Members of Hawks Aloft are able to participate in special birding events.

Tours

Birding New Zealand Tour 2011 (November 10 -30, 2011)

Hawks Aloft & Pacific Pathways present the 2011 BIRDING NEW ZEALAND TOUR featuring 21 days of the best birding sites in New Zealand.

The Birding New Zealand Tour of 2011 features

• Hand-picked birding sites to maximize sightings of rare endemic species
• Witness spring nesting season
• Visit varied habitats: forests, wetlands, sea coast, ocean, and mountains
• Endemic birds to see: Fairy Tern, Wrybill, New Zealand Falcon, Westland Black Petrel, Hutton’s Shearwater, 2 species of Kiwi, Takahe, Kokako, Yellow-eyed Penguin, Royal Albatross White Heron, and more
• Visit three different predator-free offshore islands
• Visit Franz Josef Glacier
• Night excursion to search for Brown Kiwi
• Pelagic Birds cruise at Kaikora–one of the world’s best sites to watch seabirds
• Overnight Tour of Milford Sound to look for Fjordland Crested Pengiuns
• Experience Maori culture with visits to Kapiti Island and Wellington

Escorted by Gail Garber, Executive Director of Hawks Aloft, and birder, author, art quilter, lecturer and teacher. This will be Garber’s fifth trip to New Zealand and her second bird and Maori culture tour geared for Hawks Aloft members. Download a PDF document with a detailed itinerary, prices and registration form. To register, e-mail Pacific Pathways, call (650) 595-2090 or visit Pacific Pathways. Or, for additional information or questions, please e-mail Gail (gail@hawksaloft.org).

Field Trips

Members at the Red-Tail Membership level ($150) or higher receive invitations to exclusive birding field trips.

In August 2010, the overnight trip was to the bat caves of Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch in southern New Mexico. Participants visited the Aplomado Falcon hack site and saw 10 fledglings taking shelter from the heat of the day. The ranch is home to the second largest lava tubes in North America which house 3-5 million bats. Some 20 Swainson’s Hawks foraged among the bats. What a spectacle to watch the interplay between hunter and prey.

Consider joining Hawks Aloft at a higher level and join us for such very special events.