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Birdquest

Name: Birdquest
Address: Clitheroe, BB79QY, GB
Telephone: +441254826317

Birdquest organizes birding tours all over the world, providing high quality birding since 1984!

15/08/2024

The tour report of our Hawaii 2024 tour is available on our website!

"[...]The two toughies on Maui – Maui Parrotbill and Akohekoh are now more or less off limits, and the series of Kauai endemics only remain in the most remote areas and are barely extant. Indeed without extremely fast action, another four endemics may well be lost forever within the next couple of years! That said, we did manage to find all of the currently ‘gettable’ goodies, with the exception of those on Kauai, where three species that were still gettable until recently were missed. Out of the respectable total of just 97 species that we recorded, a shocking 40 or so species are introductions to the islands! Of the remaining 57, no fewer than 25 are species of conservation concern! Three are classified by Birdlife International as Critically Endangered: Newell’s Shearwater; Palila; and Puaiohi. A further seven are classified as Endangered: Hawaiian Petrel; Maui Creeper (Alauahio); Akiapolaau (with its amazing bill); Anianiau; Hawaii Creeper; Hawaii Akepa (the only hole-nesting honeycreeper); and Kauai Amakihi. On top of that, another four are classified as Vulnerable and eleven as Near Threatened. Clearly, many of the species mentioned above were among the highlights, but other great birds seen on the tour included the incredible Iiwi, a real symbol of Hawaii’s birds. It wasn’t just the endemics though, and other great birds included superb Bristle-thighed Curlews, wonderful Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses, and the now successful Nene (or Hawaiian Goose). So it wasn’t all bad: there were still plenty of great birds to see, and on top of that, Hawaii’s scenery was also spectacular. [...]" - tour leader Pete Morris

You can find the full report here: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tour-reports/hawaii-2024/.

There are still a few spaces available on the Hawaii tour in 2027: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/hawaii/.

15/08/2024

We wrapped up an incredibly successful Sumatra tour by finding our last target... the cute and diminutive Simeulue Scops Owl. Our 11th owl seen, and a fitting climax to a fantastic tour. Sumatra has been brilliant; thanks so much to all that helped make it such a great success, not least my excellent group!

14/08/2024

I don't take many flight shots of nightbirds... it's too tricky, but here's a couple of efforts that came out ok. The local Simeulue form of Great Eared Nightjar, and an Eastern Barn Owl from Way Kambas.

14/08/2024

Heritage Expeditions has told us that they are not planning to operate the Western Pacific Odyssey again, so the spring 2025 expedition looks like being the last of its kind!

This epic journey from New Zealand to Japan has become famous over the years for being one of the world’s ‘Ultimate Pelagics’. It is also a great way to see Norfolk Island endemics and most New Caledonia endemics including the wonderful Kagu as well as many other birds, so we are very sorry to see it go. The reasons have not been revealed, but it seems highly likely that the main cause is the impossibility of operating summer cruises in the Russian Far East and Northeastern Siberia since the invasion of Ukraine. Heritage used to have a very adventurous and successful expedition cruise programme in the region.

There are still cabins available for the 2025 Western Pacific Odyssey. The Birdquest guide is veteran Mark Van Beirs. Find more information about the odyssey on our website: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/western-pacific-odyssey/.

13/08/2024

With an afternoon to kill in Medan, and the luxury of the Marriot at our disposal... we of course went to some filthy mudflats in the heat of the day and saw c3% (40+) of the world population of the endangered Milky Stork 😂😂🤦‍♂️

12/08/2024

One of Sumatra's rarest and arguably most spectacular endemics is the superb Sumatran Woodpecker. We were treated to some superb views of this male in Gunung Leuser Ecosystem, in Aceh, in the far north of the island. A trip highlight!

11/08/2024

The endemic pheasants on Sumatra also obliged, with spectacular views of Bronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant and Salvadori's Pheasant, both on Gunung Kerinci.

10/08/2024

The endemic partridges of Sumatra have served us well... the Sumatran Partridge mostly eluded the camera but was seen very well, whilst Red-billed and Roll's Partridges have given sublime views... Happy days!

