[Tweeters] Birding away from home?

[Teresa Michelsen]

I found the worldwide Birding Pal program to be an excellent way to travel, particularly in areas with few organized guides or if you'd just prefer a local and free approach to spending thousands. http://www.birdingpal.org/ I have traveled with Rockjumper etc. and they are amazing. But probably some of the most fun trips I've had have been with Birding Pals. I had 5 different contacts in local areas of Australia when I went. Often they bring their friendly local birders along. Also, they know the local guides and can recommend who's the best, if you're looking for someone who focuses on that specific area as opposed to an international company. Like on that trip, there was one national forest that I hired a local guide for a day because I wanted to see Lyrebirds and other specialties and he had the experience and a pass to get in. Not to mention, they know where the best food is, what the traffic is like, and which hide the brown snake likes to hide under!  I learned a lot about safety in the wilds of Australia from them. Paired this with Air-bnbs in birdy areas and it was really wonderful.

Aside from that, there are always local guides who know their spot better than anyone, but often aren't on the internet. In my experience you find them by asking on groups like this, or by spending a lot of time in the area and asking anyone with binoculars, or calling the refuge and asking. This works better if you're not on a tight schedule or return to a place more than once. You can also call lodges or other places that cater specifically to nature travelers and take their recommendations for locals. For example in Panama, the people who run the Canopy Family lodges will happily recommend their guides for any day they're free, or include you in a group that's already going out.

You can probably tell I vastly prefer locals to any other guides. In my travels I can't remember a single problem with this, though I'm sure the occur. On the other hand, disaster can hit even large organized groups - like ending up in the middle of an insurrection in Honduras on an ABA trip or having your boat break down at sea offshore of NZ (the birds we saw were epic though...).

Just my 2 cents
Teresa Michelsen
Hoodsport

-----Original Message-----
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of jimbetz at jimbetz.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 9:52 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Birding away from home?

Hi all,

   We're in the process of picking our travel destinations for 2024.
When we go somewhere we like to include at least one 'birding event'.

   Is there any particular method you use to select a birding guide when you are away on a trip.  For example Singapore, Australia, Ireland, Eastern Mediterranean (not Greece, the Eastern side of the Adriatic), Romania, etc.

   I am not looking for specific recommendations - I'm looking for some "methodology for finding quality guides".  What we've done in the past is to 'consult the web' and the results have been hit and miss.  It also appears that quality guides are booked in advance and so if you wait too long you end up with less than stellar guides.

             - Jim and Loretta

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