[buzzard12]

Okay, Two Weeks in total, during either spring or autumn passage, preferably with no driving involved, perhaps an island or migration watchpoint. Good range of species, passerines, few waders and perhaps some raptors... Somewhere that could be covered on foot or bycycle...


Outside of Europe...

...Anywhere in the world is fine.

[pandachris]

Probably for early spring - find a decent guide then you won't have to drive.

Loads of trip reports around - ours in on our website, but better birders than us have produced them. 200+ species in a week is possible, from tropical spacialities to "our birds" in their winter quarters.

[Alan henry]

Falkland Islands



http://www.falklandislandsholidays.com/default.htm

[MKinHK]

Beidaihe in China is one of the great watchpoints. Any time in Autumn / spring is good, but the most spectaculr is the crane passage in Late Oct/ early Nov.

Also, the food is good and beer is cheap!

Lots of trip reports on the web.

[martinf]

It' got to be Mexico. A few neotropicals, a few migrants, great scenery and even better food and beer

[colonelboris]

Originally Posted by Alan henry

Falkland Islands



http://www.falklandislandsholidays.com/default.htm

Short of signing up for the forces and being posted, I'll never be able to afford it - but I'd love to go one day.

[Steve Lister]

Beidahe is a good suggestion, somewhere that fits your criteria as regards species and lack of driving.

Mexico - I would be tempted to travel round too much.

Steve

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by colonelboris

Short of signing up for the forces and being posted, I'll never be able to afford it - but I'd love to go one day.

If you don't fancy the Forces you could try the civil service, the Falkland Islands Company or (if its still going) the FI Development Corporation.

And you could work on that OU degree in the evenings cos apart from your bird notes there's nothing else to do!

John

[buzzard12]

Originally Posted by MKinHK

Beidaihe in China is one of the great watchpoints. Any time in Autumn / spring is good, but the most spectaculr is the crane passage in Late Oct/ early Nov.

Also, the food is good and beer is cheap!

Lots of trip reports on the web.

Beidaihe had crossed my mind. Asian birding is top class, been to Thailand and loved it. How big is the area? Walkable? Bycycle?

How is Beidaihe these days with regard to rubbish and dumping, etc. Heard they had a bad problem with it in the 90's.....

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Originally Posted by buzzard12

Beidaihe had crossed my mind. Asian birding is top class, been to Thailand and loved it. How big is the area? Walkable? Bycycle?

How is Beidaihe these days with regard to rubbish and dumping, etc. Heard they had a bad problem with it in the 90's.....

Malaysia would be a good choice any time of the year and from what i know will be cheaper-you should aske James Eaton(Birdforum member) the bird man of Malaysia and Indonesia-he has left his foot prints every in this place and even some old shoes in the tropical forest of Malaysia and Indonesia.

[James Eaton]

Originally Posted by Dr Manjeet Singh

Malaysia would be a good choice any time of the year and from what i know will be cheaper-you should aske James Eaton(Birdforum member) the bird man of Malaysia and Indonesia-he has left his foot prints every in this place and even some old shoes in the tropical forest of Malaysia and Indonesia.

Thank you Manjeet! Better than leaving behind cans of Tetley's

With southeast Asia I would recommend Vietnam if you enjoyed Thailand, you will be familiar with many of the commoner species from your Thai trip but Vietnam has its own distinct avifauna that are endemic to the Indochinese region, great food, comfortable accommodation, easy to travel around and great people.

Also the malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, my favourite area of birding in Asia, superb forests, birds and accommodation, and you can forget the diversity in mammals and priamtes that are found there. Plenty of trip reports and info on the web for both countries.

[Bubbs]

Raptor and passerine passage at Eilat is fantastic...it's just a pity that the city and hotel area is a concrete dump!

John.

[Edward woodwood]

Originally Posted by buzzard12

Beidaihe had crossed my mind. Asian birding is top class, been to Thailand and loved it. How big is the area? Walkable? Bycycle?

