| Status | Starts | Group size | Leader | Duration/price Inc. flights from/to UK | Duration/price Exc. international flights | Single supp. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This year we return to one of Britain’s most remote and beautiful corners for a special autumn tour. Few people come to the islands in autumn yet this is arguably one of the most exciting times of year as the holiday makers are replaced by masses of migrant birds.
-
- Meet at Benbecula airport, from where we will transfer to our hotel for our first overnight stay. If time allows there will be some afternoon birding.
- Accommodation: Liniclate, Benbecula, 6-nights on full board basis.
-
- There’s always some wildlife to enjoy whichever part of the islands you are in, with the added bonus and spectacle of migrating birds. Miles of golden beaches are thronged with waders whilst wigeon and teal numbers build on favoured lochs and sheltered bays host long-tailed ducks and eiders. Along the coastal plain, fields of stubble left behind by the harvest attract large flocks of golden plover and lapwing. The mass of birds in turn attracts predators and raptors, with young peregrines and merlins honing their hunting skills.
- The calm days around mid-October can bring the superb spectacle of skeins of barnacle, white-fronted, and Brent geese, and whooper swans flying over as they head for their wintering grounds further south, their evocative calls often heralding their passage.
-
- After a final morning in the isles, we transfer back to nearby Benbecula Airport where the tour ends.
All prices are per person and include:
- Services of the naturalist leader
- Transfers
- Accommodation
- All meals (except on the ferry crossings)
- Guided activities
Accommodation
We stay in a well-situated hotel on Benbecula.
All rooms are en suite. A limited number of single rooms are available at no supplement.
Meals
All meals are included.
Birds
The Outer Hebrides in autumn welcomes thousands of migrant birds. Masses of waders and wildfowl bring the beaches and coastal plains alive, and with them come raptors, with young peregrine falcon and merlin hone their hunting skills as they quarter the skies.
- Golden plover
- Whooper swan
- Eider duck
- White-fronted geese
Mammals
Otters are more easily seen at this time of year, playing amongst the eastern sea lochs, when there are fewer people around to disturb them.
- Otter
- Red deer
- Harbour seal
Scenery
The habitats of the remote and rugged Outer Hebrides – numerous sea lochs, white sand beaches, rugged moorland and machair grassland – produce a hauntingly beautiful landscape.
Ground transport
The price excludes travel to and from Benbecula.
Ground transportation during the tour is by minibus, with driver.