Date Cost Availability Deposit Single Supp	07 Sep - 21 Sep 2024 £7625.00 4 Spaces £1525.00 £1250.00 Book Now

Leaders	Darren Rees and Julian Sykes
Flights	British Airways, scheduled Outbound: Morning, Gatwick-Vancouver Inbound: Overnight Vancouver-Gatwick

Days 1-2	Fly to Vancouver. Full day birding local area and George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary - 2 nights Tsawwassen Inn.
Days 3-5	Ferry to Vancouver Island, then drive towards Port McNeill and our hotel overlooking Johnstone Strait. Boat trip to look for Orcas - 3 nights Hidden Cove Lodge.
Day 6	Drive to Zeballos on west coast to explore the coastal forest and inlets - 1 night Cedars Inn.
Days 7-9	Drive to Campbell River, then birding local area and a full-day boat trip to Grizzly Bear fishing grounds - 3 nights Painter’s Lodge.
Days 10-12	Transfer to Tofino on the west coast, with two boat trips and a walk in the Pacific Rim Rainforest - 3 nights Tofino Resort.
Day 13	Return to Vancouver - 1 night Tsawwassen Inn.
Days 14-15	Birding Boundary Bay before flight back to London in afternoon, arriving in London on Day 15.

Weather	It varies across the island, with wetter conditions in the west around Tofino and Zeballos, drier on the east coast. Expect some rain (we sometimes have rain for a whole day or more) and fog is possible in the west but generally warm and sunny with mild conditions (14°-22°C).
Walking	There’ll be some short easy walks on wide tracks in the forest, in some places with lots of steps. Nothing steep or strenuous, but a reasonable degree of fitness is required.
Meals	All included from dinner on Day 1 to lunch on Day 14.
Insects	Biting insects are generally not a problem on Vancouver Island, but repellent is a good idea just in case.
Boat trips	Boats vary from larger boats with indoor seating areas that can hold over 50 people, to smaller uncovered boats with no facilities. Sometimes the groups may be split between two boats each with a guide. All boats are excellent.
Accom	Double, twin and single rooms all ensuite.
Group	10

On Canada’s rugged west coast, Vancouver Island awaits – brimming with bears, birds, whales and more, as they seize the autumn bounty before the winter closes in.

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	*   Boat trips in search of Orcas, Humpbacks and Gray Whales
	*   Grizzly Bears hunting salmon on spawning grounds
	*   Dall’s Porpoise, Steller’s Sea Lions plus, with luck, Pacific White-sided Dolphin
	*   Black Bear, Beaver, Sea Otter and chance of Raccoon
	*   West Coast special birds including shorebirds, seabirds, divers and scoters
	*   Beautiful Pacific Rim Rainforest and famous Long Beach
	*   Stunning scenery of lakes, fjords and forests, amidst towering mountains

Days 1-2	Arriving in Vancouver we transfer to our hotel in Delta. The following day we enjoy a full day at George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary, where Sandhill Crane, Wood Duck, dowitchers and yellowlegs, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Harrier and Lincoln’s Sparrow are all possible. It is a fabulous and very productive place alive with great birds. We may also take a walk along Boundary Bay, looking for more shorebirds in an area that can be good for other birds too - this may prove to be the most bird-rich day of the entire trip and a great start.
Days 3-5	After checking the bays enroute to the Nanaimo ferry, we board the ferry and check the jetties for Black Turnstone and with luck, Surfbird. We’ll watch out for wildlife on the crossing then have a long drive north to our ocean front lodge overlooking Johnstone Strait. The grounds are a haven for wildlife and we have watched Black Bears turning rocks on the shore here and, with luck, other mammals such as River Otter and American Mink. We can relax, or wander in search of White-crowned and Fox Sparrows, warblers and woodpeckers in the surrounding woodland. We have a boat ride into rich waters covered in gulls, Common and Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets and dainty Red-necked Phalaropes. Watched by tree top Bald Eagles, this is our best chance for Orcas and we hope to encounter resident groups at close quarters! Dall’s Porpoise and Steller’s Sea Lions are here too and we hope for Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Even if we don’t see Orcas, we’ll be thrilled by great sightings of Humpback Whales! Another day will be spent locally in search of more wildlife and visiting Telegraph Cove - a picturesque village on the seafront nearby, with some nice shops and a wildlife museum and the chance of Black-tailed Deer or perhaps even Elk enroute.
Day 6	We move on to Zeballos on a scenic west coast inlet, an old Gold-rush village. An oasis of gardens and decidous trees and bushes surrounded by a sea of confiers, it can draw in migrants and we have seen Cedar Waxwing, Western Tanager, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Varied Thrush and warblers such as Wilson’s, Townsend, Black-and-Grey and Yellow-rumped are possible. It is a chance to feel you are on the remote west side of the island and provides a chance to see Beavers on a nearby pond.
Days 7-9	After breakfast we head for Campbell River, a great area for birding, with shorebirds, Harlequin Duck, Bonaparte’s Gull, grebes and divers, plus Red-breasted Sapsucker in the trees. We’ll also visit the sub-alpine forest of Mount Washington in search of tame Gray Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, woodpeckers, tanagers and more. There is lots to see, but we’ll tear ourselves away because there’s the lure of Grizzly Bears! We’ll have a full-day, heading across by boat to a picturesque inlet, where guides will take us to purpose-built viewing platforms. We hope for great close-up views as the bears walk the banks, or down the middle of the river, scanning the water for any hint of a fish to chase - then it’s a mad dash, with the occasional bear even being successful!
Days 10-12	It is a long and spectacular drive to Tofino on the west coast and we’ll break the journey to enjoy the astonishing trees of Cathedral Grove and visit a beautiful river to watch Chinook Salmon migrate upstream and leap the falls! From our hotel in Tofino we’ll visit Pacific Rim National Park - lush temperate rainforest, with cushions of moss on branches of towering Hemlocks, vast beaches and the ocean stretching off as far as the eye can see. The forest can be quiet, with Pacific Wren, Steller’s Jay and Chestnut-backed Chickadees often the only birds, but still worth the visit. Beaches may hold flocks of Western Sandpipers, while offshore are Red-necked Grebes, Surf Scoter, Pacific Loons and Marbled Murrelet. We have two exciting boat trips here! We’ll head into Clayoquot Sound for Gray Whales, or Humpbacks if the Gray Whales have left, plus huge Steller’s Sea Lions. The follwing day we’ll search for Sea Otters, hoping for close-up views and some great birding too. Amidst the maze of rocky islets, there’ll be Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorants, Heermann’s Gull, Rhinoceros Auklet and Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatcher and maybe Wandering Tattler.
Days 13-15	We head back to Vancouver, where we overnight in Delta again. On the following day we may have time for another visit to Boundary Bay, before dragging ourselves away for our flight home in the afternoon, arriving in London on Day 15.

Just some of what we hope to see..

Grizzly Bear	California Sealion	Marbled Murrelet
Black Bear	Harbour Seal	Pigeon Guillemot
River Otter	Bald Eagle	Surf Scoter
Sea Otter	Pacific Loon	Heermann’s Gull
Beaver	Western Grebe	Glaucous-winged Gull
Mule Deer	Harlequin	Belted Kingfisher
Orca	Black Oystercatcher	Steller’s Jay
Gray Whale	Black Turnstone	Varied Thrush
Humpback Whale	Surfbird	Townsend’s Warbler
Dall’s Porpoise	Red-necked Phalarope	Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Steller’s Sealion	Rhinoceros Auklet