WildWings Birdwatching Holidays continue to offer exceptional value for money, from only £529 per person and are led by some of the world’s best professional tour leaders.

 

Local guides usually join our parties' abroad too. We offer the best market value and most flexible arrangements such as the Hungarian and Goa Bird Festivals, Eilat Spring Migration Festival,Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the new superb value Hungarian Bird Festival in winter following on from the highly successful first such spring events in 2008 and 2009. Other new programmes for 2010 include the ‘world-first’ Indian Ocean Seabird Expedition, Birds and Wine, two excellent Spanish holidays, both in the springtime, Birdwatch Magazine Sweden in Winter plus our modified Galapagos Seabirds and Endemics itineraries, now available year-round. Over 95% of our holidays ran in 2009, we do not like to speculate with your holiday plans. Limited access to Midway Atoll out in the Pacific has been granted again for a lucky few people next year, along with another tropical seabird paradise, Christmas Island.  Mark Andrews returns to Thailand for Spoon-billed Sandpiper and much more again, two departures on offer. We team up with Birdwatch Magazine again for Sweden in the spring. The third Eilat Spring Migration sure pulled in the goodies this year, why not try some of the best birding in the Western Palearctic yourself?  Wild Insights holidays are largely full for 2010 and 2011 already but it’s always worth trying or going on a waitlist.

 

Our Antarctic experience is second to none, we have been taking people there for over 15 years now and offer the best guided tours and/or range of voyages for the independent traveller too. We continue to be the company for pelagic travel. Our legendary Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia Tour next departs in November 2009 whilst the Western Pacific Odyssey will only now run in 2010 and 2011. We visit Spitsbergen and the Arctic plus The Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia. The Atlantic Odyssey, another trip pioneered by WildWings, runs from the ice to the tropics and departs again next March led by Simon Cook. We return to Kamchatka in 2010 after an amazingly successful tour this year.

 

Out in the sunny Caribbean, Pax Guest House awaits you in bird-filled Trinidad, a natural history wonderland, especially combined with beautiful Tobago. Our amazing value air-inclusive packages now start from just £999 per person, twin share, full board. Combine with a stay at the world famous Asa Wright Nature Centre. Direct flights operate from London Gatwick. Dick’s small group trip to Colorado for grouse and other spring birds runs again in 2010 and then 2011. Our Poland in Spring and Beidaihe, China remain very popular, both already have a number of bookings. Last winter’s Goa Bird Festivals yielded nearly 300 species again – bird and curries - another superb value WildWings event.

 

Our South American mammal tours are all good for birds too, Brazil and Chile.

 

In addition to the holidays and tours in the following pages, our WildOceans Baja California and Sea of Cortez trips are also great for birds, and of course our full programme of expedition cruises.

 

If you are planning an independent trip, give our travel agency girls a call for your flights, car hire, accommodation, other ground arrangements including birding guides plus travel insurance.

 

We greatly look forward to you joining us in the field!

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WildWings tour leaders

Dick Filby

Dick has been leading tours for WildWings for over fifteen years, specialising in Polar regions, The Galapagos, Colorado and Poland and he is now probably the UK's most experienced leader in Antarctica. He started birding in the early sixties, keeping a close eye on his local patch, Nonsuch Park in Surrey. Since then he has broadened his horizons considerably and has travelled extensively throughout the world. He remains very active on the UK birding scene, and from his adopted home in Norwich he pioneered the UK Rare Bird Alert pager service, now expanding to encompass new mobile phone and internet technology.

 

Tony Marr

Tony Marr is a freelance ornithologist who lives at Cley in Norfolk. He has been leading WildWings birding tours since 1994 to various destinations around the world, including China, West Africa and India. A lecturer, writer and photographer, with a particular interest in oceanic trips and seabird identification, he specialises in Arctic and Antarctic expeditions and pioneered the Atlantic Odyssey. On the rare occasions he is at home, he can often be seen trudging up to Blakeney Point in Norfolk or working his new local patches on a certain Scottish Island.

 

Mark Andrews

A freelance bird illustrator and artist based in Leicester. Mark leads our Beidaihe, Brazil Jaguars and our Thailand ‘Spoon-billed Pitta’ tours. He is currently completing illustrating and writing a new field guide to the mammals of Africa. He’s also been spending time in the field Digi-Scoping, for which he has recently won a number of international awards www.smandrews.com

Dave Fell

Dave Fell has recently moved to Norfolk, close to Cley and co-runs a B & B (01263 713353) www.whitecottageholt.co.uk. He has been birding since 1980 and was a ringer with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group, Sheffield. He has traveled extensively abroad and leads our Goa Bird Festivals and assists Dick Filby on our Polish in Spring trip. In 2005 Dave joined our Ultimate Galapagos voyage.

 

Chris Collins

Chris has birded in over 50 countries around the world and is a very keen seabirder and cetacean fan. A Chartered Accountant by former profession, Chris was hugely instrumental in setting up and recce’ing the Western Pacific Odyssey and is also a keen photographer, known for hand-holding his 500mm lens! He also now leads our Kamchatka trip, Guyana and has recently worked on expedition ships in both the Antarctic and Arctic.

 

Simon Cook

Simon has spent much of the last 15 years at sea exploring the world’s oceans as a naturalist guide and Zodiac driver. A former banking manager with a world list of over 5000 birds and over 60 species of cetacean, our only leader qualified for protective rifle use in the Arctic and another keen photographer. Simon leads the Atlantic Odyssey.

 

Richard Webb

Richard is a pensions manager by profession but has recently spent 18 months travelling, having taken voluntary redundancy in 2003. Over the past 22 years he has visited 56 countries watching mammals, birds, and his other passion, the England football team. He has served on the council of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East and has been the secretary and bulletin of the African Bird Club. He now concentrates his efforts on mammals, and in particular cats, and has seen 25 of the 39 species of cat.