Dear Friends

Welcome to the October edition of our e-newsletter.

Those of you who regularly log on to our website to check dates, dossiers, and tour reports will have noted recently that our website is looking slightly out of date. This is because it is going through a complete overhaul. We hope to replace the old site with the new by the end of October so please bear with us for the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime our 2004 brochure is being posted out this week.

Back to the e-news, and this month we bring you highlights of four recent trips.

Papua New Guinea
Spain's Picos & Plains
French Pyrenees
South Africa - Zululand

Papua New Guinea: 17th August – 2nd September

This year’s tour of Papua New Guinea was a big success, with 21 species of the unique Birds of Paradise observed, along with a variety of kingfishers, parrots, pigeons, bowerbirds, whistlers and honeyeaters (writes leader Jon Hornbuckle). Highlights included superb views of a displaying King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, bouncing up and down on a thin branch, a spectacular male Crested Bird of Paradise, showing off his bright orange plumage, a beautiful Brown-headed Paradise-Kingfisher singing his heart out, and close views of the rarely seen Lesser Melampitta and Pheasant Pigeon. Add to these Black and Brown Sicklebills, Ribbon-tailed and Stephanie’s Astrapias, displaying Magnificent Riflebird, Twelve-wired, Superb and King Birds of Paradise, and an impressive collection of New Guinea’s endemic birds, such as Brehm’s and Painted Tiger-Parrots, Blue-capped Ifrita, Crested Berrypecker, Salvadori’s Teal, and Wallace’s Fairy-Wren, and you can see why this was such a mind-blowing experience...

Spain’s Picos & Plains: 16th – 26th August

Our second Picos and Plains tour in August was again a great success. It was an exciting itinerary which allowed for a superb range of wildlife to be encountered. The highlights were many and varied. For some it was superb flocks of Great and Little Bustards against the backdrop of the rolling plains of Villafafila. For others, watching a Pine Marten gorge itself on greengages just feet from the path in Espinama or a Convolvulus Hawkmoth unfurling its incredible proboscis into the geraniums outside the hotel. For me, it was the gasps of awe as the planet’s second largest animal, the Fin Whale, surfaced and rolled just 20 metres from the side of the Pride of Bilbao, in the Bay of Biscay.

There were many more moments that lucky guests cited as their own personal highlight but I think for most it wasn't a single experience but simply the sum of the parts, which made this particular Spanish adventure so unique and memorable.

Matthew Hobbs, September 2003

French Pyrenees: 13th – 20th September

We couldn’t have picked a better week for our autumn tour of the French Pyrenees; the weather was superb the whole time! Bird migration was very much in evidence and every day we were treated to the spectacle of thousands of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins streaming through the mountain passes towards Spain. Large numbers of birds of prey were also moving south, with excellent views of Honey Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Red Kite and numerous Short-toed Eagles. Perhaps the bird highlight, as ever in the Pyrenees, was watching the magical Lammergeiers – we saw them every day. The best sighting came as we sat on a pinnacle watching 100 Griffons feeding on the opposite side of the valley when a shadow passed over us. We looked up to see an adult Lammergeier passing about 10ft above us. Amazing!

Lammergeiers

Each of the valleys has a different look and feel about it, but everywhere were abundant flowers – even this late in the season, with Grass of Parnassus, the stunningly blue Southern Trumpet Gentian and many Pyrenean endemics recorded. Migration was not restricted to the birds either – Clouded Yellow butterflies brightened even the highest passes and Hummingbird Hawkmoths were everywhere – even around the hanging baskets at our hotel in the mountain village of Gedre.

