It's a new year and I'd like to plan some birding trips outside of my local area. I'd be interested in hearing from other birders about their area of their country. I'd like to know the best times of year to visit their area, what to see at that time, where best to see it. If outside the US, info about reliable bird guides would be useful. Info about local celiac friendly restaurants would be helpful as well.

Thanks!

http://www.mattamuskeet.org/


This is a beautifully unspoiled place close to my neck of the woods. I am not a birder, but I understand that it is a frequent destination for those who do.

I know lots of people go to Cape May NJ. There are even special places to watch the birds.

wrote you a long post this am in your email and computer did a upgrade and lost it.
i'm not the birder in our family but sent my hubby your profile page and asked him to write you
did you do the post on 'birding in Cape May awhile back?
that was a good thread we got going.
judy

my husband and I were in Belize a year ago, and everyone staying at the resort we were at were there for the birding except for us! Here is a link to the resort we were at - it was great - and they were fabulous about the diet. I emailed them before we left, and right when we got there, they took me to talk to the cooks. Besides the desert, there was only one thing I had to stay away from - they make everything from scratch in the kitchen and most of what is served is grown on the premises.

http://www.duplooys.com/index.php

Thanks! I checked the site and it looks like a great place to vacation.

I live in Bellingham, Washington and we have some great birding opportunities around here:

Bald Eagles
Great Blue Heron
Crows (okay, possibly only MY favorite)
Ravens
Hawks (Swainsons, RedTail, etc.)

Swans (Trumpeter and Tundra - and ocassionally a visitor from Asia, whose name I forget) (in winter)
all manner of waterfowl

I don't know. I don't know if we have any rare birds here in Washington - I just know I'm lucky so lucky to live on a tiny peninsula type thing between Bellingham Bay and Chuckanut Bay. Chuckanut Bay was ruined in the late 1800's from logging and by ruined I mean made into "Mud Bay" - flat and hard as a parking lot at low tide. A parking lot full of clams. Great Blue Herons, which nest in a colony less than a mile away (on the Bellingham Bay side) fly over to eat, as do bald eagles and Northwest Crows, gulls (of course), ravens.

One of my favorite things to watch is the crows harassing eagles and hawks and ravens. We've also had some osprey overhead, and fishing in the bay...amazing.

But, the Skagit River has a reknowned collection of Bald Eagles - having counts and festivals and whatnot. Look up Skagit River bald eagle and see what you come up with. I don't know where you live, but I like the birds around here lots, and think they're worth seeing.

Thanks! This is the type of info I was looking for.

Based on my searches, it looks like January is the best time to visit, esp for watching eagles. seattlepi.com reported that a record 580 eagles were counted on Jan. 3. Another site had photos of the annual bald eagle festival which just took place.

Seems like a definite must-see place.

Thanks again!

Yes indeed. AND January is also good on the Skagit Flats (farm country) for the Tundra and Trumpeter swans, which most folks in America don't get to see in person. It is actually the farm land that allows them to come down in here en masse each winter, and as we lose the farmland, we lose the swans.

If you ever do get here in Jan to see the birds, make sure to hit the "tulip fields" to see the swans. Not as colorful as the tulips...

Take care!