Washington State in Spring 2019
| Registration |
Rick Bowers leads
Dates: 12-19 May 2018
This tour can be combined with our Pacific Pelagic Cruise.
Washington State in May offers an amazing variety of birds and habitats to experience. From huge numbers of shorebirds along coastal waterways, to Sooty Grouse displaying amidst dark mountain forests, or colorful woodpeckers drumming from treetops and the majestic Mt. Rainier awakening from its winter slumber, Washington in Spring has something for everyone.
Our tour starts on the majestic Olympic Peninsula among rugged snow capped peaks. On Hurricane Ridge we’ll search for Sooty Grouse, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Red Crossbill, Varied Thrush, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. In the lowlands along the shores of Puget Sound we will look at shorebirds, ducks and gulls.
Red-breasted Sapsucker
The Hoh Rainforest, the largest temperate rain forest in North America, will be our next stop. Among impossibly green, magnificently moss-laden trees we’ll search for secretive Pacific Wrens. Hooded and Common Mergansers and Belted Kingfisher along magnificent rivers, Gray and Steller’s Jays, Hairy Woodpecker and Roosevelt Elk in the surrounding forests.
As we continue south along the Pacific Coast, migration is likely to be in full swing. Among massive numbers of migrating shorebirds of most west coast species we’ll search for shorebird and gull rarities. Inland, high pitched buzzy songs of recently arrived Townsend’s Warblers busy setting up territories duel with harmonic songs of Varied Thrushes echoing across the landscape.
“Sooty” Fox Sparrow
We finish our circuit in the shadows of Mt. Rainier. In addition to stunning scenery, we should find Sooty Grouse (hopefully displaying!), Clark’s Nutcracker, Chestnut-backed and Mountain Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Join us for Spring in Washington’s vivid green kingdom of magnificent scenery and wonderful birds!
TOUR ITINERARY
Day 1, May 12 – This morning we say goodbye to Star Princess and take the shuttle down to SEATAC Airport. Those not continuing on to Washington State in Spring will fly out and the rest of us will travel by van to the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. We will make a few birding stops along the way before our arrival in Sequim in the late afternoon. If time allows we will bird some of the Olympic National Forest. Night Sequim.
Day 2, May 13 – The Olympic Peninsula. This morning we will visit the Olympic National Forest in search of our first forest birds. Sooty Grouse, American Dipper, Varied Thrush, Pacific Wren and Townsend’s Warbler are a few of the commoner birds we will search for on the steep fir-hemlock-cedar clad forest slopes.
Sooty Grouse displaying.
In the afternoon we will visit Ediz Spit in search of shore and marine birds. Harlequin Duck, scoters, Red-necked and Western Grebes, Black Oystercatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Glaucous-winged Gull, loons, Pelagic and Brandt’s Cormorants and shorebirds are some of our targets. Night Sequin.
Day 3, May 14 – Today we visit the World Famous Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. Starting near sea level we slowly work our way through sub alpine forest up to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor’s Center at just over a mile above sea level.
In the fir and hemlock forest we will look for many of the same birds as yesterday morning. Hammond’s and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Gray and Steller’s Jays, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, all three nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Evening Grosbeak.
Higher still, above tree line, the last stunted firs give way to tundra. Olive-sided Flycatcher, Cliff Swallow, American Pipit, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, and Olympic Marmot view for our attention among the snow banks. Night Port Angeles.
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Day 3, May 15 – This morning we work our way west along the north shore of the Olympic Peninsula on our way to Ocean Shores on the Pacific. If time allows we will stop at La Push for fantastic views of the Washington coastline.
Along the way we will make several stops looking for forest as well as marine birds. One of the first stops will be at Ruby Beach. Here the Sooty race of Fox Sparrow is fairly common. In the surf we may find scoters and Sea Otters. We’ll make other stops at overlooks to find all three scoter species as well as Harlequin Duck. Our last stop of the day will be at the Hoh Rain Forest. Up to 170 inches of rain falls here annually and accordingly EVERYTHING is covered in moss! Night Ocean Shores.
