International Bird Festivals

Specialist tour operator, WildWings, pioneered the concept of the bird festival – the first festival was in Poland in 1992 – and since then they have successfully developed the idea expanding into new destinations, the most recent addition being the spring migration bird festival in Eilat.

The key elements of a bird festival are a superb birding location, a good value basic package consisting of flights, transfers and accommodation, an experienced team of local guides, a comprehensive range of optional guided birdwatching excursions and easy access to local birding sites for birders to explore independently if they choose to do so.

GOA BIRD FESTIVAL – January & November

WildWings’ 16-day birding extravaganza in Goa is a perfect introduction to Indian birding, where the well-developed infrastructure and easy, inexpensive travel by bus and taxi, as well as the guaranteed sunshine, all contribute to make this bird festival great value for money.

The former Portuguese enclave of Goa is rapidly establishing itself as one of the premier winter birding destinations for European birders – and the reasons are not hard to find. In a relatively small area one can find almost endless habitats from estuaries and mangroves to rice fields and monsoon forests. With the tameness and approachability characteristic of the Indian Subcontinent, the species list is remarkable including parakeets and lorikeets, owlets and swiftlets, bee-eaters and rollers, hornbills and barbets, orioles and drongos, mynahs and cuckoo-shrikes, bluebirds and leafbirds, bulbuls and babblers, whistling thrushes and ground thrushes, flowerpeckers and woodpeckers, weavers and munias, sunbirds and trogons. Well over 300 species are expected at the festival.

Based at the Beira Mar Hotel in Baga, well away from the crowded beach, the hotel overlooks rice fields and marshes, offering an opportunity for real doorstep birding. Other habitats are within walking distance or easily reached by local taxi. A comprehensive programme of full and half-day optional excursions will take birders farther afield. Accompanied by local Indian guides the excursions include Carambolin Lake, a beautiful lily-covered lake surrounded by paddyfields and woodlands; Dona Paula and Santa Cruz marshes for oriental sky lark and greater spotted eagle; Zuari River boat trip to search for local specialities, and a ferry crossing to Chorao Island in the Mandovi River, continuing on to the wooded Mayem Lake. There is also the unique chance to spend four nights under canvas in a luxury tented camp in the forests on the edge of Western Ghats - a highlight for many previous festival ‘goers’. The full programme of optional excursions will cost around £200 per person.

Dates 13 - 28 January 2007; 3-18 November 2007; 12-27 January 2008
Price £899 (Jan 07) and £999 (Nov 07 & Jan 08) per person sharing a twin room with en suite facilities, fridge and ceiling fan. Single supplements £129 (Jan 07) and £139 (Nov 07 & Jan 08). Jan 07 - airline fuel surcharge of £50 applies. Price includes flights, airport/hotel transfers, hotel accommodation with breakfast, services of WildWings tour leaders and local guides.

EILAT SPRING MIGRATION FESTIVAL – March

Eilat is the location of WildWings’ new one-week birding event where, each spring, the dramatic outline of the Rift Valley serves as a corridor for millions of migrants. Timed for March 2007, birdwatchers at the Eilat Festival can expect some of the most exciting spring migration in the Western Palearctic.

Laughing doves and Palestine sunbirds will be seen whilst strolling through the gardens and parks of the relaxed city of Eilat whilst on Eilat’s North Beach, at the tip of the Red Sea, migrant herons, ducks and terns mingle with near tropical species such as striated heron and pied kingfisher. Bordering the city from the west are the breathtaking Eilat Mountains where thousands of raptors and storks can be seen at amazing proximity providing great opportunities for bird of prey identification, not to mention photography. North of the city, the famous K19 and K20 pools are an important stop for hundreds of thousands of shorebirds migrating to and from their Eurasian breeding grounds. The southern Arava region of the Rift Valley is dotted with habitats such as plantations, pools and reed beds which, during the spring, hold thousands of migrant passerines and birds of prey, whilst the open desert areas of the southern Rift Valley are important for the rare and nomadic desert lark which peaks during March. Forty minutes north of Eilat lies Kibbutz Lotan – a magical place and a prime example of the importance of these green oases for birds.

Birders will have the choice to explore alone or with a guide and experts will be posted at the key locations to offer advice where needed, whilst the festival HQ will provide uptodate sighting boards and rarity alerts. Lectures, guided tours, ringing demonstrations and identification workshops are all part of the festival, and professional photographers will be onhand with tips on reflex photography and digiscoping techniques. There is also a wide choice of optional activities for the non-birding partner/friend, including the amazing sandstone canyons and temples of Petra, water shiatsu treatments, safaris and city sightseeing.

Two choices of accommodation are being offered: Kibbutz Lotan (a major birding site) or a 4* North Beach resort hotel (the festival HQ).

Date 18 – 25 March 2007
Price £565 per person sharing a twin room at the Kibbutz Lotan and £799 per person sharing a twin room at the Isrotel Agamim Hotel. Price includes return flights UK-Eilat, hotel transfers, accommodation in twin-bedded rooms with private facilities on a bed and breakfast basis, services of local English speaking guides, attendance at lectures and presentations.

POLISH BIRD FESTIVAL - May

Travel back in time to the magical primeval forest of Bialowieza in Poland, where some of the oldest oaks, limes, poplars and pines are believed to date over 600 years old and the tallest reach up to 50 metres, and where some of Europe’s finest birding can be experienced.

Everyone from the serious birder to the most casual naturalist – including families with keen young birders - will find the flexible arrangements of WildWings’ Polish birding extravaganza the key to the week’s enjoyment. Each evening, personal itineraries are chosen from a wide selection of guided (and non-guided) walks setting off at various times of the day from dawn through to dusk. The hotel’s bicycles are available to explore the forest’s criss-cross grid of paths and forest roads and the Bird Festival coaches are on hand to explore further afield.

The festival group (maximum 40) are based in a modern comfortable hotel less than 200 yards from the forest edge, where the melodious sound of singing thrush nightingales can be heard from the bedrooms, all with private facilities and balcony.

Around 180 species are expected over the week and speciality birds include all nine north European woodpeckers plus white-tailed and lesser-spotted eagles. And, good news for birders living in the north of England - direct flights to Warsaw are available now from Manchester at a supplement of £25 per person.

Date 12 - 20 May 2007
Price £749 per person sharing a twin room includes return flights London-Warsaw, hotel transfers, half-board accommodation in twin-bedded rooms with private facilities.

For further information, visit wildwings.co.uk.