See the birds of the world with Golden Gate Bird Alliance!
Visit the world’s largest wetlands in Brazil. Get up-close views of grey whales and nesting seabirds off the coast of Baja California. Explore the wildlife in the cloud forests of Costa Rica or the monsoon forests of Australia. Discover the birding wonders of Everglades National Park in Florida. You can experience these adventures and so much more with Golden Gate Bird Alliance.
Do you want to expand your life list while experiencing a different environment or a different culture? If so, consider these upcoming guided trips, all designed especially for GGAS. For information, a detailed itinerary, and registration, please contact GGAS Travel Coordinators at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Each trip includes a registration fee that benefits Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s conservation and environmental education programs. You will not only enjoy a terrific vacation, but you will help support Bay Area bird conservation!
We welcome suggestions for future trips. If you have been on a birding trip that was especially wonderful, experienced a terrific guide, or have a suggestion of an area to visit, please email Daryl, Dawn and Eric at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
2020
Palm Deserts and the Salton Sea
January 27 – January 31 , 2020
FULL!
Waitlist available
On this five-day tour, explore California’s unique Mojave and Coloradan desert systems to search for specialized avifauna and other wildlife adapted to thrive in arid conditions PLUS the wildly scenic and wonderfully eccentric Salton Sea. Travel as a small group with desert-experienced nature & bird guides from Nature Trip to visit San Andreas fault Geothermal zones, High Desert, Joshua Tree habitats, Palm Desert Oasis, the ultra-rich delta of the Imperial Valley, the incomparable Salton Sea, and Anza Borrego, California’s largest state park.
Estimated Expedition fees for this 4 night / 5 day trip: $1,450 per person USD, based on double occupancy; Single Supplement of $320
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Dawn Lemoine at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Baja’s Birds & Gray Whales
February 22 – 29, 2020
Explore Baja California’s Cape region in search of birds and meet 35-ton gray whales during their annual migration to Baja’s coastal lagoons. The Cape is one of Mexico’s prime birding hotspots. It has 6 endemic bird species, including the stunning Xantus’s hummingbird and various unique subspecies such as the pale San Lucas Robin. Baja’s vast and mostly undeveloped terrain and desert oases provide migratory stopovers for landbirds, including flocks of Brewer’s and clay-colored sparrows and lark buntings along with wintering Cassin’s kingbirds and black-and-white warblers. Moreover, Baja’s jagged coastline provide habitat for thousands of resident and migratory shorebirds and waterfowl, including blue-winged and cinnamon teal, American oystercatcher, reddish egrets and tricolored herons.
Winter and early spring is also the best time for meeting gray whales at their breeding grounds along the coast. We’ll visit Bahia Magdalena, one of Baja’s largest bays, in search of gray whales and their unique breeding behavior.
Trip Cost per person: $ 2,684 (Double occupancy);
Single Supplement $450; Limit 10 people
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Birding South Florida in Winter
February 23 – March 4, 2020
FULL! Waitlist available.
This 10 Night/10 Day birding tour visits South Florida’s iconic birding hotpots. Habitats include Atlantic and Gulf coasts & beaches, salt and freshwater marshes, Long-leaf Pine forests, Bald Cypress swamps and the fascinating Everglades National Park.
Splendiferous locations visited on this trip include Loxahatchee NWR, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Lake Okeechobee, Babcock-Webb WMA, Audubon’s Corkscrew Sanctuary, J. N. Ding Darling NWR and more.
Your guides for this trip, Eddie Bartley and Noreen Weeden, have been leading Nature Trip tours since 2004 and birding South Florida for over 25 years.
Cost: $3,450 per person, double occupancy; $750 single supplement. Fees include the first night in the hotel (arrival day.)
Click HERE for the full itinerary.
For questions and registration contact Dawn Lemoine at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org.
Birding and Natural History In Costa Rica
March 21 – 31, 2020
FULL!
Waitlist available.
Costa Rica has been blessed with several important ingredients for high biodiversity – a tropical latitude, tremendous geographic
diversity, and a strong conservation ethic. In addition to being a physical and ecological link between North and South America, it is biogeographically rich with cool cloud forest, tropical deciduous forest, lowland rainforest, mangroves, beaches, towering volcanos, and an abundance of rivers and streams, all of which contribute to a great diversity of flora and fauna. From the spoiled comfort of some of Costa Rica’s finest nature-based accommodations – Hotel Villa Lapas, Suenos del Bosque, and Rancho Naturalista – we’ll explore some of these habitats and their rich wildlife.
