For those of us who work in birding travel, the storm clouds are clearing, and we’re getting a glimpse of sunshine again! The entire ecotourism industry is breathing a huge sigh of relief as we carefully reinstitute birding travel once again after a long hiatus. COVID-19 brought travel in the US and abroad to a halt across the globe for more than a year, and although we’re not completely out of the woods yet, the fog is finally lifting.
Bird Watcher’s Digest’s Reader Rendezvous birding tours had a tough year in 2020, as did most travel companies. We canceled one tour and rescheduled all the rest. We weren’t sure when we’d be able to travel again, so we didn’t plan any new tours until we knew it was safe to do so. And the good news is, now it is safe to travel again to most places and using COVID-safe practices.
We are pleased to announce that we’ve launched eight new tours for 2021 and 2022, and all our rescheduled tours are now revised and back on the calendar! Thanks to Hope Eller, our new event coordinator, and the support of our awesome team at Bird Watcher’s Digest, we’ve got a whole host of safe, healthy, and exciting new birding tours planned for 2021 and 2022. And we invite YOU to join us!
Our Upcoming Tours
Here is a complete list of our Reader Rendezvous birding tours through September 2022. We’ve already hosted three successful tours this year, and we’re excited to go full throttle in the coming months with great birds, guides, destinations, and as always, great people!
- Falling for the New River Gorge: September 22–26, 2021
- Cape A-MAY-zing: September 30–October 4, 2021
- Hawk Mountain Rendezvous: October 21–25, 2021
- New Mexico, Part I: November 29–December 4, 2021
- New Mexico, Part II: December 5–10, 2021
- Colombia Women’s Tour: December 6–13, 2021
- SoCal Winter Getaway: January 13–18, 2022
- Ever-Birdy Everglades: January 26–31, 2022
- Birding Southern Costa Rica: March 1–9, 2022
- Sweet Home Alabama, Dauphin Island Style: April 18–23, 2022
- Birding Bodacious Big Bend: April 26–May 3, 2022
- Tremendous Tawas, Part I: May 11–15, 2022
- Tremendous Tawas, Part II: May 18–22, 2022
- Australia: BT3 Bucket List Rendezvous: August 28–September 12, 2022
If you’d like to learn more about our tours and what makes them unique, check out Part 1 of our three-part Reader Rendezvous podcast series on Out There with the Birds. Follow up with Part 2 and Part 3, for stories about how the tours began, some of our favorite moments, what we do, who is involved, and interviews with past Rendezvous-ers.
What’s It Like to Bird with Us?
Check out this short video with attendees from our recent tour to Asheville, North Carolina, in April of this year.
Whether you’re a brand-new birder or a well-traveled veteran, our Reader Rendezvous birding tours are for EVERYONE. We hope you’ll invite a friend and consider joining us for an upcoming birding tour in 2021 or 2022. We’ll show you fantastic birds and beautiful landscapes, experience amazing food and culture, and we’ll have a great time together, too.
Remember, birding is better with friends, so visit our website, learn more, and sign up today!
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