February 13-21, 2016


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, Warbler, and Oriole.
And for specialties, such as the "St. Lucia Wren", and one of 
the rarest birds in the world: the White-breasted Thrasher.

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

On Dominica: the endemic & rare Imperial & Red-necked Parrots, 
and some fine specialties such as: 
Plumbeous Warbler, Blue-headed Hummingbird, & Forest Thrush.

Throughout: seabirds, including tropicbirds & others.

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

Brown Trembler on Dominica

Links:

Birds & Some Other Nature of the Lesser Antilles

A List & Photo Gallery of Caribbean Birds, in 2 parts:
Part #1: Guineafowl to Hummingbirds    Part #2: Trogons to Buntings   

Rare Birds of the Caribbean, Past & Present

Butterflies of the Caribbean  (with some photos) 

Mammals of the Caribbean  (Land & Marine)

Marine Life of the Caribbean  (including Sea Turtles, Fish, Corals, Jellyfish, Mollusks, Arthropods)

Amphibians & Reptiles of the Caribbean  (with some photos)

Previous Lesser Antilles Tour Highlights

Tour Registration Form

Sat, Feb 13  Arrival in St. Lucia (at the Vigie Airport, near Castries). The first of our four 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, Feb 14-15   On the truly beautiful Caribbean island of St. Lucia, we'll see some quite special birds. All of them have been seen during our previous 14 tours on the island. 
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" (a form of the House Wren) has been seen during our tours. 
We'll visit a superb forest reserve in the hills (the place for the parrot), as well as 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, Feb 16  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, St. Vincent Solitaire, Whistling Warbler, and Lesser Antillean Tanager. Our first overnight on St. Vincent.

Wed, Feb 17   Birding and travel on St. Vincent, with visits to the various habitats in order to find the specialty birds. We'll visit the forest in the hills with the parrots, and the Montreal Gardens, which can be a wonderful place for the birds that favor fruits and flowers. The hummingbirds on the island (2 species of Caribs and the Antillean Crested) are in that category. Another overnight on St. Vincent.

A female Antillean Crested Hummingbird
photographed during a previous FONT tour in the Lesser Antilles

Thu, Feb 18   A flight from St. Vincent to the island of Dominica, the last island we'll visit, and one of the most beautiful of all the Caribbean islands. It's a green island, with considerable forest cover. We'll be spending parts of 4 days and 3 nights on the island. Our birding on Dominica will begin as soon as we arrive on the island.

Fri, Feb 19   A full-day on Dominica, not just a green island, but one with spectacular peaks, ridges, and ravines. About half of the small island is over 1,000 feet above sea level. As noted, there's forest. About three-fourths of the island is covered by forest - the most that still exists in the West Indies. Much of the forest is lush, either categorized as "rain" or "cloud" forest. 
In the forests pf Dominica, 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. Overnight on Dominica.

Sat, Feb 20   Another day of birding on Dominica. We'll take a boat-trip offshore, along the western coast of the island. Birds in that area, that we've seen during our previous tours, have included, White-tailed Tropicbird, 2 species of boobies, a rather large number of Pomarine Jaegers, and even Great Skua. 
On the water, and below, there could be some interesting marine mammals, such as Great Sperm Whales and Dwarf Sperm Whales, Humpback Whales, the rarely-seen Fraser's Dolphin, and other dolphins. All of these we've seen during our previous trips.  

Sun, Feb 21  Departure from Dominica for home.

Single-supplement: US$ 315


Includes:  
All accommodations. 
Meals: breakfasts & lunches (except those on Feb 13 & 21, and except 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 $500 is required to reserve a place on the tour.