10/08/2024

The tour report of our Taiwan 2024 tour is available on our website!

"The first Birdquest tour to Taiwan since 2019 was a great success where we found all 32 of the 32 recognised endemic birds, a Birdquest first in itself! There are so many great birds on this rich island, with Swinhoe’s and Mikado Pheasants topping the bill along with Taiwan Partridge, Taiwan Barwing, Yellow Tit, White-whiskered, Rusty and Rufous-crowned Laughingthrushes, Fairy Pitta, Golden Parrotbill, Taiwan Rosefinch, Red Oriole, many Malayan Night Herons, breeding plumaged Asian Dowitchers and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Black-faced Spoonbills, Chinese Egrets, and for the first time for the leader, the striking white-headed Taiwan Thrush, with a pair found feeding on a very wet track in the mountains. This all despite biblical rain that lost us three days of birding time, numerous earthquakes that shook us from our beds, and the leader being fortunate to arrive at all, following the ghastly situation at Dubai airport after the catastrophic floods there (luckily only delaying my bag by a day)!" - tour leader Dave Farrow

You can find the full report here: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tour-reports/taiwan-2024/.

There are still some spaces available on the Taiwan tour in 2026: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/taiwan/.

09/08/2024

There's a few interesting birds and a number of rare endemic primates in the Mentawai Islands off West Sumatra. Sadly the forest is being cleared at pace, as one birds to the sound of chainsaws! Luckily, our main target, the excellent Mentawai Scops Owl is still common and easy to find, and indeed we found all of our bird targets...

08/08/2024

Sumatra has two endemic whistling thrushes, both of which showed well as they foraged for tit-bits amongst the copious litter left by the plentiful mountain hikers! Shiny Whistling Thrush, and the smart Brown-winged Whistling Thrush.

07/08/2024

The amazing Lesser Florican, which we saw so well in the Ajmer region, was the ‘mega-star’ on our very successful Indian Monsoon birding tour. In this video taken by our wonderful guide Ghani Singh, you can see the male doing its fabulous display leap. This very rare and declining bustard species becomes visible during the monsoon period but is nearly impossible to see for the rest of the year.
-Hannu

07/08/2024

We've been fortunate to see both of Sumatra's endemic pittas rather well. The first picture is a female Schneider's Pitta from a hide at Gunung Kerinci (we saw several more along the trails). The second is a 'wild' Graceful Pitta calling from the dark undergrowth at Way Titias.

06/08/2024

Great day along the Tapan Road today in Sumatra. One bird that can be horrendously difficult to see well, is the stunning Marbled Wren-Babbler. Today, for some reason, this brute tossed leaves and posed in front of us for as long as we wanted. Amazing!

05/08/2024

For those not on the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo pre-tour extension (😂), today was a big day... Not as tame as at Way Titias, the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo at Kerinci still gave some very acceptable views. Ecstatic group 👍

04/08/2024

Another day on Kerinci... not the easiest trail in the world to walk up and down. We've seen nearly all of our targets now though, with this cute Sumatran Wren-Babbler, a species that can be tough to see, being a highlight today! Whatever happened to the inspirational genus Rimator?

03/08/2024

Another full day on Mt Kerinci, Sumatra, yielded many more great birds. Once again, a nightbird at the end of the day stole the show... Sumatran Frogmouth in the rain! You've gotta love that hair!

02/08/2024

The tour report of our Colorado 2024 tour is available on our website!