Est. Cost: $3550 per person, double occupancy; $450 single supplement. Includes all lodging, meals, entrance fees, GGAS administration fee, and ground transportation from San Jose, Costa Rica. Limit 9 people.
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Daryl Goldman at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
A South Texas Adventure
April 15 – 24, 2020
FULL!
Waitlist available.
Visit the famous avian migrant traps along the central & southern Texas Coast during the peak period of the Gulf of Mexico spring migration.
Explore the distinctive subtropical habitats of the Rio Grande Valley in wonderful parks & refuges. Observe unique avifauna and other wildlife that exists nowhere else in the U.S. Enjoy a full day nature tour of the world-famous King Ranch.
Travel as a small group in a spacious and comfortable van with experienced nature & bird guides. Your guides for this trip, Eddie Bartley & Noreen Weeden, have been leading Nature Trip tours since 2004 in California & 2005 in Texas. Guides from Texas will also be employed during this expedition for areas where their local expertise is unique such as King Ranch.
Estimated Expedition fees for this 9 night / 10 day trip: $2,900 per person USD based on double occupancy; Single Supplement of $750
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Dawn Lemoine at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Birding and Natural History in SE Arizona
May 5 – 11, 2020
Southeast Arizona is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the United States. Habitats include the Sonoran Desert with its dramatic columnar cacti, the Chihuahuan desert with its grasslands and desert scrub, and the dramatic “Sky Islands” where species from the Rocky Mountains and Mexico’s Sierra Madre come together. During our journey, we’ll explore most of these habitats, encounter a great diversity of plants and animals, and enjoy fine weather at one of the richest times of year.
We’ll visit many of the birding and wildlife hotspots – Madera Canyon, the Patagonia area, Huachuca Canyon, and the San Pedro River. Species we’re likely to see include elegant trogon, gray hawk, vermilion flycatcher, painted redstart, Grace’s, Lucy’s, red-faced and other warblers, three species of Myiarchus flycatcher (ash-throated, brown-crested, and dusky- capped), thick-billed kingbird, up to ten species of hummingbirds, many sparrows (Botteri’s, rufous-winged, black-throated, rufous-crowned) and many others. We’ll also spend time learning about the general ecology of the area and explore the fascinating relationships among southeast Arizona’s birds, plants, mammals, reptiles, insects, geology, and regional climate. Led by naturalist and bird guide Mark Pretti.
$2300 per person, double occupancy, and includes all lodging, meals, admission fees, GGAS administration fee, and ground transportation from Tucson, AZ. The single supplement for this trip is $190 to $260. Limited to 9.
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Daryl Goldman at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Ohio: Eastern Warblers & Spring Migration Sensation
May 8-15, 2020
Northern Ohio is bordered by the great Lake Erie, creating expansive freshwater marshes. The lake is like a freshwater ocean, creating similar effects as birds migrate along its shores. In the spring, this can create a jaw-dropping spectacle as Blue Jays and many other species move along the lakefront in groups of 100+. As birds migrate north and encounter the huge body of water they will put down into the trees along the shore to rest and feed before attempting to cross the unknown. This creates a massive build-up of extremely tired and hungry birds with one mission, to refuel. The sheer number of exhausted warblers, thrushes, vireos, orioles, tanagers, flycatchers, and more present birders with eye-level views within 10-20 feet. This phenomenon in northern Ohio is unlike any other in the United States. The north also has some fantastic shorebird habitat, which supports tremendous numbers of birds on their journey to breeding grounds in Canada.
Price: US$2850 per person sharing. (This assumes a group of 8-9 paying participants.) Single supplement: US$690
Click HERE for a full itinerary
For questions and registration contact Daryl Goldman at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Australia – Top End Birds and Wildlife
June 1-10, 2020
Ten day, nine night tour starting with prime birding locations around Darwin’s mangroves, monsoon forests and parklands, then Mary River National Park and the famous Kakadu National Park. We continue on through open savannah country to Pine Creek and Katherine. Then we follow the Victoria River through wide open plains and rugged escarpment ranges to Timber Creek. Then its back to the Pine Creek area and Darwin.
Key species – Gouldian Finch, Yellow-rumped and Pictorella Mannikins may be seen at various locations between Darwin and Timber Creek. Hooded Parrot, Northern Rosella, Red-winged Parrot, Cockatiel, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Buff-sided Robin, Partridge Pigeon, Purple-crowned Fairywren, Black-tailed Treecreeper and Sandstone Shrike-thrush. Red Goshawk, Black-breasted Buzzard. Kakadu escarpment endemics such as Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon, White-lined Honeyeater and Banded Fruit-dove.
