Our wide assortment of birding destinations world-wide means that WINGS deals with a large number of ground agents and local leaders–and an equally broad array of world currencies. As most of you know, the past months have seen significant fluctuations in international exchange rates; happily for WINGS clients, the trend at the moment is towards a stronger and more stable dollar.

Please note that at invoicing we recalculate the prices of all of our international tours, notably including those organized by our British company, Sunbird. We use the exchange rate in effect on the date of invoicing, meaning that–if the current trend continues–our prices will actually be lower, in some cases signficantly lower, than the prices originally published in summer 2008.

For example, the WINGS website, relying on the exchange rate in effect in July, would show a price of about $8,000 for a tour costing GPB 4,000–but if we were to invoice that same tour today, using the current exchange rate, the actual invoiced cost to our clients would be more like $6,240.

Obviously, given the day-to-day variation in exchange rates, we cannot continuously post new tour prices on the WINGS website. But rest assured that any advantages of exchange rate will be passed along when your tour is invoiced.

Ornithomedia reports the discovery of a “significant” colony of Ivory Gulls in Siberia’s Kara Sea. The birds were found on the Geiberg Islands, in the Vilkitski Strait between Severnaya Zemlya and the Taimyr Peninsula. There’s no word yet on how large this new colony is, but with a rapidly declining population estimated at only about 11,000 pairs, this charismatic species needs every bit of help it can get.

This adult Ivory Gull was a highlight of our 2007 tour to Newfoundland; we’ve also encountered the species at Gambell.  Photo: Bruce Mactavish.

Tayler Brooks is the recipient of a WINGS-sponsored scholarship to attend the Puget Sound Bird Observatory’s 2008 Cascades Banding Camp. Tayler is a recent high school graduate and an alumna of Seattle Audubon’s admirable BirdWatch program for young birders.

Congratulations to Tayler, and who knows, maybe we’ll hear more about her experiences here on The Wingbeat!