birding tours and whalewatching cruises wildlife and birdwatching holidays
home page of the Travelling Naturalist guided wildlife holidays information on our birding and wildlife tours our program of guided birding and wildlife tours list of top wildlife sites visited by the Travelling Naturalist program of wildlife and whale-watching cruises program of tailor-made wildlife and whale-watching cruises birdwatching and natural history trip reports booking conditions for our birding and wildlife tours holiday insurance and visa requirements booking form for your wildlife holiday list of vacancies on our birding tours and guided wildlife holidays list of web sites the Travelling Naturalist would like you to visit next list of web sites the Travelling Naturalist would like you to visit next email address for the Travelling Naturalist birding and wildlife tours


Dorset

Coastal migrants and heathland specialities

Monday 7 - Thursday 10 May 2007 (4 days)

Join Bob Ford as we go back to our roots on a spring break in our wonderful home county of Dorset, at one of its very best hotels!

South Dorset with the Isle of Portland sticking out into the English Channel includes some of the best sites in Britain – and some would say Europe - to witness the spectacle of bird migration.

Each spring and autumn thousands of migrants break their journeys by resting on Portland's fields and shoreline. The fields and hedges at this time can be alive with warblers, chats and flycatchers, with Wheatears on the open fields. Offshore, seabirds such as skuas and shearwaters stream past the tip of Portland - ‘the Bill’ - en route to their Arctic breeding areas. Some, such as the Puffin, stop to breed on Portland's high cliffs, along with a growing population of Peregrine Falcons and Ravens. Portland is also famous for producing a surprise or two!

The RSPB reserves at Radipole and Lodmoor are nearby with their breeding Bearded Tits and Cetti's Warblers. Dartford Warblers and Wood Larks are only a few miles further away on Dorset's heathlands.

Our base for the week is Moonfleet Manor, a Georgian manor house overlooking the waters of the Fleet, a saline lagoon between the mainland and Chesil Beach, and an excellent birdwatching spot in its own right.

Accommodation: Moonfleet Manor is one of Dorset's best hotels, and is superbly situated beside the Fleet lagoon All rooms are en suite.

Travel: Rail travellers can be met at Weymouth station between 5 and 6 pm.
Principal Leader: Bob Ford Dorset map
Numbers: Max. 14 clients
Price:
£ 545
Single supp.: £ 105
Deposit: £ 100 per person
The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of 3 nights' accommodation, meals from Monday evening to Thursday lunchtime, transport, tips, admissions and the services of the leader.

The price excludes holiday insurance, drinks and other personal expenses.