Sunday 31st August – Sunday 7th September 2008

A short distance off the coast of North Africa, and belonging to Spain, the Canary Islands are Europe’s own little version of the Galapagos. Volcanic in origin we will be visiting three islands that not only offer spectacular scenery with habitats ranging from stark semi-desert to lush green laurel forest and craggy coasts, they also hold all the endemics species, plus good numbers of endemic sub-species and a selection of sought-after seabirds.

Tenerife:Tenerife: is home to the highest mountain peak in Spain, Teide at 3,700 m. We will look for many of the distinctive races of birds that occur here as well as the two endemic pigeons, Bolle`s Pigeon and Laurel Pigeon.

Fuerteventura: the most arid of the three islands with rolling plains, sand dunes and desert habitats, is unique for the Canary Island Chat, and other interesting species that include Houbara Bustard, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Barbary Partridge, Cream-Coloured Courser, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Spectacled Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike and Trumpeter Finch.

La Gomera: a small island where the original laurel forest remains well conserved is also superb for the ferry trip which may find us seabirds such as Bulwer’s Petrel, Little Shearwater and often dolphins and Pilot Whales.

This is an ideal birding tour for anyone who has visited the majority of other European destinations and is searching for something ‘a little different’, and is only a couple of hours flying time from the UK. If you want to top up your list with a group of endemics and some highly-prized seabirds, then this is the holiday for you!