Day 4, May 16 – This morning we will do some sea watching for Brant, Harlequin Duck, scoters, Mergansers, and loons. The inlet into North Bay is usually very active with birds flying in and out of the bay constantly. After our fill of sea watching we will move to the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge for lots of ducks and shorebirds. Then on to Westport to check the surrounding waters. Night Ocean Shores.
Day 5, May 17 – This morning we will check any last spots along the coast and say goodbye to the Pacific Ocean and head inland to Mt. Rainier National Park. We arrive in the afternoon and do our first exploration of this massive mountain. The ancient, dark forests at the base of the mountain make for fun birding as our targets duck and weave under and around moss laden branches and through small bogs. Night near Mt. Rainier National Park.
Day 6, May 18 – All day today we will explore Mt. Rainier. Depending on snow conditions we may or may not be able to reach the visitor’s center. This mountain is so massive that it makes its own weather so you never know what to expect. Rain, shine, or snow we will explored the forests for Barred Owl, Sooty Grouse, woodpeckers, flycatchers, Varied Thrush, and Pacific Wren. Night near Mt. Rainier National Park.
Pacific Wren in its normal habitat – the dark understory.
Day 7, May 19 – A final morning around Mt Rainier will be devoted to cleaning up any species that have eluded us thus far. Mid morning we will return to SEATAC airport for our flights home contented and filled with memories of a grand adventure in Washington!
TOUR INFORMATION
This tour is limited to a maximum of six participants with one leader, twelve with two leaders!
WASHINGTON IN SPRING TOUR COSTS
TOUR COST: Tour – $1895.00 Single Supplement – $390.00
All amounts quoted are in U.S. Dollars. The cost of this trip, based on a minimum group size of five, is $1895.00 from Seatac Airport, Seattle, Washington. If the final group is less than five participants, a small group supplement may be charged.
REGISTRATION: A deposit of $395.00 and completed registration form are required to confirm space. Without these, no one is considered registered. Registrations are taken on a first-come first-served basis with priority based on the postmark date.
COST INCLUDES: Accommodations based on two persons sharing a two bedded room. We select good hotels convenient to our birding destinations. For single rooms a single supplement will be charged. We try to supply roommates when possible, but we can’t always find one. If we can not find you a roommate, you will be charged the added cost of single accommodations. Meals as outlined in the group itinerary. All transportation, including internal segments described in the itinerary. Transportation may be by private or chartered car, station wagon, van or bus, canoe, boat or ferry. Taxes & Local Fees. All group admissions, park entry fees and access fees are included in the tour price.
COST DOES NOT INCLUDE: Not included are transportation to or from Seattle, Washington, excursions not included in the itinerary, laundry, personal tips, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, juices, mineral waters and other beverages away from included meals, room service charges, souvenirs, insurance of any kind, telephone calls and use of TV not included in the room rate and overweight baggage fees.
MEAL COSTS: Only meals indicated in the itinerary are included in the cost of this tour (included hotel breakfasts.) Because a person can eat quite well for as little as $25 per day or they can choose to spend three or four times that amount for a single day, depending upon your choices, we do not include meals where we cannot control the costs. NatureScape Tours has a policy of NOT overcharging one person to cover another’s POTENTIAL meal choices—which we would have to do if all meals were budgeted into the cost of this tour.
TIPS: All expected gratuities encountered during your tour (restaurant wait staff, luggage porters, bus drivers and local guides) is included in the cost of your tour. However, if you feel your NatureScape Tours leader, local guide or lodge personnel have given you exceptional service, it is perfectly suitable for you to bestow any gratuity you elect. We strongly stress that such tips are completely optional and solely at your discretion.
