Welcome to our web site!

In 2008 we celebrate our 12th year. During last year a record number of guests enjoyed our holidays and some excellent bird watching increased the Bird List to 180. The reason why we have become so successful is that Mid Wales Birdwatching Holidays offer a unique combination of:

1) a rich variety of birdlife throughout the year.

2) a wide range of beautiful coastal and inland scenery.

3) small escorted groups.

4) a local and experienced leader.

5) flexibility of booking. You can choose when you would like to come and for how long.

6) minimal time spent travelling to and from our birdwatching locations in a comfortable Land Rover.

7) as much or as little walking as you want. The emphasis is on relaxed birdwatching.

8) excellent en suite accommodation in a small, country hotel offering good food, comfort and hospitality.

9) very reasonable prices and no single supplements.

10) birdwatching beginners welcomed.

11) the option of arriving by express coach or train.

12) our holidays can be arranged as presents and gift vouchers can be purchased.

"We feel that we had excellent value, both from our accommodation and from your own expertise. We have every intention of returning next year." Mr & Mrs P (Suffolk).

"It was a fantastic week which I shall never forget." Miss F (Herts).

Details of all aspects of Mid Wales Birdwatching Holidays are contained on the various pages of our web site. (See contents list on the left hand side or bottom of this page.) We hope you enjoy exploring the site. Do give us a call if you need more information, or if you would like to receive a brochure, or if you would like to make a booking!

Our phone number is 01970 890281 or you can e-mail us at johndavis@midwalesbirdwatching.co.uk

HOLIDAY SUMMARY

We are based near Devil's Bridge in northern Ceredigion. This part of Wales must be one of the most picturesque, unspoilt and thinly populated parts of southern Britain. Our holiday packages include accommodation, meals and escorted birdwatching. John is the group leader and organises birdwatching days with as much or as little walking as people wish. He has known the area since his youth and now enjoys sharing it with his guests and helping them find and identify its special birds.


We do not operate to set dates. This means that you are free to select periods of up to a week or longer and at any time of the year.

Alternatively you could enquire as to when groups are being formed and join one of those, on dates convenient to you. Since we started, groups have been organised during every month of the year.

Groups may be made up of couples or individuals who booked separately. In those instances we always try to ensure compatibility in terms of birdwatching experience, walking and so on. We usually operate with groups of up 6 people. Larger parties, from bird clubs or groups of friends, can be arranged.

Small groups ensure that everyone has a good opportunity to see all the birds and, importantly, be able to identify them from their appearance, behaviour, calls or song.

Birdwatching beginners are especially welcome.

"Thank you for another wonderful week of birds, walking and great scenery. I enjoyed every bit of our time together and learnt a lot more." Mr. C (Berkshire).

"This was my first time on a birding holiday and I was impressed with the range of birds and habitats which I visited and also the relaxed way each day was run. There was always plenty of time to see all the birds, in fact I managed 91 as a holiday total. The chance to see so many Red Kites close up was also magnificent." Miss C (Cheshire).

Travel to local birdwatching locations is undertaken in a Land Rover, specifically insured for our birdwatching passengers.

Our prices include all meals, accommodation and escorted birdwatching.

Mid Wales Birdwatching a small-scale, friendly business. Our overheads are low. Consequently we can offer very competitively priced, good value holidays with excellent accommodation and cuisine.

With small groups we can realistically attempt to meet the individual requirements and preferences of our clients, some of whom have returned for a second, third and even a fourth birding holiday with us, and some have come twice in the same year!

Every couple or individual who book a holiday with us are given:

1) a holiday check-list of birds

2) a post-holiday report summarising the bird watching highlights and all the places visited

3) a current edition of the annual Ceredigion Bird Report

Four and five day breaks are commonly booked, but if you are considering a longer break we can assure you that such is the variety of scenery and birdlife in the immediate vicinity,up to seven days or more can be enjoyed with each day spent in different types of coastal and inland countryside.

A MID WALES BIRDWATCHING HOLIDAY AS A GIFT
We have been asked to organise several holidays as presents for peoples' friends and relatives.
If this is of interest to you please get in touch and together we can arrange a special gift on your behalf.
Alternatively we can provide Holiday Gift Vouchers.

ARRIVING BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
At a time of increasing environmental concerns, more of our guests are arriving by public transport.
There are 2 options:
1) The reliable National Express coach service from London to Aberystwyth, with stops at places such as Birmingham and Shrewsbury, delivers our guests to the hotel in Ponterwyd in good time for their first evening meal. It then collects them after breakfast on their last day.
2) Guests arriving by train on the service from Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury are collected at Aberystwyth station.
Guests arriving by car can relax in the knowledge that their vehicles will remain dormant until the end of their holiday and that the group will be travelling in our vehicle. With the diversity of bird life and habitats in the locality, our driving is reasonably limited.

SOME PERSONAL DETAILS
John has known Ceredigion for most of his life and he returned to Wales many years ago after a period of work in England. There, most of his bird-watching was enjoyed by the Blackwater estuary. He was a very regular visitor to the RSPB's Old Hall Marshes reserve and was a volunteer warden at the adjacent ENT Tollesbury Wick reserve. For several years he wrote Country Diary articles for two local newspapers and was a sub-editor of The Essex Bird report.
Now, together with the County Bird Recorder, John is the Ceredigion correspondent for the monthly 'Bird Watching' magazine and is a sub-editor of the annual Ceredigion Bird Report.

"We have such happy memories of our time with you and thank you for all the trouble you took to accommodate two 'oldies'. My memories are of the special moments and the pleasure of being in such an astonishingly beautiful countryside." Mr and Mrs B (Suffolk).

"Thank you for taking us to see such a variety of lovely birds in the peaceful Welsh countryside. We really did enjoy ourselves and have brought home a lot of happy memories. It really was a holiday with a difference". Mr and Mrs T (W. Yorks).