Butterflies
of Southern Greece: 28th June –
5th July
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Balkan
Marbled White |
The summer
heat wave which hit most of Europe ensured that butterfly activity
was not inhibited by cloudy conditions during our visit to the
Peloponnese in late June. Skilfully guided by Martin Davies
and Mike Prentice the group found virtually all the target species
of butterfly, including the very rare Chelmos Blue, and Butterfly
Conservation benefited by over £1,000 as a result of the
donation made by Naturetrek following this tour.
Dates
for 2004: 26th June – 3rd July
Butterfly
Conservation will also benefit financially from our tours to
Normandy (led by Butterfly Conservation's Tom Brereton and John
Davis), and Cevennes (led by Gerald Broddelez). Both tours were
a huge success and were thoroughly enjoyed by all participants.
Click
here for the full Normandy report (although bear with us
if it takes a while to download - the leaders have added some
lovely photos to the report), and Click
here for for Gerald's Cevennes report.
Peru
– July 2003
Still in
South America, Andy Tucker recently returned from leading our
Macaws and Machu Picchu tour in Peru. The traditional "bird
of the tour" poser on the journey home was dominated once
again by those classic neotropical specialities: Cock of the
Rock (a stunning male of which posed outside the restaurant
window while we breakfasted at the Hotel Pueblo below Machu
Picchu!), Hoatzin, Inca Tern and Sunbittern. The overcast conditions
along much of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu caused us to miss
out on Condor this year, although the cool weather was ideal
for trekking. The macaws
 |
Andean
Cock of the Rock |
on the clay
lick at Tambopata were majestic this July, particularly during
our first morning when two rare Blue-headed Macaws also alighted
on the clay, competing for choice morsels with 3 other large
species of macaws, plus many hundreds of assorted parrots and
parakeets. Members of the group were also treated here to a
large family party of Black Spider Monkeys and also a huge group
of White-lipped Peccaries on the rainforest floor, together
with our usual sprinkling of Peruvian endemics and range-restricted
rarities in an overall trip list approaching 400 species.
Our September group is in Peru as we write, whilst the non-trekking
departure in October, which visits Cock of the Rock Lodge on
the Manu road in lieu of the Inca Trail hike, still has one
or two places available. Click
here for a dossier
Ireland:
Co Clare – 29th August - 2nd September
2003: by Dave Suddaby & Dave Allen
 |
Manx
Shearwater |
In a spell
of excellent weather our group of eleven managed to see 101
species including four American waders of two species (3 Pectoral
and a Semi-palmated Sandpiper). Though the sea-watching conditions
were less than ideal hundreds of Manx and a few Sooty Shearwaters
were seen plus two species of skua, Common Scoter and many auks.
Mediterranean and Little Gulls were seen at different localities.
Chough graced the impressive Cliffs of Moher and even a few
specialist plants were found on the Burren moonscape despite
the late date. The highlight though must have been 2 hour boat
trip into the mouth of the mighty Shannon where closer views
of seabirds plus Bottle-nosed Dolphins entertained all on board.
Or was the highlight the incessant Peregrine attacks at the
Airport Lagoon? Add to this the excellent hotel, superb food
and excellent Guinness – a weekend packed with memories!
Join
Dave and Dave next year in Co Clare: departure date 27th August
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