Will this tour suit me? With the added value of Ian’s expert guidance, Kakadu will yield even more of it’s secrets to enthusiastic nature lovers seeking a unique opportunity to encounter birds, reptiles, mammals, invertebrates and plants. In addition, the cultural heritage of Kakadu will feature strongly throughout this trip. All accommodation is in comfortable air-conditioned rooms with ensuites. We start before dawn and stop for a bush breakfast at beautiful locations surrounded by birdlife at its busiest. Lunch is enjoyed out in the field and dinners are ala carte menus at resorts or restaurants. Enjoy an after dinner slide presentation by Ian on subjects relative to the days exploration. Group is smallish with a maximum of only twelve guests, plus Ian and Mike.
Cost – $4785 (AUD) per person twin share (single supplement $725) (prices in Australian dollars)For more information, full itinerary, and registration go HERE
For questions and registration contact Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Brazil – Birding and Wildlife Watching
2 Sessions
September 9 – 19, 2020 (This Session is Full)
Waitlist Available
September 21 – October 1, 2020
Both of these 11 day/10 night trips will explore the birds and wildlife of Pantanal and Chapada dos Guimarães.
Start in the city of Cuiabá and then head to the famous Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, spending the whole morning looking for bird species like Red-and-green Macaw, Blue-winged Macaw, Chapada Flycatcher, Coal-crested Finch, Guira Cuckoo, Toco Toucan, and Peach-fronted Parakeet. We will drive toward our accommodation, Pousada do Parque Lodge. You will be thrilled with the birding opportunities that this place offers, with species such as Planalto Hermit, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Red Pileated Finch, Chopi Blackbird, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Flavescent Warbler, and a good number of night birds such as Nacunda Nighthawk, Common Potoo, Rufous Nightjar, Scissor-tailed Nightjar, Little Nightjar, Pauraque, and Tropical Screech Owl. Birding outside the park includes good targets such as White-rumped Tanager, White-banded Tanager, Collared Crescentchest, Pavonine Cuckoo, Amazonian Motmot, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Brown Jacamar, White-eared Puffbird, and Spot-backed Puffbird. We might also have a chance to see the endemic Crested Black Tyrant, and have time to admire the famous Cachoeira Véu de Noiva (bridal veil waterfall).
After three nights at Pousada do Parque in the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, we will drive to Poconé at the entrance to the largest wetland in the world, the Pantanal. During our stay in the Pantanal we will visit and stay at different lodges, which are carefully chosen to provide the best birding and wildlife opportunities.
During our stay at the Pantanal Mato Grosso Hotel we will do boat trips searching for aquatic species such as Amazon, Ringed, Green, Green-and-rufous, and American Pygmy Kingfisher, Agami Heron, Jabiru, and Cocoi Heron. Here we also might see Blue-throated Piping Guan, Golden-collared Macaw, Black-collared Hawk, Sungrebe, and Giant Otter.
We will drive along the Transpantaneira, which is the only road that passes through the northern Pantanal and ends on the Cuiabá River. Here we will stay for two nights at the comfortable Hotel Pantanal Norte – Porto Jofre, which will be our base to look for the majestic Jaguar along the Cuiabá River. The chances to see this legendary animal are very high in the Pantanal, and we should be rewarded with more than one sighting. After two nights at Porto Joffre, we will return to Cuiabá, from where you can connect with your domestic flights back to São Paulo and home from there.
Cost: $4,820 per person, double occupancy; $507 single supplement. Limit 8 people.
Complete description and itinerary can be viewed here.
For questions and registration contact Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org
Looking Ahead to 2021
Bhutan – Birding, Mammals, & Monasteries
2 Sessions
April 14 – May 2, 2021 (This Session is Full)
Waitlist Available
May 2 – May 20, 2021
Bhutan, a country roughly the size of Maryland, has almost 600 species of birds. Over 70% of its land is forested with 25% protected by National Parks. We will visit a range of environments varying from sub-tropical at 150m to alpine at over 4,500m. On this 19-day trip, expect to see between 350 and 400 species of birds and 10-15 species of mammals. Our Bhutanese guide
from Langur Eco Travels will not only introduce you to the fauna but also the flora of Bhutan (we’re visiting during the spring rhododendron bloom) and its culture (our trip includes visits to several famous sites, including the Tiger’s Nest Monastery.
Cost of the trip is $3,980, which does not include the cost of internal or international flights (see the itinerary for information on these.) Single rooms can be arranged for a $25 supplement per night.
Complete description and itinerary can be viewed here.
For questions and registration contact Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengatebirdalliance.org