52 European Wildlife Weekends

This innovative new title from Bradt is the first of its type to focus specifically on the vast array of wildlife-watching opportunities in Europe. Written by expert James Lowen, author of the best-selling 52 Wildlife Weekends: A Year of British Wildlife-Watching Breaks and award-winning A Summer of British Wildlife: 100 Great Days Out Watching Wildlife, this unique guide is packaged into 52 weekend-sized breaks highlighting the best of European wildlife - mammals, reptiles, amphibians, flora, butterflies, dragonflies and birds. We may think of snow-covered Antarctica, South American jungles or African savannas as holding the world's most plenteous and special wildlife, yet Europe heaves with wildlife wonders year-round, many of which can be seen in a simple weekend break. What would be your optimum way to spend it if you wished to travel across Europe, delighting in the continent's wildlife splendours? This book suggests one wildlife-watching break, somewhere in Europe, for every week of the year. Want to see bears? Make for Finland or Romania. Fancy a crack at wolves? Hop on a flight to northern Spain or Poland. If whales float your boat, a long weekend in Iceland, Ireland or the Bay of Biscay would suit. Orchid-lovers can head to Italy, Crete or the Costa del Sol at different points in the spring. Birdwatchers flock to see migrating raptors in Gibraltar, great gatherings of cranes in mid-France, or the breeding owls of Sweden's northern forests. Stretching from the Arctic to its boundaries with Africa and Asia, Europe has enough exciting living creatures amidst jaw-dropping landscapes to fill an entire lifetime of wildlife-watching. Ideal for both the experienced wildlife tourist and the novice, and packed with stunning colour photos, Bradt's 52 European Wildlife Weekends shows when, where and how to see the most exciting wildlife - complete with inspiring itineraries, engaging descriptions, detailed directions and tips on how to find, identify and enjoy animals and plants. Each entry gives details on species of interest and the landscapes they inhabit, plus suggestions about extending your quick break into a longer visit. An 'at a glance' box summarizes details with a thumbnail map.

"This remarkable guide ably demonstrates that there's still plenty of great species on our doorsep in Europe." BBC Wildlife Magazine "This is your one stop shop for some fantastic wildlife weekends." Adventure Travel Magazine "This guide has something for experts and novices alike." World of Animals Magazine 'Lowen's infectious style only serves to inspire. It makes you think "I want to see that!"' Bird Watch

Auteur
James Lowen has been immersed in all aspects of natural history since he was able to walk, encouraging him to become a fully fledged wildlife writer, editor, guide and photographer. Over three decades, James has travelled widely across Europe in search of its most special, rare and iconic wildlife. He is never happier than when seeking dragonflies in the Danube Delta, polar bears on Svalbard, or orchids in Crete. He has written five books about wildlife or wildlife travel, including three for Bradt Travel Guides (52 Wildlife Weekends: a Year of British Wildlife-watching Breaks, A Summer of British Wildlife: 100 Great Days Out with British Wildlife, and Pantanal Wildlife: A Visitor's Guide to Brazil's Great Wetland). A member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, James writes regularly about European wildlife for magazines such as BBC Wildlife, The Countryman and Bird Watching.

