OVERSEA TOURS
2026 - 2028
Ribble Bird Tours will be running an exciting programme of overseas birdwatching holidays through 2026 and 2027, with further expansion expected into 2028 as demand continues to grow. Planned and recent itineraries include long-haul and European adventures such as Texas, Colombia, Florida, New Zealand, Estonia, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Mediterranean regions, offering opportunities to see everything from rare warblers and raptors to seabirds and Arctic specialists. With carefully crafted itineraries, small group sizes, and a focus on high-quality wildlife encounters, Ribble Bird Tours aims to deliver immersive overseas experiences that combine comfort, expertise, and exceptional birding in some of the world’s most diverse habitats.
January 6th - 13th 2027
4 places available
Mediterranean France
A late winter week spent in southern France will include a couple of days in the Camargue wetlands, a day around Mont Ventoux and time in Les Alpilles and La Crau.
We’ll hope to see Wallcreeper, Eagle Owl, Citril Finch, Moustached Warbler, Slender billed Gull, Greater Flamingo, Crag Martin, Alpine Accentor, Southern Grey Shrike, thousands of Common Crane, Blue Rock Thrush, Firecrest, Crested Tit, Bonelli’s Eagle, Booted Eagle and the now quite difficult to find Little Bustard and Pin tailed Sandgrouse among others.
February 8th - 22nd 2027
4 places available
Florida USA
We escape the cold wet UK winter as we spend two week in sunny Florida where we have 3 bases in the Orlando area, the Gulf Coast and around the Everglades NP.
We usually find 170 – 180 species that include Limpkin, Painted Bunting, Burrowing Owl, Short tailed Hawk, Red cockaded Woodpecker, Long billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Snail Kite, Scissor tailed Flycatcher, Ruby throated Hummingbird, Florida Scrub Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, Bald Eagle, Sandhill Crane, Wild Turkey, a number of wintering warblers and a number of wintering waders and wildfowl species.
March 5th – 20th 2027
6 places available
Sri Lanka
A return to wildlife packed Sri Lanka where our last tour yielded an impressive number of birds with in excess of 230 species seen which included all 34 endemic species. There’s other wildlife apart from birds too with Asian Elephant and Sri Lankan Leopard and a number of primates also likely to be seen.
Birds will hopefully include SL Spurfowl, SL Junglefowl, Chestnut backed Owlet, Serendib Scops Owl, Green billed Coucal, Layard’s Parakeet, SL Hanging Parrot, SL Grey Hornbill, SL Small Barbet, Crimson backed Flameback, SL Scaly Thrush, Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Sri Lanka Scimitar – Babbler, Legge’s Flowerpecker and SL Blue Magpie among the endemics along with an array of herons and egrets storks, Bee Eaters galore, birds of prey, waders and plenty more.
Our Sri Lankan local guide is among the very best guides that we’ve ever used overseas and there’s also a local network of local birdwatchers who are up to date where all the species that we’d hope to see are at any one time. A fabulous wildlife packed tour.
May 19th – June 3rd 2027
3 places available
Alaska USA – Anchorage, Barrow, Nome and the Pribilofs
A return to the far north of the USA ( our 5th visit ) where there’ll be an incredible array of wildlife to enjoy on this once in a lifetime adventure. Along with a number of much sought after birds, there’ll be an incredible amount of amazing mammals too. We visit sites around Anchorage, Barrow in the far north, Nome in the west, the Kenai Peninsula and we’ll also hope to visit the remote Pribilof Islands on this tour, which is always subject to favourable weather conditions at the time.
There are a few boat trips on this tour too – for birds and marine mammals. A truly once in a lifetime adventure !! Birds that we’ll hope to see will include Steller’s, Spectacled and King Eiders, Gyrfalcon, Snowy Owl, Snow Goose, Pacific Loon, White billed Loon, numerous shorebirds to include Western, White rumped, Buff breasted, Baird’s, Semi palmated, Stilt Sandpipers and Rock Sandpipers, Red necked and Red ( Grey ) Phalaropes, auks such as Kittlitz’s Murrelet, Marbled Murrelet, Ancient Murrelet, Horned and Tufted Puffins, Least Auklet, Parakeet Auklet and Cassin’s Auklet. There’ll be passerines too and we’ll hope to find Varied Thrush, Golden crowned and Fox Sparrows, McKays Bunting, Grey crowned Rosyfinch and Mountain Bluebird.
We’ll also see a number of mammals that we’ll hope will include Polar Bear, Black Bear, Brown Bear, Orca, Humpback Whale, Beluga, Steller’s Sea Lion, Dall’s Porpoise, Muskox, Moose and Sea Otter.
June 5th – 22nd 2027
6 places available
Mongolia Birds and Mammals plus Snow Leopard extension
An amazing, just over 2 weeks adventure ( with Snow Leopard extension ) that’ll yield an amazing list of birds and mammals as we visit numerous wildlife packed nature reserves, national parks, lakes and mountains in search of birds to include Altai Snowcock, Mongolian Ground Jay, Oriental Plover, Siberian Rubythroat, Mongolian Lark, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Asian Desert Warbler, Daurian Redstart, Relict Gull, White crowned Penduline Tit, Wallcreeper, White naped Crane, Long tailed Rosefinch, Amur Falcon, Small Snowfinch, Stejneger’s Scoter and Demoiselle Crane among many others.
Mammals that we’ll hope to find will include Snow Leopard, Pallas’s Cat, Przewalki’s Horse, Wapiti, Asiatic Wild Ass, Pallas’s Pika, Mongolian Gazelle and numerous squirrels, chipmunks and gerbils.
In the fall 2027
4 places available
New England USA
New England comprises of 6 states in the north east USA – Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire and our tour coincides with Autumn Migration so we can expect a number of warblers, seabirds, shorebirds, larids and other species. We plan a couple of pelagics / boat trips on this tour too for seabirds such as shearwaters, albatrosses, skuas, petrels, auks, seaduck, gulls and terns.
Sites we expect to visit include Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket Island, Acadia NP, the Parker River NWR, Odidorne SP and the Cape Cod seashore among others. <br><br>
Species we hope to see will include Black backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Canada Jay, Rusty Blackbird, Lincoln’s, Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows, Spruce Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Upland Sandpiper, Bobolink and a number of migrating warbler species.
November 20th - 10th December 2028
4 places available
New Zealand – North Island, South Island and Stewart Island
In New Zealand we visit North and South Islands as well as Stewart Island. Kiwis, seabirds, numerous endemics and cetaceans will all feature.
There isn’t a long list of species to be found in New Zealand but a percentage of what is here is found nowhere else in the world and the seabirds are exceptional – it’s definitely up there in the top places to see seabirds on the planet. There’s also non avian interest with a number of cetaceans and pinnipeds likely too.
Among the species that we usually see are NI Brown Kiwi, NZ Pigeon, Variable Oystercatcher, Grey Fantail, Grey Warbler, Tui, White capped Albatross, Black browed Albatross, Northern Royal Albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, Wandering Albatross, Salvin’s Albatross, Pukeko, Wrybill, Fluttering and Flesh footed Shearwaters, Red billed Gull, Black billed Gull, NZ Storm Petrel, NZ Dotterel, Morepork, Little Blue Penguin, Yellow eyed Penguin, Takahe, Wrybill, Bellbird, Rifleman, Grey Warbler, NZ Pipit and plenty more and there’s bound to be a number of cetaceans too as we have a few pelagic trips on this tour.