• Highlands and Islands of Scotland in Spring

    Scotland has long been a favorite destination for birders and nature enthusiasts, offering dramatic landscapes, rich cultural traditions, and excellent birding and wildlife experiences across the country. From historic castles to world-famous whisky, it provides an unforgettable setting for a birding holiday. For birders, Scotland offers a range of habitats that are rare or absent elsewhere in the UK, including high alpine and mountain landscapes, expansive upland heather moorland, vast inaccessible coastal cliffs ideal for seabirds, and large ancient Caledonian pine forests. Combining this with comfortable accommodation throughout, vibrant culture, breathtaking landscapes, and amazing wildlife encounters, Scotland is a truly exciting prospect for birdwatchers.  

    This small-group spring birding tour begins and ends in the historic Scottish capital, Edinburgh, and is perfectly timed to coincide with the return of many migratory species and the peak of the breeding season for a wide range of birds. 

    From Edinburgh, we’ll travel through breathtaking landscapes towards the Inner Hebrides along the west coast. We then have three nights on the amazing Isle of Mull, where we will target a long list of outstanding species, many rare within northwest Europe. As part of our time on Mull we will visit the Isle of Iona and its white sand beaches and enjoy a boat cruise to look for seabirds.

    The second half of the tour takes place in the Scottish Highlands, where we’ll explore dramatic landscapes ranging from alpine environments to ancient pine forests and picturesque lochs in the Cairngorms National Park. In this half of the tour we’ll also visit remote lochs and glens and the coast of the Firth. We conclude our tour by focusing on specialist heather moorland species before traveling south again to Edinburgh. If you wish, we can arrange for you to extend your stay in Edinburgh so that you can experience some of what this fascinating city offers. And for those of you who want even more UK birding, you can combine this trip with Birding Ecotour’s England in Spring birding tour, which is scheduled immediately before this Scotland trip.

    PRICE
    GBP£6,000 per person, sharing – based on 4 – 5 participants
    Single Supplement: GBP£1,260

    Questions? Contact GGBA Travel Coordinator Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org.

    Ready to register?  Contact Eric first.  He will put you in touch with Birding Ecotours.

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  • Spain & Gibraltar

    Spain is one of the most famous birding countries in Europe and the two neighboring Spanish provinces of Extremadura and Andalucia complement each other perfectly. The first is known worldwide for the huge variety of land birds, particularly steppe and rock-loving birds and the second includes one of the most important wetlands of Europe, the famous Coto Doñana, as well as the most important migratory site in west Europe, Gibraltar. This birding tour is designed to enable us to visit several rich species protected areas in these two provinces during the peak fall migration. 

    The tour, though, actually starts in Lisbon with a morning visit to the Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve, the largest wetland in Portugal and one of the more important ones in Europe. Some notable target birds at the estuary include Greater Flamingo, European Spoonbill,  Montagu’s Harrier, Little Bustard, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Bittern, and Red-crested Pochard. After a lunch stop, we’ll head across the border into Andalucia.

    Our first stop there is the world famous Doñana National Park. This remarkable protected wetland has extensive bird lists that include Marbled, Ferruginous and White-headed Ducks, White Stork, Glossy Ibis, Squacco and Purple Herons, Booted Eagle, Western Swamphen, Collared Pratincole, Little Owl, Pallid Swift, Eurasian Hoopoe, Common Kingfisher, European Bee-eater, Bluethroat, Sardinian, Dartford, Savi’s and Melodious Warblers, Iberian Chiffchaff, Penduline Tit, Iberian Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, Iberian Magpie, Spotless Starling, European Serin and an excellent selection of waders, gulls and terns. 

    Next we’ll visit the marshes and sat pans of the Odiel Marshes Nature Reserve where we’ll have good opportunities for sea watching. From there we’ll travel to the  Tarifa/Gibraltar region, with great opportunities to watch active migration, with an emphasis on soaring birds. This part of the trip should also provide excellent possibilities for participants to see a wide range of sea bird species as well. 

    From Gibraltar we’ll head north to the Extremadura region. Here, we will visit both the Monfragüe National Park and the plains of Cáceres, Magasca and Trujillo, among other interesting spots. These two protected areas boast a fantastic bird list that includes Great and Little Bustards, Common Crane, Black Stork, Iberian Imperial, Golden and Bonelli’s Eagles, Cinereous, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Red Kite, Montagu’s Harrier, Black-winged Kite, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Stone-curlew, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, European Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Eurasian Scops Owl, Red-necked Nightjar, Alpine and White-rumped Swifts, European Roller, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Calandra Lark, Eurasian Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Tawny Pipit, Rufous Bush Robin, Black-eared and Black Wheatears, Blue Rock Thrush, Western Orphean, Spectacled and Subalpine Warblers, Crested Tit, Red-billed Chough, Golden Oriole, Spanish Sparrow, Rock Sparrow, Hawfinch and Cirl and Rock Buntings. …

  • Araucana Lodge in Colombia

    This seven-day trip is designed for birders who haven’t traveled abroad previously AND it offers the best of everything for birders who are on a tight schedule. Both beginning birders and seasoned veterans will be able to enjoy this birding tour and perhaps tick off a few mega-finds along the way! It can be combined with the Central Andes tour, but it’s a self-contained itinerary, a trip that will ensure your first international birding experience is a great one.

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    Why Colombia? Easy. It’s the birdiest country on earth, with 1,930 species—almost 20% of the world’s total in 1% of its landmass, with new species still being discovered and new records being announced regularly. There are several reasons for this: Colombia is tropical yet it also has ample elevation changes due to the Andes; it has both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts; it has a wide range of different habitats, and different habitats ensure a wide range of bird species.

