Birding Calendar
Trip Codes attempt to address daily focus, required energy levels, and common goals for a tour*
[Style – A] Comfortable and enjoyable for EVERYONE with an interest in nature, even if birds are not a top priority.
[Style – B] Comfortable and enjoyable for BIRD WATCHERS — but each participant must enjoy daily bird watching.
[Style – C] Enjoyable for anyone with a KEEN INTEREST IN SEEING NEW BIRDS; requires a high level of energy for birding all-day.
* Codes help prospective participants to understand the daily intensity, and the variety of activities for each style of tour…
2023 – 2025
JANUARY 15th – 26th, 2023
SOUTH KOREA – An Extravaganza of Cranes & Waterfowl
A focused Birding Tour for those that have ‘dreamed’ of seeing large numbers of cranes and waterbirds (and doing so with a number of Life Birds). We should see at least six species of cranes and such wonderful waterfowl as Swan Goose, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Baikal Teal, Stegnejer’s White-winged Scoter, and Scaly-sided Merganser. We also expect Hazel Grouse, Solitary Snipe, Relict Gull, Daurian Jackdaw, & Pallas’ Rosefinch.
Tour Style [C] $4,495/pp. (discount for couples sharing a bed)
Space Availability: (YES)
APRIL 26th – MAY 10th, 2023
GEORGIA & ARMENIA (Classic Spring Birding)
Georgia is a member of the NATO-run Partnership for Peace. It’s people practice the Eastern Orthodox Religion [The country takes its name from St. George, its patron]. It is famous for unique breads, candies, and wines. Expect to see wild countryside, towering mountains, and lovely cities blanketed in churches and monasteries. WE WILL TARGET – Caspian and Caucasian Snowcock, and Caucasian Black Grouse, nine species of falcons, and twenty-four species of raptors, Radde’s Accentor, Upcher’s and Menetries’s warblers, White-winged Redstart, Finsch’s Wheatear, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Wallcreeper, & Fire-fronted Serin.
Tour Style [B] Price $4,695 Space Availability: Limited
2023 – 2024
September 10th – 24th, 2023
PORTUGAL – The Mainland and two endemic rich Altantic islands
Portugal is a country filled with welcoming people… distances are not great, Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, and the Douro Valley are all within a few hours drive of one another. The Altantic islands hold a half dozen endemics, and will be a driving force for our efforts while there. This trip will take advantage of excellent fall weather, hospitality around the wine producing culture, and the enthusiasm of the two lively cities of Lisbon and Porto.
Tour Style [Heritage-Style–A] Heritage-Style — A
Space Availability: Limited
Tour Price: $6,995/pp sharing double room
LATE APRIL – EARLY MAY, 2024
HERITAGE STYLE – CORSICA & SARDINIA
Two ferociously independent islands, Corisa governed by Fance, and Sardinia, Italy, invite us to step back in time amid a people that long ago choose to abandon the rush of modern living. We use the Heritage-Style to explore these two distinct pieces of paradise. For the birder there are two endemic species (Corsica Nuthatch and Corsica Finch) and two rare breeders (Moltoni’s and Marmora’s warblers) that make the islands somewhat like a holiday present filled with expectancy. The tour uses Paris as a linchpin for arriving and returning from the two lovely Mediterranean isles.
Tour Format: Heritage-Style Birding
Tour Style: A
Space Availability: YES
Tour Price: TBA
2024
Mid-SEPT t0 Early OCT, 2024
SCOTLAND & THE REPUBIC OF IRELAND
Golfers and wiskey drinkers pay homage to Scotland… and more than 25 million Americans have ancestors from Ireland. This tour is designed to be ‘fun’, and a wee-bit ‘birdy’. The endemic Scottish Crossbill awaits us, and a few seabirds likely will be encountered while transiting between the two land masses. This tour will likely be a bit ‘chilly’, but the season also affords a movement of migrating birds, and the benefit of fewer tourists to scare them away. Meals, lodging, activities, and transportation have all been arranged to make for a vacation-like birding tour. We will likely see around 125 species of birds, but this tour will be more remembered by the warmth of the people we meet along our journeys, and of course to color and texture of the enchanted countryside that surrounds us each day.
Tour Style [Heritage-Style – A] Price: (TBA)
Space Availability: (YES)
MEXICO’S YUCATAN PENINSULA – EARLY DECEMBER, 2024
The Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico offers both a very fine birding experience and an excellent vacation opportunity. Everyone sees new birds in the Yucatan (15 species are either endemic or limited range), and while doing so one should expect pleasant hotels, delicious meal choices, and interesting Mayan sites. This is the only Heritage-Style route Legacy offers in Mexico, as it results in 225+ species of birds whether birding all-day, every-day or each morning and afternoon while enjoying other experiences within the day. It is the one destination in Mexico where a birder can comfortably share her/his vacation with a non-birding partner/family member/friend. The route includes Cozumel Island (10+ species with a Caribbean affinity), then north coast of Yucatan State (Mexican Sheartail, Yucatan Wren, Yucatan Gnatcatcher), and a number of forested trails amid protected parks and archeological sites. Tour Price: TBA
Tour Format: Heritage-Style Birding – [Tour Style – A]
*CUSTOM TOURS*
Individuals, small parties of friends, and larger groups from birding clubs regularly travel with Legacy Tours as members of a custom tour to specific destinations, primarily in Mexico. Contact our office to explore the possibility of a custom tour for yourself [target birding], your family [target destination], or your birding club [targeted joint activity].