Canary,
Azores, and Madeira Islands Specialities
Photo copyright Sjaak
Schilperoort
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Photo copyright Cursorius
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Photo copyright Hennig
Feddes
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Photo copyright Nick
Lowton
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Photo copyright Sjaak
Schilperoort
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Photo copyright Nick
Lowton
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Photo copyright Cursorius
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Photo copyright Nick
Lowton
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Photo copyright Sjaak
Schilperoort
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Photo copyright Jeff
Blincow
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Photo copyright Henning
Feddes
Photo copyright Paul
and Andrea Kelly
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Photo copyright Cursorius
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....Birds
of the Canary Islands - Lying in the North Atlantic about
100km
off the coast of Morocco the Canaries are a group of seven main islands,
volcanic in nature and varied in terrain that hold several endemic species
and subspecies. Now one of the most popular destinations for North European
tourists in search of winter warmth they are ideal for a birding holiday
at any time of year.
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....Printable
Canary Islands Checklists - the following downloadable
WORD
file bird checklists are available from this site.
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....World
Heritage Site in Canary Islands - Garajonay National Park, on
the World Heritage List
since 1986, is the only Spanish area of nature to have received this distinction
so far. It lies in the centre, ie, the highest part, of La Gomera Island
in the Canaries and was created in order to protects its large bay-tree
forests.
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....Latest
News from Abroad - this commercial site provides up-dated
details about birdwatching
sites abroad. All of these sites are described fully, with detailed maps,
in a series of books entitled `Finding Birds in...' (sometimes referred
to as Gostours guides). These notes are intended to supplement the books
to provide the most complete and up-to-date service possible. Notes are
available on the Canary
Islands.
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....Birding
the Azores - taken from Where
to Watch Birds in Africa
- by Nigel Wheatley. "This
archipelago of nine islands in the North Atlantic, due west of Purtugal,
hosts some inportant seabird colonies, including over 50% of the Western
Palearctic population of Roseate Terns, Cape Verde Island and Bulwar's
Petrels, Cory's and Little Shearwaters, and Band-rumped Storm Petrel, but
there are few landbirds except Island Canary and a race of Eurasian Bullfinch
(in the laurel forests of the mountains in east Sao Miguel). The islands
also attract North American vagrants, especially shorebirds, in mid-September.
The best site for these is the disused coastal quarry just south of the
harbour at Praia da Vitoria (known locally as Cabo da Praia) on Terceira
Island.
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....Trip
Report: Tenerife, Canary Islands, September 2003 - by Daniel
Bastaja.
I recently returned from a one week trip to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
In my haste to pack for the trip, I neglected to bring my driver's
licence which meant that renting a car was out of the question. Fortunately
Tenerife has a great (and cheap) public transport system.
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....Trip
Report: La Palma (Canary Islands) - February 17 to March 3,
2000, By
Tim Herfurth. Our trip to La Palma cant be seen as a real birding holiday.
We just wanted to escape from the German winter. We found a beautiful island
with nice walks, good food and 14 days of sunshine. My aim was to see the
endemic breeding species which which proved to be rather easy.
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....Trip
report: Canary Islands - this detailed trip report, by Henning
Fedders & Frank Rheindt,
clearly describes (with pictures) why this is a great place to visit. As
they say: "The Canary Islands are well-known amongst ornithologists for
their handful of endemic landbirds that are more or less confined to this
archipelago, complemented by a few so-called Macaronesian endemics which
can otherwise only be found on the Azores and on Madeira to the north of
the Canaries. In addition, these islands boast scores of seabird colonies,
and they even constitute one of the main breeding grounds of one pelagic
restricted-range species that can hardly ever be seen outside the Macaronesian
region: the Madeiran Storm-Petrel, which otherwise occurs only on Madeira
and a couple of other islands in the general vicinity. Furthermore, the
Canaries attract dozens of North American stragglers every year, especially
the more humid western islands, while the dry eastern islands hold a few
North African desert specialties and can be good for western Palearctic
migration."
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....Trip
Report: Fuerteventura, August 2002 - by Nigel Blake. This was
one
of those trips that had very little pre-planning!
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....Trip
Report: Canary Islands, by Teus Luijendijk, In June 2001, my
girlfriend
and I visited the Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma for one week. It
proved to be a wonderful visit. We drove around to see as much as possible
of the countryside and did some birding, too. I also took the opportunity
to watch the butterflies occurring at these islands (of which several are
endemic). Videostills of some birds encounbtered are shown.
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....Trip
Report - Gran Canaria, October 11 to October 25, 2000 - by
Jan
Kuper. On this site you will find information on observations of birds
and invertebrates during a holiday trip to Gran Canaria, Canary Islands,
Spain, in October 2000. Descriptions of some interesting spots are be given.
This is followed by (systematic) lists of observed birds, mammals, reptiles,
diurnal butterflies, dragonflies and other invertebrates with English,
Dutch and scientific species names. Some pictures are provided. See
also Jan's Tenerife
report from October 6 to October 20, 1999.
....Trip
Report: Canary Islands, March 26 - April 6, 1999, by Ady Gancz.
Traveling
with non-birding members of my family, this was not strictly a birding
holiday, nevertheless I did manage to see all of the endemic species and
some, but not all of the endemic subspecies. I also managed to find a few
interesting non-endemic species (e.g. Barbary Partridge). I have not seen
many seabirds with respect to what was mentioned in other reports. I suspect
this may be due to the time of the year.........
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