Field Guides Birding Tours

BIRDING PLUS
VENEZUELA'S LLANOS & PHOTOGRAPHY

More photo opps in the context of slower-paced birding than on our regular tours.  We’ll take advantage of good opportunities for photographing birds as we find them, and we’ll mix these with spotting and identifying a good many of the myriad species possible at our two main sites.  If you enjoy both birding and photography, you’ll enjoy this tour!

2009
February 20-March 2 with George Armistead

Fee $3775 (2009). 11 days
From Caracas. Limit: 9
Good accommodations, easy to moderate terrain, cool to hot climate. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.

Crested Bobwhite
by George Armistead
This short tour focuses on the vast grasslands, seasonal marshes, and savanna woodlands of Venezuela’s interior known as the llanos.  The llanos (meaning flat plains) are a unique and rich region.  Our exclusive offering to this extraordinary ecosystem is scheduled for late February as there is no finer time to visit.  The rainy season begins in April, and the showers continue through until November, at which point the dry season ensues.  By the time of our arrival, what had been a largely flooded savanna will have become a land pockmarked with shrinking pools of increasingly valuable water, concentrating the birds and wildlife that depend on them.  By visiting a few choice pools we’ll observe astounding scenes with thousands of ducks, hundreds of herons, seven species of ibis, and an overall exhilarating array of birds—and other animals, as well.

We’ll canvas an impressive cross section of habitats while based at two storied ranches, or “hatos” as they are known.  Hato Pinero, located in the state of Cojedes, straddles the transition between the high and low llanos in west-central Venezuela, and Hato Cedral, further south in Apure, is moored in the low llanos.  Between these two vast ranches we will explore one of the richest wetland systems in the world, taking time to soak up the scenes, learn about this unique wetland system, and avail ourselves of the great photographic opportunities that exist at these two wildlife paradises.  Hunting has been prohibited for about 70 years and thus much of the wildlife is more approachable here than elsewhere. 

This is not a photography tour per se, but more a birding trip in which we plan to allow ourselves the time necessary to stop and smell the roses.  We’ll try to capture some images of the great subjects we encounter, without the pressure of having to move on.  The idea is to go birding without leaving behind any potentially great photographic subjects, and although this is not a list-driven trip, we’ll see a great array of birds and wildlife.  We also plan to have some photographic discussions at our lodgings during our down time.

Join George for what promises to be a new and fascinating experience.

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