While most birders would try to avoid hurricanes because many bird species will be hunkered down, other birders actually chase hurricanes!
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Find out more details from Audubon’s report!
How Do Hurricanes Affect Birds?
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Tag Archives: weather
Traveling During Hurricane Season
Although most people will try to avoid visiting the Caribbean during hurricane season, especially if they are birding, sometimes you just can’t avoid it. Maybe you can only find award seats then or you are combining a trip to the Caribbean with a family event or conference. Last year, our trip to Belize in August was a calculated risk so we could stop in California over Labor Day weekend to visit family on the way back to Australia. This also allowed us to get cheaper hotel rooms as we were traveling in the “Green season” but also managed to hit that lull in the rainy season that usually happens in August. Conde Nast has some good links to check for weather advisories and other useful tips.
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Belize has in the past been hit by hurricanes but this is a rare occurence. Most of our trip was inland for birding so my main worry was our flight to BZE being cancelled. People who have diving or beach holidays planned might have other concerns. We lucked out and had beautiful weather for our whole trip…………………but on the flip side, we were also covered by travel insurance just in case!
Weather Or Not You Should Go
This maybe stating the obvious, but as I sit here looking out the window at a torrential downpour in Brisbane, Australia I was missing the Rainbow Lorikeets that come to the Schefflera tree every day. They won’t go out in this weather and chances are NO tourists are either, eco-travelers or otherwise! Wouldn’t it be a shame if you had flown all the way out here from Europe or the USA to this kind of weather?
X Marks the spot of several of my favourite birding locations.
I wouldn’t recommend people come to Australia for birding anyways this time of year because of the school holidays but some people don’t have any choice and have to travel at this time. Should you expect this kind of weather at this time of year? Let’s consult my favourite weather site.
Yes, unfortunately, this is the rainiest time of year.
Rainy Season
If Brisbane and Southeast Queensland are your only destinations in Australia, the best time to come would be from mid Oct-end of November. I am not only considering the weather but school holidays as well which I like to avoid at all costs.
Let’s consider somewhere else. The south of India has fantastic birding and a wonderful culture as well. So when should you go? Type “Kerala ” into the search box, then when it comes up, click on “when best” as shown by the red arrow.
Kerala
Rainy season in Kerala
Now we have a full-on monsoon season. I did travel to Kerala in September 2011 and at least the mornings were nice with rain developing in the afternoon so I wasn’t rained out completely and still got to see lots of birds including Malabar Parakeets! But next time, I would go sometime in March or April. The “best time to travel” takes into account heat as well as rain. I don’t mind the heat so much but no eco-travelers wants to spend thousands of miles on airfare and money on eco-lodges and end up sitting inside all day!
Once again, here are the resources to check when planning your trip.
School Holidays and Public Holidays – You’ll have to Google both “school holidays countryname” and “public holidays countryname” as each country tends to have their own websites. Then put it all together so your trip avoids bad weather, high season and peak season in your own country when award travel might be scarce.