DATE OF COST QUOTATION: December 1, 2018
We can only quote current costs. Tour planning begins more than a year before the tour runs. While we try to arrive at our best estimates, we can’t predict fluctuation of currency exchange rates, increases in hotel or vehicle rates outside of our negotiated contracts, etc. Therefore, we reserve the right to increase the tour cost when there are justifiable reasons. However, we make a sincere effort to arrive at the closest possible estimate and have even absorbed small increases at times to avoid raising tour costs to participants. Many of our suppliers have gone to surcharges in their contracts with NatureScape Tours as a means to offset the uncertainties inherent in such long distance planning. The two most prevalent are:
FUEL: In today’s volatile oil market, it’s difficult, nay, impossible, to accurately project fuel costs into the distant future. Prices for our tours are based upon fuel rates reasonably expected at the time of your tour’s start. While NatureScape Tours does everything possible to maintain the quoted price of your tour, with a dramatic shift in fuel prices, it may be necessary to charge a fuel surcharge. If such a surcharge is levied, every effort will be made to minimize the cost passed along to you. In almost all cases, these are additional charges being assessed NatureScape Tours by our service suppliers and vendors who have exercised their right, under their contracts with NatureScape Tours, to increase prices caused by substantial changes in their cost of fuel.
EXCHANGE RATES: As with oil, it’s impossible, to accurately project foreign currency exchange rates into the distant future. Prices for our tours are based upon the rate of exchange reasonably expected at the time of your tour’s start. While NatureScape Tours does everything possible to maintain the quoted price of your tour, with a dramatic shift in exchange rates, it may be necessary to charge a surcharge. If such a surcharge is levied, every effort will be made to minimize the cost passed along to you. In almost all cases, these are additional charges being assessed NatureScape Tours by our service suppliers and vendors who have exercised their right, under their contracts with NatureScape Tours, to increase prices caused by substantial changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
PLEASE NOTE: In more than 30 years of running tours, we’ve NEVER had to assess an additional charge or surcharge to a client. We feel strongly that our staff’s careful planning and negotiation will continue our unblemished record.
UNANTICIPATED COSTS: Rarely we have had unexpected costs. Cancellation of a flight or train has required staying in a hotel an extra night, hiring vehicles for extra excursions and other services. At times schedule changes or route changes have been necessary. If such changes are proposed and accepted by participants, it is with the understanding that they accept the obligation to pay any extra unanticipated costs.
On all of our tours, participants are responsible for any extra expenses incurred from deviations to our scheduled tour itinerary which result from events out of our control (additional hotel nights, transfers and transportation by air, water or ground). During Spring in the western states this could be a rare weather related event, or could be a result of flight or rail cancellations, labor strikes, acts of God and the like.
TOUR CANCELLATION: Our cancellation policy is generous, but because we negotiate with each of our providers and have contracted payment dates with them, to cover the work and expense of handling registrations and canceling them, $250.00 will be deducted from payments received if we are notified in writing at least 121 days before departure date. Payments made on your behalf to purchase nonrefundable tickets may result in the loss of that cost should you decide to cancel. In some cases, if you can find a replacement to take your spot, we can change the name on the tickets for a much smaller cost. In such cases, the difference would be refunded to you provided enough notice has been given. Fees deducted for later cancellations are: 120 days before departure date, due to contractual obligations with our hotels, trains, bus and van rentals, boat charters and other costs where we have contracted payment dates there can be no refunds for cancellations within 120 days prior to our departure. Some participants have lost substantial sums when illness or other circumstances prevented them from taking a tour. Therefore, we advise you to buy trip cancellation insurance which may reimburse the entire unrecovered amount if it becomes necessary for you to cancel your participation.
UNUSED PORTIONS OF A TOUR: We can’t offer refunds for unused portions of a tour unless agreed to before the tour. If you fail to show up or meet the tour regardless of the reason, we are under no obligation to provide any refund. Trip cancellation insurance may reimburse losses if you must leave a tour early for illness or other valid reason.
COMPLETION OF PAYMENT: Foreign travel agents, hotels, tour and boat operators, etc. require advance payment. We can offer better rates on our tours because of contracted payment dates and your cooperation helps avoid problems with your arrangements. For this tour we require final payment to be received in our office by February 13, 2019.