March 24 - April 1, 2007

This tour may be done in conjunction with our Jamaica  Birding Tour
which precedes it,
or our Puerto Rico Birding Tour which follows it.

For Endemic & Specialty Birds

During our previous tours on these islands we've seen:

On St. Lucia: endemic birds such as the St. Lucia Parrot, Black Finch, and Oriole.
Specialties, such as the "St. Lucia Wren", "St. Lucia Nightjar", Rufous-throated Solitaire. And one of the rarest birds in the world: the White-breasted Thrasher.

On St. Vincent: the endemics, the St. Vincent Parrot and Whistling Warbler. Specialties too.

On Dominica: endemic & rare Imperial & Red-necked Parrots, 
and two superb specialties: the Plumbeous Warbler & Forest Thrush.

Throughout: seabirds, including tropicbirds & "tropical terns" of various species.

A Tour where Thrashers thrash
and Tremblers tremble,
with 6 members of the Thrasher family.

Brown Trembler on Dominica

Links:

Lesser Antilles List of Birds & Other Nature     

Caribbean Rare Birds

Caribbean Butterflies

Bird Photo Gallery    Cetacean Photo Gallery

Previous Lesser Antilles Tour Highlights

Sat,  Mar 24  An afternoon flight to St. Lucia (arriving at the Vigie Airport, near Castries). The first of our three overnights in pleasant, comfortable accommodations that will serve as our "home base" at the north end of the island near Castries. 

The Lesser Antillean Island of St. Lucia

Sun & Mon, Mar 25 & 26   On the truly beautiful Caribbean island of St. Lucia, we'll see some quite special special birds. All of them have been seen during our previous tours. The St. Lucia Parrot and the White-breasted Thrasher are the rarest. The newly-split Gray Trembler one of the most interesting. Endemic to St. Lucia, it's one of 5 species in the thrasher-group occurring on this one island. Other endemics include an oriole and a finch. Very attractive hummingbirds occur including 2 species of caribs. The rare "Saint Lucia Wren" has been seen during our tours. Also during our past tours, we've enjoyed seeing and hearing the "St. Lucia Nightjar", now thought to be a population of the Rufous Nightjar of South America. During this tour, we'll try for all these birds again. We'll visit a superb forest reserve in the hills (the place for the parrot), a nice lagoon for waders (where rarities such as Little Egret have occurred), and a coastal cliff where Red-billed Tropicbirds and some tropical pelagic species, such as boobies and 4 species of terns, can be seen.

Tue, Mar 27  A flight, in the morning, from St. Lucia to the island of St. Vincent, the southernmost island we'll visit. Birding on this island will be interesting as well, with species such as the St. Vincent Parrot, Whistling Warbler, and Lesser Antillean Tanager. The first of 2 overnights on St. Vincent.

Wed, Mar 28  A full-day of birding on St. Vincent, visiting the various habitats in order to find the specialty birds. Overnight, again, on St. Vincent.

Thu, Mar 29  A final morning of birding on St. Vincent, before the flight to the island of Dominica, where we'll spend this, and the next 2 nights. Birding on Dominica will begin as soon as we arrive on the island.

Fri, Mar 30  A full-day on Dominica, a spectacular island of peaks, ridges, and ravines. About half of the small island is over 1,000 feet above sea level. About three-fourths of the island is covered by forest, the most forest existing in the West Indies. And most of that forest is lush, either categorized as "rain" or "cloud" forest. In it, some special birds are to be found. Among them: the rare Forest Thrush, the localized Plumbeous Warbler, the Rufous-throated Solitaire (with its beautiful song), and 2 species of endemic parrots. Dominica is the only island in the Caribbean where 2 species of Amazons occur: the Red-necked and the Imperial - the latter, the largest of the parrots in the Caribbean. The first of 2 nights on Dominica.

Sat, Mar 31  Another day of birding on Dominica. On this day, during our tour in March 2000, we took a boat-trip off the coast of the island. Birds in the area, above the water, included White-tailed Tropicbird and Pomarine Jaegers. At the surface of the water, and below, there were some interesting marine mammals: both Great Sperm Whales and Dwarf Sperm Whales, and a pod of over 200 of the rarely-seen Fraser's Dolphins.

Sun, Apr 1  Departure from Dominica to San Juan, Puerto Rico to connect with flights home.

Single-supplements:
US $175 (for St. Lucia); US $145 per island (for Dominica & St. Vincent).

Includes: All accommodations. 
Meals: Breakfasts & Lunches (except those on Mar. 24 & Apr 1 ; and dinners throughout).
Ground transportation on the various islands.
Services of the guides. 
Permits for entries to national forest land and restricted areas.

A deposit of US $400 is required to reserve a place on the complete tour. Otherwise, a deposit of US $100 per island.