How is Beidaihe these days with regard to rubbish and dumping, etc. Heard they had a bad problem with it in the 90's.....

couldn't abide it

I know a couple of others with a similar opinon. Not really representative of Asian birding. No forest, no decent habitat but lots of interesting migrants, however, most of these can be seen in other Asian countries with the added bonus of an endemic avifauna

you can bike it fine, or walk. Some sites though, require a taxi.

I'd go with James suggestions, or Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Mexico etc

Tim

[Karl J]

Cuba ?

well worth doing by bicycle too apparently

[MKinHK]

Originally Posted by Tim Allwood

couldn't abide it

I know a couple of others with a similar opinon. Not really representative of Asian birding. No forest, no decent habitat but lots of interesting migrants, however, most of these can be seen in other Asian countries with the added bonus of an endemic avifauna

you can bike it fine, or walk. Some sites though, require a taxi.

I'd go with James suggestions, or Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Mexico etc

Tim

Couln't let this comment stand unchallenged . . . I didn't notice any request for the holiday to be typically Asian or forest-based.

If you go to Beidaihe in late autumn the passage of Siberian, Japanese, Hooded, White-naped and Common Cranes is stunning, especially when mixed in with Oriental Stork, and a bird that doesn't look like it belongs in the air at all - Great Bustard - a 25kg male going past the watchpoint at head height will stay with me forever.

I make no apologies for beidaihe being a typical chinese town, but the birding is superb - not too many thousand strong flocks of Bean Geese, Northern Lapwing or Oriental Pratincoles, kettles of 50 Upland Buzzards in the asian forest (these provide the backdrop for the real quality!), nor Relict, Saunders' or Greater Black-headed Gulls for that matter! Sunbird had Mandarin, Bicycle Teal and the deeply threatened Baer's Pochard on the reservoir there on emorning this autumn!

And forgive me for mentioning the terrific range of eastern palearctic migrants which do occur both here and (some of them) in the forest of SEAsia.

Finally, if you come through Beijing you can take in sites for Brown-eared and REAL Ring-necked Pheasants, Ibisbill, Pallas' Rosefinch and an admittedly limited variety of other Chinese endemics and birds that do not winter as far south as others.

Not just trying to pick an argument with Tim (although I suspect he'd enjoy it as much as I would), just trying to put the case for Beidaihe on its merits. . . which incidentally you can cycle round the area between the various habitats and the watchpoint in the Lotus Hills.

[buzzard12]

[quote=James Eaton]Thank you Manjeet! Better than leaving behind cans of Tetley's

With southeast Asia I would recommend Vietnam if you enjoyed Thailand, you will be familiar with many of the commoner species from your Thai trip but Vietnam has its own distinct avifauna that are endemic to the Indochinese region, great food, comfortable accommodation, easy to travel around and great people.

Also the malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, my favourite area of birding in Asia, superb forests, birds and accommodation, and you can forget the diversity in mammals and priamtes that are found there. Plenty of trip reports and info on the web for both countries.[/QUOTE

Thanks James. Am Looking into both. Sabah sounds like a serious option...]

[christineredgate]

Buzzard,our beautiful Lake district is in Europe,but a more beautiful enviroment you will not find anywhere in the world.Lots of birds ,lots of mountains ,and beautiful seas and coasts.

[Gemfyre]

Broome Bird Observatory (best in April - when the waders leave or October - when they're returning).

Click the link in my sig to find out more. :) I worked there for 9 months last year.

[darroch]

how about the salt lake area of Torrevieja Spain Costa Blanca Half an hour from the airport and I rent an apartment that overlooks the lake so once you are there you can walk around the lake till your heart is content.

[dendroica_john]

New York City in May - Central Park and Prospect Park for songbirds; Jamaica Bay for shorebirds and waders. Could be covered without driving because all hotspots are accessible by subway.

Alternately, Cape May, NJ, in spring or fall - You would need a way to get there, but once you were at the cape, most hotspots would be bikable. Again, there would be a good range of songbirds, hawks, and waders, depending on the season.