"Our 2024 whirlwind birding road-trip around the Centennial State was another wonderful birding experience. Facing the usual complicated logistical challenges, late snowfall, and high winds, as well as Easter weekend, our hard work and perseverance paid-off. This year’s top birds included Wood Duck, Barrow’s Goldeneye, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Greater and Lesser Prairie Chickens, Sharp-tailed, Gunnison and Sage Grouse, Wild Turkey, Gambel’s, Scaled and Northern Bobwhite Quails, Cackling Goose, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Sandhill Crane, Western and Clark’s Grebes, Mountain Plover, Baird’s Sandpiper, Long-billed Curlew, Franklin’s and California Gulls, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Buzzard, Northern Pygmy, Western Screech, Great Horned and Burrowing Owls, Lewis’s and American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Woodhouse’s Scrub and Pinyon Jays, Clark’s Nutcracker, Juniper Titmouse, Mountain Chickadee, American Bushtit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Rock, Canyon, Marsh, and Bewick’s Wrens, Pygmy Nuthatch, Sage and Curve-billed Thrashers, all three Bluebirds, Townsend’s Solitaire, American Dipper, Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, Grey-crowned (including Hepburn’s), Black and Brown-capped Rosy Finches, Cassin’s Finch, Thick-billed (or McCown’s) and Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Black-throated, Sagebrush and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Canyon and Spotted Towhees, and Myrtle Warbler. Colorado is great for mammals too, and this year we found Coyote, Pronghorn, Wapiti (or American Elk), Bighorn Sheep, Wyoming Ground Squirrels, and three species of prairie dog." - tour leader Craig Robson

You can find the full report here: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tour-reports/colorado-2024/.

We only have two spaces available on the Colorado tour in 2026: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/colorado/.

02/08/2024

On a long day on Gunung Kerinci, Sumatra, where we had a good number of exceptional birds, it was the last sighting of the day that stole the show... a truly fantastic Rajah Scops Owl! As sneaky as ever, but we found him!!

31/07/2024

Recently arrived back home from Papua New Guinea, where - during leading this year's group - the show was somehow a little bit stolen from the outstandingly performing Birds-of-paradise as a selection of Rails were also seen, all of which are never to be expected (but just hoped) on a tour.

Our luck with them was first demonstrated when we spotted a roosting New Guinea Flightless Rail while slowly cruising back to our camp with the boat on the Elevala River at night. I don't know if saying 'first impressions' is proper - as excitement was probably overwriting everything else - but this bird is huge.

Our second species in a row was another 'night find' when we found a roosting pair of Bare-eyed Rails close to Kiunga village. After two nights camping I used my last sparks in my batteries to put light on the bird and to find different windows in the dense mid canopy to have better-and-better views of them. Luckily - especially for those who skipped this night session - the birds were still there in the early morning and we could have another go (with charged batteries this time).

Forbes's Forest Rail was one I missed last year when János saw it (it is less frustrating now...).
We were lucky to have this responding bird near Kumul in the highlands not too far from last year's spot. - tour leader Dániel Balla

30/07/2024

Bolivia is a country that offers a great variety of habitats with many specialties and species that can be difficult to find in other neighbouring countries.
Here is a selection of some species of interest seen during our last tour.

(Images by Leo Garrigues)

30/07/2024

The tour report of our Malaysia & Singapore Specialities 2024 tour is available on our website!

"Our latest, new and improved Malay Peninsula tour itinerary included Singapore for the first time. This sunny tropical island certainly came up trumps, delivering memorable encounters with Red-legged Crake, both Blue-winged and Mangrove Pittas, and the critically endangered Straw-headed Bulbul. Amongst the other highlights there were Banded Woodpecker, Long-tailed Parakeet, and Copper-throated Sunbird. As one might expect, conditions were modern and comfortable, with smooth-running logistics, and this continued after we crossed into West Malaysia, to explore the lowland and montane forests there. Panti Forest produced the much-wanted Rail-babbler for the third consecutive trip, as well as the likes of Blyth’s Frogmouth, Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo, Red-naped Trogon, White-crowned Hornbill, Red-crowned Barbet, and Finsch’s Bulbul. Up at Fraser’s Hill, our patience finally paid off with great views of a family of Malayan Partridges, as well as Black, Malayan and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrushes, and Blue Nuthatch. At Bukit Tinggi, we were treated to amazing views of Mountain Peacock Pheasant and, luckily, a lovely Ferruginous Partridge. Rhinoceros Hornbill, Bamboo Woodpecker, Long-billed Spiderhunter, and Siamang were further highlights. Finally, during the optional post-tour extension to the immense Taman Negara, we added such gems as Malayan Crested Fireback, Rufous-collared and Malayan Blue-banded Kingfishers, Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Wrinkled Hornbill, Malayan Banded and Garnet Pittas, Crested Jayshrike, Malayan Black Magpie, Malayan Black-capped and Black-throated Babblers, Malaysian Blue Flycatcher, and Thick-billed Spiderhunter." - tour leader Craig Robson

You can find the full report here: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tour-reports/malaysia-singapore-2024/.

