Nature & Photography Tours

Spring Birding, Ontario’s Birding Hotspot – Point Pelee National Park 2020

CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19

Point Pelee is a birding hotspot where thousands of migratory songbirds find refuge in the park’s habitats. Watch and listen for Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting and Wood Warblers in brilliant breeding plumage, and observe Bald Eagle, Red-headed Woodpecker and rare species like Kirtland’s Warbler and Mississippi Kite. Study plumage, voices and behaviors that distinguish one species from the next.

Leader: Tony Beck

May 03-10, 2020 – please see link for price

May 10-17, 2020 – please see link for price

For more information and/or to book this tour, please contact the travel agency directly at
Road Scholar, 11 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111 – USA. Tel: (800) 454-5768, email: contact@roadscholar.org

June at the Floe Edge

June 5-13, 2021 – please see link for price

Leader: Tony Beck

June is a month of great change in the Arctic as the long days usher in a flurry of activity. Life returns to the land as wildflowers begin to blossom and tundra birds set up nesting territories. Life at sea also changes as the thick ice which has beset the waters for months yields to the sun’s warm rays and begins to break up. The Polar Bear remains as long as it can upon the ice along the breaks, while the break-up allows whales and seabirds to return to summer feeding grounds. The edge of ice and open sea – the floe edge – becomes a wildlife highway. On this inaugural tour for wilderness lovers, we travel to the boundaries of ice and open sea at the very top of Hudson Bay. Starting at the village of Naujaat (pronounced “Now-yaat”) on the Arctic Circle (formerly called Repulse Bay), we make our way over the ice by snowmobile to the floe edge where we will set up camp and spend the coming days in a wonderful setting. Polar Bears may course atop the ice’s edges nearby. Narwhal, Beluga, and Bowhead Whales, pushing their boundaries into the thawing sea, may pass before us and stunning Arctic birds such as the gorgeous King Eider also push forth. We’ll feel the pulse of the Arctic spring as it takes place around us in serene surroundings. Photographic opportunities will be numerous. Our expert local guides will monitor the changing conditions, always on the lookout for all wildlife, and we’ll move about accordingly. If you particularly enjoy the prospect of discovering Canada’s remote regions, then consider joining us for this inaugural tour of discovery at ‘the edge’.

For more information and/or to book this tour, please contact the travel agency directly at
Quest Nature Tours 491 King Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1L9 Canada 416.633.5666 ~ TICO Reg: #2667946

Newfoundland & Labrador (Quest Nature Tours)

June 25 – July 7, 2021 – please see link for price

Leader: Tony Beck

Newfoundland and Labrador is the place where the unique influences of the great tundra, Boreal Forest and North Atlantic Ocean habitats converge. Our summer odyssey to Canada’s easternmost province will allow you to experience some of the best of these three realms in an area also defined by a very distinctive culture. With keen eyes we may have a chance of observing some of the many Moose and Woodland Caribou that inhabit the island. On the seemingly barren lands of the Great Northern Peninsula, we’ll find rare alpine flowers and orchids blooming in the fantastic limestone landscape. We’ll cross the Strait of Belle Isle to Labrador, watching for seabirds and any of the over 22 species of whale recorded here, including the world’s largest population of Humpback Whales, breaching the surface of the water. With the southerly iceberg migration occurring in earnest, we may have brief intervals where we can experience a “triple play” of birds, whales and icebergs. Highlights of our tour will be visits to the World Heritage Site of L’Anse aux Meadows, where the Vikings established the first European settlement in North America about 1000 years ago, the historic Basque whaling site at Red Bay, and Witless Bay, which houses the largest colony of Atlantic Puffins in North America!

For more information and/or to book this tour, please contact the travel agency directly at
Quest Nature Tours 491 King Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1L9 Canada 416.633.5666 ~ TICO Reg: #2667946

Costa Rica – Through The Lens Photo Tour (Greentours UK)

Oct 28 to Nov 12, 2020 – please see link for price – Tour to be confirmed!

Leader: Tony Beck

Costa Rica’s stunning landscapes are still largely carpeted in virgin forest and no less than one-quarter of the country is now within national parks or private reserves. This Eden-like natural heritage becomes apparent even on our first day as the fantastically rich fauna and flora announces itself to us, especially the extraordinary number of bird species. There are some 850 in all, nearly 10% of the world total, crammed into a country the size of Holland!
This beautiful country is undoubtedly a feast for the nature photographer. There are abundant butterflies, several species of colourful Poison-arrow Frogs as well as approachable larger animals such as Toucans and Coatis. We’ll concentrate on the macro photography of the often brilliantly-coloured invertebrates, especially butterflies and dragonflies. Our lodges all have feeders bringing a rich variety of bird-life into camera range including lots of iridescent Hummingbirds. Although we are visiting during the wet season this is far and away the best time for diversity of many smaller creatures and most of the rain will fall in the afternoon anyway. We’ll be staying at just four main locations; the mid-altitude forests of Bosque La Paz, remote and peaceful Laguna Lagartos, the highland cloud forests around Savegre and then a lengthy stay on the fabulous Osa Peninsula home to one of the most wildlife rich forests on Earth. Here we’ll stay at the private Cabo Blanco reserve, owned and run by a professional wildlife photographer.

For more information and/or to book this tour, please contact the travel agency directly at
Greentours, Leigh Cottage, Gauledge Lane, Longnor, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 0PA ~ UK. Tel: 01298 83563, email: enquiries@greentours.co.uk