there. It was only 15 kilometers away from the tranquil setting of the Eco Village.

 My ‘scope’ had been deposited at our apt and I was eager to collect it. Guy and Annette decided to join us and after I collected my scope we all went for a walk along the boardwalk at Tugan. It was late afternoon by now so we didn’t have much time. The Mangrove Honeyeater was our target, which failed to appear. However we did find a superb Osprey perched in the mangroves, we also saw Mangrove Gerygone very well, also Lewin’s Honeyeater.

The majestic Osprey - spotted by Annette

Very soon the light faded and mosquitos came out so we called it a day. We said goodbye to Guy and Annette, they had been wonderful hosts and great friends we really enjoyed our time with them, it was sad parting ways.

Annette and Guy our good friends, wonderful hosts and bird-watchers extraordinaire

 After a quick stop at the supermarket we went to our apt on the ‘Miami’ Beachfront, it was a stark contrast to the peaceful setting of the Eco-village, but all was not lost because as from tomorrow we are staying for two nights at Binna Burra Lodge in Lamington National Park.

 269. Azure Kingfisher
 
 
 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment