Trip
Information
Tour
Dates: April 19 - 30, 2010 (12 days)
Tour Leaders: Lucy
Chang & Richard Knapton
Price: $4095 USD, $4465 CDN
Single supplement $440 USD, $475 CDN
Tour starts and ends in London
Highlights:
• Acclaimed gardens with varied designs and styles in the green rolling
English countryside, and excellent birding in the well-established
network of nature reserves and national parks that occur across England.
•
April is a delightful month to be in England; mild and pleasant, fine
evenings. The start of the breeding season for birds, and delightful
spring & early summer flowers in gardens.
Featured Birds:
• Pied Avocet
• Eurasian Dipper
• Dartford Warbler
• Pied Flycatcher
• Gray Wagtail
• Cetti's Warbler
• Eurasian Stonechat
Featured Gardens:
• Kew Gardens
• Great Dixter
• Lost Gardens of Heligan
• Leonardslee
• Abbey Garden
• Wisley RHS
• Sissinghurst
Trip Summary:
• Mild, pleasant weather
• Tour price includes all meals, accommodation, entrance fees, and transport
while on the tour
• Helicopter flight between Tresco and Penzance
• Easy to moderate walking, short drives, comfortable vehicles; one long
drive.
• 6 to 12 participants with two leaders
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This
unique, double-themed tour combines birding and gardens in a delightful
part of the world,
southern England, at a very enchanting time of year, in late April. We
visit some of the finest gardens in a country where gardening is a way
of life - from the renowned World Heritage Site, the Royal Botanical
Gardens at Kew to the horticultural seat at Wisley, Christopher Lloyd's
Great Dixter, the garden rooms at Sissinghurst as well as rhododendron-famed
Leonardslee, the Castle gardens at Hestercombe and Caerhays, the rediscovered
gardens of Heligan and Tresco's amazing Abbey Garden. We wend our way
through the southern coastal counties of England, from Kent through Sussex
and Hampshire to Devon and Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly. We blend
our garden visits with stops at several productive and rewarding nature
reserves, RSPBs and National Parks, from Dungeness in Kent to Arne, Radipole
Lake and Portland Bill in Dorset, and Dartmoor and Marazion in Devon
and Cornwall. We will see a fine cross section of England’s birdlife:
Bearded Reedlings and Eurasian Shelduck in wetlands, Gray Wagtails and
European Dippers along waterways, Eurasian Hobby over heathland, nesting
seabirds at Portland Bill, and Dartford Warbler in furze stands or possibly
Woodlark in newly regenerating forest. A very special and exciting tour
led by experts in both gardens and birds!
See detailed itinerary
below.
Click
here to download a registration form
Click
here to download a list of species from our 2007 England Birds
and Gardens Tour (172 KB PDF).
Click here to download
a list of species from our 2005 England Birds and Gardens Tour. |
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival
Our Tour begins after dinner in the lobby of our hotel near Heathrow
where our leaders will meet the group to discuss the upcoming trip
and the next day’s activities.
Day 2: Kew RBG and Wisley RHS
Our first garden visit is to the recently proclaimed World Heritage
Site, the RBG at Kew, 300 acres of themed gardens, special collections
and wildlife trails. In spring, literally millions of spring bulbs
adorn the gardens and woods, including the last burst of displays of
bluebells, trees in blossom, wonderful shows of rhododendrons and azaleas,
and spring bedding displays. In the Cherry Walk, thousands of scillas
planted beneath its trees can be stunning, along with the total of
more than 900,000 wild daffodils, crocuses and snake’s head fritillaries
planted between the Lilac Garden and the Magnolia Collection. Kew is
a major scientific research centre, with ongoing investigation into
plant conservation issues worldwide; currently, one of the most exciting
sights is a tree, the Wollemi Pine, thought to be extinct for 2 million
years but recently discovered alive and well and thriving in Australia.
Fewer than 100 of these magnificent trees survive in their secret location
in New South Wales, and a propagation programme ensures the survival
of the species and lessens the threat to trees in the wild. Wollemi
Pine was known from fossil records dating back 90 million years; the
discovery has been equated with finding a dinosaur alive today. Our
stroll through woodlands and along the well-reeded ponds at Kew should
turn up several woodland birds, including Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers,
and waterbirds such as Mandarin Duck, Tufted Duck and such oddities
as Egyptian Goose.