    Your home for the trip will be one of Colombia’s newest birding lodges, which will allow you to stay in very comfortable accommodations while birding some of the best sites in Colombia without having to spend much time in a vehicle—or packing your suitcase every other day! Araucana Lodge opened in January 2019 and was designed specifically for birders and nature lovers, with spacious rooms and all the comforts that ensure a good night’s rest. 

    Don’t forget to pack your camera—Araucana Lodge and many of the reserves along the route have excellent feeder set-ups that  provide some of the best photographic opportunities in Colombia, with targets ranging from hummingbirds to toucans. 

    This trip includes visits to some of Colombia’s most iconic birding locations, including KM 18 and the San Antonio Cloud Forest (an excellent introduction to birding in the Colombian Andes), the San Cipriano Reserve (which features the humid forests of the Pacific lowlands), the Anchicaya Valley (which is located in one of the most biodiverse national parks in the planet), and an active Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek.

    For a list of the birds in this area, click here.

    PRICE
    $3,195 per person (7–8 participants)
    $3,495 per person (5–6 participants)
    $3,895 per person (4 participants)
    (All prices are for double occupancy.)
    Single Supplement: $750

    Limit 8 people.

    Trip Contact Person: Eric Schroeder 

    Video—Birding Near Araucana Lodge: https://youtu.be/qQhM_SNaxPM

    …

  • The Central Andes with Colombia Birdwatch

    January 13 or 14, 2025—January 21, 2026

    (Note that starting date depends upon whether you are doing this as an extension of Araucana Lodge or as a stand-alone trip)

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    Sword-billed Hummingbird / Juan Jose Arango

    This route focuses on the coffee growing region of the western and central Andes, where more than a quarter of the country’s endemics can be found. The central Andean region is dominated by glaciated volcanoes that reach heights of over 5,000 m (16,500 ft), providing an ample gradient in terms of altitude that provide for amazing birding. The area is home to one of Colombia’s largest national parks, as well as several well-managed private reserves with convenient access from major cities. In the northern portion of the western Andes, the best birding is done at the higher elevations and on the Pacific slope, where there is still good forest cover.

    On the drive from Araucana lodge (or Cali if you haven’t done the first week), we’ll visit Rio Bravo Reserve and at the Cameguadua Reserve before we begin our ascent to Manizales, our first overnight stop. We’ll spend two days visiting the Rio Blanco Reserve, which is home to more than 450 species and considered to be one of the top five birding sites on the planet.

    Our next stop, Hacienda El Bosque, is a working cattle farm, whose owners have been protecting large swaths of forests for decades. We’ll spend two nights at Hotel Termales del Ruiz, at 11,000 feet, where we can relax in its mineral-rich, medicinal hot springs and enjoy scenic views of the central Andes.

    We’ll have a whole day to explore Los Nevados National Park, located on the highest part of the Colombian central Andes. We will wind through patches of forest that open up to Paramo, an ecosystem of tropical grasslands above the treeline, toward the picturesque 17,400-foot volcano Nevado del Ruiz.  The scenery in Paramo is magical and surreal. The tour reaches elevations up to 13,000 feet, so it will be cold.  We’ll look for species adapted to high elevations like the endemic Buffy Helmetcrest and the near endemic Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, both of which sometimes forage on the ground.

    Our last stop is the Otun-Quimbaya Reserve, a flora and fauna sanctuary located on the west slope of the Central Cordillera, and home to the Wax Palm, the tallest palm in the world and the national tree of Colombia.…

  • Birding, Natural History and Culture in Oaxaca, Mexico

    Birding, Natural History, and Culture in Oaxaca, Mexico

    January 18 – 28, 2026

    Mark Pretti is back! For those of you who have traveled with Mark previously, he doesn’t need an introduction, but if you are new to birding with Mark, you’ll get much more than birds. 

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    White-tailed Hawk by Bob Lewis

    Mark likes to say that of all of the trips he leads, this one is his favorite. Part of that is due to location. Harboring about ten percent of Earth’s biodiversity, Mexico is one of the most biologically rich countries in the world. It begins with the birds. During our journey, we’ll search for species such as dwarf jay, red warbler, bumblebee hummingbird, mountain and citreoline trogons, white-throated magpie jay, ocellated thrasher, Oaxaca sparrow, gray-breasted woodpecker, gray-barred wren, russet-crowned motmot, and spot-breasted oriole. Mark will also introduce you to the various ecosystems we travel through on this natural adventure; tropical deciduous forest, shade-grown coffee plantations, the lush evergreen forests of the Sierra Norte and the Sierra Madre del Sur, mangroves (where we’ll enjoy a boat trip through a gorgeous estuary), beaches, and the arid scrub of the Oaxaca valley make up the varied sites we’ll visit. By the trip’s end, many of the plants in these places will be familiar to you.

    Mark and his local co-leader Benito Hernandez will also introduce you to the vibrant culture of this magical place as we travel through the valley of Oaxaca, the bordering sierras, and the lovely Pacific coast. We’ll tour the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban, visit a master weaver in Teotitlan del Valle, tour the Oaxacan Cultural Museum, and spend an unforgettable day with Seasons of My Heart Cooking School as we tour the Mercado Abastos, enjoy a superb lecture on regional farming, culture and cuisine, and savor a delicious lunch.

    In addition to the natural wonders, a major trip highlight will be our unique and superb lodging situations.  All have warm hospitality and terrific views, and some have great birding right outside your front door.  Mark also likes to mention that Oaxaca has the best and most interesting food of any Latin American trip he leads.

    For a checklist of trip birds, click here. To read about what birds the group actually saw on Mark’s last trip click here.

    Cost: $3750.00 per person, double occupancy; single supplement $600.  …