Just wanted to do a temperature gauge on expert-led birding tours.
Just got back from a thoroughly disappointing two-day tour in the Cairngorms. My request list was on the ambitious side - golden eagles, crested tit, crossbills and maybe capercaillie - but the guide said it was doable and suggested a two-day itinerary without a word of caution, and so I booked train tickets (from London) and accomodation and made the long, long schlep up.
Suffice to say I got a decent look at ptarmigan (which was a huge bonus), a fleeting glimpse of one crossbill (through binoculars fro about 250m) and that was it. In retrospect I think his itinerary was simply too full, meaning we didn't give any one spot a good while (which I expect is the requirement with goldies in particular).
To rub salt in the wound, his banter to fill the increasingly awkward silence consisted of a list of times he'd successfully shown people eagles over the years, but that was of zero consolation to me, of course. He was a decent fella, but I just feel like his itinerary was to blame.
So, I just wanted to see if others had had mixed experiences with these tours. Obviously the element of fortune involved is not to be sniffed at, but then I would expect a paid guide to mitigate against this with good local knowledge and a bit of honesty when drawing up itineraries.
I've done 4 tours with Speyside wildlife in Scotland, ranging from 6-11 days in Speyside, Mull, Skye, Arran and Islay. All guides delivered. Saw 100+ birds every time. Including 11 golden eagles and 2 white tailed eagles in one day. ptarmigans, dotterel, choughs, and capercaillie seen briefly by other guests and list goes on.
Guides always tried to find and most times sucessful.They don't rush from place to place either, giving plenty of time for looking and waiting. Holidays are expensive, but all food provided, tea/coffee supplied while out and about. Only spent money for presents.
All in all, I give ten 10 out of 10.
Saving up for the next trip.
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Did a one day tour with Bryan Rains on Mull (WildAboutMull) and it was mind blowing! Couldn't have been better! Saw 56 bird species and 5 mammal species, including what I hoped to see and much, much more. As with all wildlife, a lot of it is down to luck although local knowledge helps enormously too!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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Hi-
always check the rep of a tour company / guide before booking. The top companies charge more but they deliver.
The idea of using a guide instead of doing it yourself is that you don't have to do all the research and logistics yourself ( unless you like to) .
For mainland Scotland I would recommend Speyside wildlife or Heatherlea- and for a full bag of speciality spp I would expect to go in April May or June .
S
ps- your list of target birds looked possible in the Speyside area / Loch an eilan and a wander around cairngorm.
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
" Just wanted to do a temperature gauge on expert-led birding tours. "
you need to define expert- hence the need to check out the individual companies. The top companies employ real experts so you get what you pay for.
There are so - called 'experts' leading tours in Norfolk ( I know that's what their punters call them anyway) whom I wouldn't trust to ID a juvenile Spotted Redshank at 30 yards. It's embarrassing when I have to correct them in front of a group.
Both Speyside and Heatherlea have a great reputation from others as well as myself.As said the alternative is that you can always do all the research yourself which if you are so minded can be very enjoyable and forums like this can be a great help,I got some good ideas for our trip to Northumberland that way.As for Seymours "experts"I think most of us have come across these in fact I thought all hides above a certain size came with one already installed in the top right hand corner.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
I've been twice with Heatherlea, for a week each time, and saw well over a hundred species each time. It is expensive, but well worth it to have a guide who knows his business. The accomodation is good, the food is excellent; you don't need to spend anything at all once you're there. They even loan out Swarovski bins!
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Don't know of you are looking for a packaged guided - tour - holiday, or a guided introduction to an area.
We know Mull and the west coast of Scotland, as a family quite well, but gained a lot of further information from forum friends and a couple of locally organised day "tours" - and they took place in horrendous weather!!
Quite honestly, I would be reluctant to pay over the odds for a package guided holiday - it is so hit or miss. Why not arrange your own accommodation, take your boots and bins and check out what's on offer locally when you get there.
Cheers, Claire
"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" - Wlliam Blake
Very well put claireM there is nothing like getting out and looking, providing you do not try to get to any nesting birds during the breeding season, I believe mull now has so many experts giving tours, than people living on the island, a local person doing tours is one way of at least getting some local knowledge,A good book to check what you find, I think on Mull there is only one who actually comes from Mull, As Seymour said you need to define Ex pert. Alan
always many sides to an argument
I think the cairngorms are easily do-able by yourself. Without leaving the immediate area I had 7 Ptarmigan, 2 Black Grouse, Parrot, Scottich and Common Crossbills, Crestie, Golden Eagle, 3 CAper, Dotterel, Snow Bunting, Slav Grebe.
However this was done over a week. Even with early starts I dont think getting the species would be possible in two days. Luck is needed for some and you need two mornings for the Black grouse and Caper. Time is needed for the Woodland birds and the best site for eagle you need half a day to get to and maybe a full day to confirm. I think the thing is birds dont stay still. You cant go to any site and say, ohh yeah you get species x y and z here and expect to see them, bacause its quite possible you won't.
Unknown said: I think the cairngorms are easily do-able by yourself. Without leaving the immediate area I had 7 Ptarmigan, 2 Black Grouse, Parrot, Scottich and Common Crossbills, Crestie, Golden Eagle, 3 CAper, Dotterel, Snow Bunting, Slav Grebe. However this was done over a week. Even with early starts I dont think getting the species would be possible in two days. Luck is needed for some and you need two mornings for the Black grouse and Caper. Time is needed for the Woodland birds and the best site for eagle you need half a day to get to and maybe a full day to confirm. I think the thing is birds dont stay still. You cant go to any site and say, ohh yeah you get species x y and z here and expect to see them, bacause its quite possible you won't.
Hi- MM is talking like a Birder- and he's right. A good week with good gen will get you most of the spp.
Just as a sideline comment ( NOT disagreeing with him) in the USA they really do stake things down almost to the bush and birding does seem unbelievably easy sometimes. Because many spp are tied to specific habitat and altitude etc they can be predicted well.
:)