Contenu
Introduction iv How to use this book ix January 1 Into the trees Bialowieza Forest, Poland, for European bison, Eurasian beaver, black and three-toed woodpeckers, northern long-tailed tit 2 Hundreds and thousands Extremadura, Spain, for common crane, great bustard, Iberian imperial eagle, red deer, otter 3 Big mouth strikes again Kake Kerkini, Greece, for Dalmatian pelican, greater spotted eagle, lesser white-fronted goose, sombre tit, rock nuthatch 4 Mid-Atlantic Europe Azores, Portugal, for Azores bullfi nch, Atlantic canary, vagrant American birds, sperm whale, short-beaked common dolphin February 5 Wild goose chase Black Sea, Bulgaria, for red-breasted goose, white-fronted goose, Yelkouan shearwater, pygmy cormorant, golden jackal 6 The lynx effect Sierra de Andújar, Spain, for Iberian lynx, mouflon, Schreiber's bat, European free-tailed bat, stripeless tree frog 7 Blind love and headless chickens Canary Islands, Spain, for houbara bustard, cream-coloured courser, monarch, blind squat lobster, east Canary gecko 8 Snow? Go! Latvia for Ural owl, pygmy owl, white-backed woodpecker, three-toed woodpecker, raccoon dog March 9 Parrots of the Arctic Lapland, Finland, for Siberian jay, Siberian tit, pine grosbeak, red squirrel, aurora borealis 10 Lynxed in Estonia for Eurasian lynx, Eurasian elk, hazel grouse, pygmy owl, three-toed woodpecker 11 Northern delights Varangerfjord, Norway, for Steller's eider, king eider, gyrfalcon, Brünnich's guillemot, hawk owl 12 Giant transformers, phantom farters Alentejo, Portugal, for great bustard, little bustard, black-bellied sandgrouse, Montagu's harrier, calandra lark 13 Costa del Chameleon Málaga, Spain, for Spanish ibex, Mediterranean chameleon, mirror orchid, black wheatear, conehead mantis April 14 Going underground Sardinia, Italy, for Supramonte cave salamander, imperial cave salamander, European leaf-toed gecko, lesser horseshoe bat, sawfly orchid 15 King of the gods - and orchids Crete, Greece, for bory's orchid, Cretan orchid, snake's-head iris, dragon arum, Balkan terrapin 16 Hide and seek Corsica, France, for Corsican nuthatch, Corsican finch, Marmora's warbler, Corsican fire salamander, Corsican crocus 17 Berlin's dark grail Berlin, Germany, for goshawk, great bustard, mandarin, wild boar, northern raccoon May 18 Delta force Danube delta, Romania, for white pelican, ferruginous duck, Pallas's gull, dice snake, steppe runner 19 Estonian nightlife Estonia for Siberian flying squirrel, brown bear, raccoon dog, pine marten, capercaillie 20 Lesser is lovelier Extremadura, Spain, for lesser kestrel, white-rumped swift, European roller, Spanish terrapin, Schreiber's green lizard 21 Melting pot the Burren, Ireland, for dense-flowered orchid, mountain avens, spring gentian, large-flowered butterwort, transparent burnet 22 City-break falcons Matera, Italy, for lesser kestrel, lanner falcon, Egyptian vulture June 23 Nimble as a mountain goat Gran Paradiso, Italy, for Alpine ibex, Alpine chamois, Alpine marmot, owly sulphur, nine-spotted 24 Perfect blues Iceland for blue whale, humpback whale, harlequin duck, barrow's goldeneye, red-necked phalarope 25 Tisza, in bloom Hungary for long-tailed mayfly, southern festoon, red-footed falcon, European pond terrapin, common tree frog 26 Lakeland La Brenne, France, for lilypad whiteface, yellow-spotted emerald, brenne marsh-orchid, whiskered tern, viperine snake July 27 Ultimate meat-eaters Finland for wolverine, grey wolf, brown bear 28 Top of the world Pyrenees, Spain, for lammergeier, Alpine marmot, Pyrenean rock lizard, Pyrenean brook newt, Pyrenean saxifrage 29 Angel of the north Svalbard, Norway, for Arctic fox, bearded seal, walrus, ivory gull, little auk 30 Butterfl y nirvana Picos de Europa, Spain, for Apollo, dusky large blue, split-eyed owl-fly, wallcreeper, snow vole 31 Strong as an ox Norway for musk ox, Eurasian elk, reindeer, Norway lemming, bluethroat August 32 Moby-Dick under the midnight sun Norway for sperm whale, long-finned pilot whale, harbour seal, white-tailed eagle, Atlantic puffin 33 Zino moonwalk Madeira, Portugal, for Zino's petrel, Madeiran firecrest, bryde's whale, Madeiran pipistrelle, Madeiran wall lizard 34 Übercute Vienna, Austria, for black-bellied hamster, European souslik, particoloured bat, moustached darter, banded darter 35 Bounteous Biscay Bay of Biscay, France/Spain, for Cuvier's beaked whale, …