Thanks to our expert local guides Duncan McKenzie and Athol Marchant and the team at our ground agents in South Africa, our first bargain birding tour to Zululand was a resounding success with 265 bird and 23 mammals species seen in the beautiful Kwa-Zulu Natal area of the country. The 'top ten' species (in no particular order) were voted by the group as:

Spotted Ground Thrush, Narina Trogon, African Emerald Cuckoo, Green Twinspot, Livingstone's Turaco, Woodward's Batis, Rudd's Apalis, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Neergard's Sunbird, Pink-throated Twinspot, Gorgeous Bush Shrike, Eastern Nicator, Lemon-breasted Canary, Rosy-throated Longclaw and Senegal Lapwing.

Arriving into Durban airport on the Indian Ocean coast, the group travelled to the Umgeni River Mouth and first birds seen included Goliath Heron, Fish Eagle and Pied and Giant Kingfishers with a Burchell's Coulcal being one of the highlights. Early birding the next day included Purple-crested Turaco, Trumpeter Hornbill and Black-collared Barbet. Dhlinza Forest with its spectacular aerial boardwalk and canopy tower allowed the group views of Black-headed Oriole, Sombre Greenbul and Collared Sunbird followed by breakfast in a forest clearing! Birding around Richard's Bay produced many swifts, swallows, ducks and warblers.

Time was spent exploring coastal dunes and forests of the St Lucia wetlands - a World Heritage Site. Many raptors were seen and a beach walk at Cape Vidal provided an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross. Mammals in the area included hippo, Greater Kudu, Samango Monkey and Blue Wildebeest. Mkuze Game Reserve at the foot of the Lebombo Mountains and coastal plains was hot but very good for birding with many species being added to the list. En-suite safari tents were home for two nights in this wonderful setting. In the rare sand forest we saw Neergard's Sunbird, Pink-throated Twinspot and Gorgeous Bush Shrike. Dry pans and fever trees provided an interesting venue for breakfast! Some rare mammal sightings there were White Rhino, Suni, Steenbok and Giraffe.

The last destination near to Hluhluwe was Bonamanzi where we birded the floodplains and a flock of Lemon-breasted Canaries were seen over some reedbeds. The highlight of the trip was seeing all three southern African longclaw species - Yellow throated, Cape and Rosy-throated. The last morning took us into the world famous Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, the oldest in Africa and a few new bird species were picked up there along with close up views of Buffalo and many White Rhino.

A great time was had by all with good company, fine wines and excellent birding!

This is a condensed report of the Zululand tour, anyone wishing to see the full report can request one from Julie in the office on julie@naturetrek.co.uk

Tourism benefits Butterflies

On 25th September, at the delightful Dorset headquarters of the charity ‘Butterfly Conservation’, Naturetrek’s managing director, David Mills, donated a cheque for £2,466 to Butterfly Conservation’s chief executive, Martin Warren. This marked the first installment of monies that the two organisations hope to raise through the operation of a new series of dedicated Butterfly Tours, promoted by Naturetrek in aid of Butterfly Conservation’s programme to assist the conservation of butterflies and their habitats in Britain and Europe. The first series of these tours, in the summer of 2003, saw groups escorted to Normandy and the Cevennes in France, and to southern Greece, under the guidance of butterfly experts, with 10% of all income generated being donated to Butterfly Conservation.

With Naturetrek also agreeing to become Butterfly Conservation’s first – and, so far, only – top-category ‘Purple Emperor’ Corporate Sponsor, and also donating a year’s Butterfly Conservation membership to all non-affiliated clients, this latest donation brings to £4,610 the sum donated to Butterfly Conservation by Naturetrek in the first eighteen months of their partnership.

In response to the success of this new programme of tours, we are offering an extended selection of butterfly tours for 2004. Destinations include the Italian Dolomites, the Pyrenees, Normandy, the Cevennes, Southern Greece, Spain’s Picos de Europa and Sri Lanka, as follows:

As usual, please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or queries. We would be delighted to hear from you.

Kind regards

The Naturetrek Team

Naturetrek
Cheriton Mill
Cheriton
Alresford
Hants SO24 0NG
UK

Tel 0044 1962 733051
Fax 0044 1962 736426

www.naturetrek.co.uk

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