In the afternoon, we visit the Royal Horticultural Society’s
garden at Wisely. Wisley is reputedly Britain’s best loved garden
with 97ha (240 acres) offering a fascinating blend of the beautiful
with practical and innovative designs and cultivation techniques. For
many, it is the beauty and tranquility of the garden that captures
the imagination, with its richly planted borders, luscious rose gardens
and the exotica of the glasshouses, but a closer look reveals the real
value of Wisley. In the trials fields, the finest flowers and vegetables
are identified from the countless new introductions. Elsewhere in the
garden, cultivation techniques, such as composting or pleaching, are
tried and tested, and a series of model gardens answers the needs of
a variety of planting conditions and circumstances. Night in Kent.
Day 3: Dungeness Nature Reserve and Great Dixter
Kent hosts several excellent nature reserves, protecting marshland,
rich deciduous woodlands, shallow lakes and ponds. This morning we
visit Dungeness, one of the oldest nature reserves in England, established
in 1929. Wetland areas support breeding Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank,
colourful Yellow Wagtails, and birds of prey such as Eurasian Kestrel
and Western Marsh Harriers. Waterfowl include Greylag Goose, the ancestral
species for domesticated geese. Reedbeds hold Reed and Sedge Warblers
and Common Reed Bunting. Brushy areas echo to the songs of Greater
and Lesser Whitethroats, Garden Warbler and Yellowhammer, whilst ponds
lure Little Egret, Pied Avocet, Great Crested Grebe and Common Terns.
There are several hides here, and from these we should locate Little
Grebe, Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel and parties
of Barn and Bank Swallows. The area around the lighthouse is a noted
area for Black Redstart and Northern Wheatear, and migrants and overshoots
from nearby Europe, and we may be lucky enough to locate a few specialties.
In the afternoon, we visit Great Dixter, the family home of the late
renowned gardener and author Christopher Lloyd. The garden is planted
around the medieval buildings, with the arrangement of colours, forms
and texture of the plants so well orchestrated that house and garden
appear as a beautiful painting. Bring lots of film - although you may
be too entranced to take pictures! Night in Kent.
Day 4: Sissinghurst and Leonardslee
In the morning, we visit the garden at Sissinghurst Castle. The 'garden
rooms' style of plantings is one of the most described and emulated
in the British Isles. It was the joint creation of poet and writer
Vita Sackville-West and her diplomat husband Harold Nicholson. Their
work transformed the ruins of this Elizabethan mansion into a remarkable
must-see garden. The White Garden, the Purple Garden, the Rose Garden,
the Herb Garden, the Lime Walk, and the Cottage Garden - scent and
colours to be personally savoured.
April should see stunning displays of rhododendrons and azaleas, and
nowhere is this more prominent than at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens.
Home of the Loder family and famous for Rhododendron loderii, the Loder
Garden walk is essential for the rhododendron enthusiast. A feast of
colours and aromas! Night in Sussex.
Day 5: Thursley Common and the New Forest
In the afternoon, we head south through Hampshire and the New Forest,
an area of pasture, woodland and heaths and noted particularly for
breeding raptors. Time permitting, we may detour to Thursley Common
in Surrey, a traditional English heath and bog with adjacent birch
and oak wood. Our main interest is locating the enigmatic Dartford
Warbler, as well as Common Redstart, Woodlark and hunting Eurasian
Hobby. Night in Dorset.
Day 6: Cranborne Manor Gardens & Compton Acres
Cranborne Manor Garden was originally laid out by John Tradescent senior,
the famous botanist, garden architect, plant hunter and Keeper of the
King's Garden. We hope to catch the spring bulbs, wild orchids and
wildlfowers in the meadows. The yew alleys and tree-lined avenues provide
enjoyable walks to the various gardens.
We next visit the gardens at Compton Acres, landscaped to provide magnificent
vistas over Poole Harbour. The wooded valleys nurture tender plant
species for year round interest, and the landscape includes both Italian
and Japanese Gardens. Night in Dorset.
