Birdingonthe.NetRecent Postings from
> Home > Mail |
Forbes Plover,©BirdQuest |
|
31 Oct FONT (Focus on Nature) tours? ["Karen Rosenbaum" ] 22 Aug Ocho Rios -Jamaica ["paul522460" ] 11 Aug Caligo Ventures Trinidad and Tobago ["wendydreskin" ] 04 Aug Sonir Bekir ["paul522460" ] 11 Feb Birding guide for Yellow Rail? [justlookitup ] 31 Jan Tipping birding guides? [feather4851 ] 31 Jan Tropical Birding, northwest Ecuador, five stars [leona6308 ] 30 Jan New Zealand birding [justlookitup ] 05 Feb Ricardo Matus, Punta Arenas, 5 Stars ["Peter Ginsburg" ] Subject: FONT (Focus on Nature) tours? From: "Karen Rosenbaum" <benkaren AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:57:06 -0000 Does anyone have any experience with this tour company--especially its Japanese tours? We have found one very negative review of Armas Hill's FONT trip to South America. We are considering a birding trip to Japan, and FONT offers one of the few spring trips to that country. Can anyone recommend another tour company that takes birders to Japan in the spring?Subject: Ocho Rios -Jamaica From: "paul522460" <paul AT tropicbird.co.uk> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:36:07 -0000 My son has decided fortunately to get married in Ocho Rios next September and I am lokkoing for a guide for a days birding around the area. Does anyone know such a guide? Many thanks Paul GaffanSubject: Caligo Ventures Trinidad and Tobago From: "wendydreskin" <wendydreskin AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:57:03 -0000 I went to Trinidad and Tobago in June on a Caligo Ventures trip.
Our group was small (6 people) and the guides were excellent. I was
unhappy with the mood-making in the itinerary. Birding in
a "wetland" turned out to mean a sewage pond. We did see the
promised birds, but it was hardly a natural setting. "Lowland
savannah" turned out to be an old World War II runway in an area
where a large Tech Mall is under construction. Again, we saw the
promised birds, but it was far from what we expected from the
description, and the itinerary had us going there 3 times! (The group
opted out of the third time.) We were taken to very garbage-filled
beaches (seems to be the norm in Trinidad)with no idea this might not
be our idea of a pleasant place for lunch or birding.
If you have any compunction about use of recordings to call in
birds, this tour is not for you. The guides make heavy use of
recordings.
Another caveat - tide-pooling was listed on the itinerary but
the guide didn't know the most common shells (and didn't seem aware
there was any expectation he'd know them), and Caligo represented
that the guides were all around nature guides who could identify
butterflies (and lizards, plants, etc) but this was generally not the
case.
Check if the van you'll be in has seatbelts for all passengers
if that is important to you. Don't assume, as we did, it will have
them. Drivers were good drivers.
In summary, you probably will get to see the birds mentioned in
the write-up, but mostly in unpristine settings (2 sewage ponds,
roadsides, garbage-filled canals and beaches). The Asa Wright Center
itself has very nice trails and the birding from the veranda, looking
down on the platforms where they put bread and fruit, is delightful.
We also enjoyed the oilbird cave although only 2 or 3 people at a
time can go in (and we were part of a larger group here) so each
person gets a very short glimpse. The forest reserve in Tobago where
we spent part of a day is primary rainforest, preserved in the 1780s.
Unless you are looking for a target species you can't find elsewhere,
there are many places with much more pleasant birding surroundings
than Trinidad.
Subject: Sonir BekirFrom: "paul522460" <paul AT tropicbird.co.uk> Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:34:08 -0000 Does anyone have the current mail address for Sonir Bekir of Bird Guides Turkey? I am trying to contact him prior to the British Birdwatching Fair. Thanks in anticipation Paul GaffanSubject: Birding guide for Yellow Rail? From: justlookitup <justlookitup AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:06:12 -0000 A friend is seeking a birding guide to help him find a Yellow Rail, mostly likely in the Gulf Coast area. He can travel the week of March 16-20. If anyone can recommend someone, please email Bill Cook at cook AT sunyagcc.edu. Thanks! __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * �6 New Members Visit Your Group Y! Sports for TV Game Day Companion Live fantasy league & game stats on TV. Yahoo! Finance It's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Best of Y! Groups Check out the best of what Yahoo! Groups has to offer. . [nc3=4763758] __,_._,___Subject: Tipping birding guides? From: feather4851 <dmarsh2 AT columbus.rr.com> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:19:03 -0000 We will be staying at a Central American eco-resort and using the resident guides. I believe they are basically paid room and board and tips. How much is the usual tip per person per day for the guides and for a driver (if there is a separate driver)? I really appreciate any information you can give. Thanks!! __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Calendar MARKETPLACE ____________________________________________________________________________ Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net. Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * �2 New Members Visit Your Group Y! Sports for TV Game Day Companion Live fantasy league & game stats on TV. Yahoo! Finance It's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Dog Groups on Yahoo! Groups Share pictures & stories about dogs. . [nc3=4836043] __,_._,___Subject: Tropical Birding, northwest Ecuador, five stars From: leona6308 <leona6308 AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:18:21 -0000 A friend and I booked a private tour with Tropical Birding in early January. I chose the itinerary based on descriptions in their catalog. I had been to this part of Ecuador several times, and I still needed some life birds. Our guide was Jos� Illanes, a young but experienced, very knowledgeable birder. He has superior spotting and listening skills, and he was able to get a scope on most of the birds he found. I was very pleased that he worked hard to get me the life birds I wanted to see most. We stayed at Tandayapa Lodge, which was very comfortable and provided easy access to the top birding areas at that elevation. Our other hotel was the Mirador R�o Blanco in Los Bancos, at a much lower elevation. The rooms were comfortable, and with the exception of the loud party across the street one of the nights we were there, it was an acceptable place to stay. In my opinion the food was mediocre, though my companion would give it a higher rating. The advantage of staying there rather than in Mindo is that it is very close to Milpe bird sanctuary, one of the top birding sites, and also closer to R�o Silanche reserve. We are intending to book another private tour with this organization. We felt the price was very reasonable for the quality of experience we had. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Calendar MARKETPLACE ____________________________________________________________________________ Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net. Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * �2 New Members Visit Your Group Health Zone Look your best! Groups to help you look & feel great. Yahoo! Finance It's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Autos Group on Yahoo! Groups Discuss ways to fix your car. . [nc3=5170413] __,_._,___Subject: New Zealand birding From: justlookitup <justlookitup AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:20:47 -0000 If anyone's looking for New Zealand birding guides, we highly recommend Manu Tours, based in New Zealand. We saw their ad in the ABA's newsletter "Winging It," and via e-mail, they customized the perfect trip for us. We spent three weeks touring around the South Island, Stewart Island, and North Island two winters ago, with Manu's Tony Wilson and Wendy Hare. We've been on many, many birding tours. These folks were organized, easy to get along with, and excellent birders. New Zealand is one of the most ideal places in the world: the species list isn't big, but the habitat is extremely diverse and the scenery spectacular. Manu does other Pacific islands too; we hope to set up a tour with them again for Solomon Islands and Australia sometime. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Calendar MARKETPLACE ____________________________________________________________________________ Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net. Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * �2 New Members Visit Your Group Y! Sports for TV Access it for free Get Fantasy Sports stats on your TV. Yahoo! Finance It's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Yahoo! Groups w/ John McEnroe Join the All-Bran Day 10 Club. . [nc3=5202322] __,_._,___Subject: Ricardo Matus, Punta Arenas, 5 Stars From: "Peter Ginsburg" <pagins AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:56:38 -0000 |