We still have spaces available on the Malaysia & Singapore Specialities tour in 2026: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/malaysia-malay-peninsula/.

29/07/2024

The amazing frogmouths of Way Kambas... Large Frogmouth on the nest, a singing Gould's Frogmouth and a crazy pair of Sunda Frogmouths. Amazing birds!

28/07/2024

Red-bearded Bee-eater is always a fantastic bird to see, and is one of my favourites in a top family! Sadly this one at Way Kambas in Sumatra was pretty much against the light, but the Canon R5 still picked out some colour detail.

27/07/2024

Last night, having seen all of the nightbirds we were focusing on, we turned our attention to a few of the trickier day birds... at night! An hour of 'thermalling' proved productive, and great fun, and turned up a few interesting bits and bobs...

26/07/2024

Selecting, editing and mostly deleting photos is one of those things that take me a lot of time.
Finally found some of that precious stuff and managed to get my portfolio in order from last year's Birdquest tour to Oman!

We had a great time travelling through this wonderful country and saw all bar one speciality. Not only that, we had spectacular views to boot, as you can see from my photographs. As I am certainly not a great photographer, you can only imagine what great ones will be able to do with such views.

Can't wait to go back to this magnificent country and sort that unfinished business with a certain owl! - tour leader Diedert Koppenol

26/07/2024

Well Way Kambas NP is certainly living up to its reputation. Our first day yesterday, yielded 3spp of nightjar (heard a 4th), 2spp of frogmouth and 4spp of owl! This Oriental Bay Owl gave us the runaround before settling down for some decent looks, our final nightbird highlight of the day!! A big early favourite with the group!

24/07/2024

The tour report of our Guyana & Suriname 2024 tour is available on our website!

"As one of the most exciting tours to South America, Guyana and Suriname offer the best the Guianan shield has to offer. It is a strikingly diverse region with a high level of endemicity, comprehensively covered by one of the more endlessly interesting tours one is ever likely to take. As is said for every tour, each successive iteration of which is considered to be the most successful and enjoyable to date, this was the most successful, as the following report will make clear. Detailing, as it does, our progress through the extraordinary avifaunal and mammalian diversity of the region with ridiculous success and quite a number of significant surprises. The tour highlights are not only numerous but also exceptional; we found practically all of the usual targeted species, but we also experienced some highly memorable and quite unique moments." - tour leader Eustace Barnes

You can find the full report here: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tour-reports/guyana-suriname-2024/.

We still have spaces available on the Guyana & Suriname tour in 2025: https://www.birdquest-tours.com/birding-tours/guyana-suriname/.

23/07/2024

Just back from our short Sumatran Ground Cuckoo extension. I guess you could say, it did what it says on the tin!! Even managed a few snaps too. Safe to say, we were pretty chuffed!

22/07/2024

I am thrilled to be leading the Birdquest 2025 tour to Bhutan, one of my favourite places in the world. It will be my 150th tour for Birdquest, and where better to celebrate my 30 years of guiding with the company. Come along with me and enjoy this fantastic country and its wildlife!
Dave Farrow

Address

Clitheroe
BB79QY

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+441254826317

Website

http://www.birdquest-tours.com/

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Videos

Here's a video of Shelleys Francolin calling during our most recent Kenya tour, filmed by János Oláh.

We were lucky enough to witness the Jacksons Widowbird displaying in Kenya! Here's a great video by János Oláh.

We had some great close-up views of the Somali Ostrich in Kenya on our most recent tour there! Here's a great video by János Oláh. The Somali ostrich is mostly found in the Horn of Africa, especially in north-eastern Ethiopia, southern Djibouti, most of Kenya, and across most of Somalia.