Day 7: The Arne peninsula, Radipole Lake and Portland Bill
This morning we visit the RSPB’s excellent wildlife sites at
Radipole Lake, Portland Bill and Arne. Arne is a fine stand of pines
and heathland alongside Poole Harbour, and is a very rich area for
birds, including Dartford, Wood and Sedge Warblers, Common Shelduck
and Little Egrets, and we will walk the easy trails through the woodland
with its huge population of Sika Deer. Radipole Lake is renowned for
its breeding populations of Bearded Reedlings and Cetti’s Warblers,
which we will certainly hear, and with luck see clearly. Portland Bill
is a peninsula jutting out into the English Channel, and is a prime
location for migrants and for passing seabirds; it also has nesting
Common Murres, Razorbills, Northern Fulmars and Peregrines. We then
head off to our next county, Devon. Night in Devon.
Day 8: Dartmoor
Today we visit the RSPB site at Yarner Woods on Dartmoor, an area of
riparian woodland and heathland that supports Lesser and Great Spotted
Woodpeckers, Stonechat and a good variety of other species including
Eurasian Dipper, Gray Wagtail, and Pied Flycatcher. We also take a
drive onto the heather-covered upland moorland of Dartmoor, where Eurasian
Curlews, Common Buzzard, Whinchats, Northern Wheatears and Ring Ouzels
nest. Night in Cornwall.
Day 9: Abbey Gardens, Isles of Scilly
Barring adverse weather, we fly by helicopter to the island of Tresco
in the Isles of Scilly, to visit the Abbey Garden. Due to its unique
geographic location, the Abbey Garden is able to nurture a diversity
of plants greater than that of the Southern Mediterranean. Expect to
see date-palms, giant, lipstick-red flame trees, Lobster Claws, pelargoniums
... a global horticultural tour encapsulated into just 17 acres.
Alternatively, if we cannot visit Tresco, we will visit Trebah with
its ravine setting for glades of tree ferns, hydrangeas and rare species,
down to a private beach on the Helford River. Night in Cornwall.
Days 10 and 11: Lost Gardens of Heligan, Caerhay's Castle Gardens and
Hestercombe
Considered to be Europe’s largest garden restoration project,
the Lost Gardens of Heligan are fascinating because of their “lost
and found” saga. The fact that the product of a team of 100 gardeners
of a once great estate could so quickly fall into ruins, but then be
rediscovered and restored like a giant garden puzzle, makes for a great
garden mystery story. Here you will learn the Victorian way of growing
pineapples in an alien habitat! The walks through the woodlands and
meadows are pleasant and often filled with birds.
Caerhay's Castle gardens house the national collection of magnolias
which we may catch in full bloom still in early May. It is also a showcase
of spring bulbs and other ornamental flowering trees and shrubs, as
well as parkland and woodland walks.
On our return to London, we drop in to Hestercombe House. In the 18th
century, a Georgian landscape garden was laid out, containing ponds,
a grand cascade, a gothic alcove, a Tuscan temple arbour, a mausoleum,
and a rustic "witch house". A new Edwardian garden was laid
out by Gertrude Jeckyll and Edwin Luytens in the early 1900s. The gardens
cover more than 40 acres and with three different styles of garden
ranging from woodland walks to lakes and ponds to formal gardens
We then drive back towards London in the afternoon of Day 11. Day 10;
Night in Cornwall; Day 11; Night near Heathrow.
Day 12: Departure
Our tour ends after breakfast in time for catching flights back home.
What To Expect
Driving distances
will usually be short, with a couple of longish drives as we travel
east – west. Walking will be mostly relatively
easy and leisurely, with moderate walks at Yarner Woods and Portland
Bill. Comfortable walking shoes will be fine. The weather should be
mild and pleasant, but it can be cool and windy, and we can expect
rain at some time during the tour so an umbrella or waterproof clothing
is recommended. The excellent system of nature reserves in England
should ensure a good list of species of birds and other wildlife, and
we make good use of them, concentrating on the specialties in each.
Our visits to gardens will be relaxed and we should have ample time
to appreciate each one.
Each evening, the list of birds and other wildlife will be reviewed,
and plans for the next day will be discussed.
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