Isles of Scilly
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The price is per person and includes return scheduled helicopter or Skybus flight Penzance-St Mary's, 5 nights' accommodation, all meals including lunches from dinner on the first evening to breakfast on the final morning, travel as on the itinerary including boat fees, landing fees and admissions and the services of the leaders.
Prices exclude travel insurance (please do not send your insurance premium at the time of booking, as we offer special Isles of Scilly travel insurance for this holiday and will send you details with confirmation of booking), travel to and from Penzance Heliport, drinks and other personal expenses. It is possible to travel to St Mary's by other means (e.g. the Scillonian ferry, or direct flights from Exeter, Plymouth or Southampton). Please enquire if you would like to do this, or to extend your stay. For an ex-flight cost, please deduct £ 145 from the cost of the holiday. Leader: Will Wagstaff |
A myriad of rocky isles and islets set in the Atlantic and warmed by the Gulf Stream, with spectacular sub-tropical flowers in bloom around the walls and small gardens... superb ever-changing scenes of rocks, waves, light and shade... a patchwork of small bulb fields surrounded by stone walls and quiet winding lanes, with tall elm trees still thriving in the hedgerows... and, of course, one of the most exciting places in Britain to watch birds! |
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It is partly the scale of Scilly that makes it so special: the biggest town is the size of a village, the main road is a tiny winding lane, and the fields seem like walled gardens. But there again, the diversity of habitats on the largest island, St Mary's, alone, makes it, somehow, seem bigger than its mere two and a half miles from end to end.
Add to this the unique character of each of the islands: Tresco with its amazing variety of lush vegetation, heathland, and lagoon; St Martin's with its cliffs, sandy beaches, and seals offshore; wild Bryher, which takes the full force of the Atlantic breakers; and lovely St Agnes with its cottages, and tamarisk-edged bulbfields. Horse Point, at the end of Wingletang Down on St Agnes, is the most south-westerly point of Britain. Standing here and gazing out at the waves crashing on to the Western Rocks, you can truly believe that you are right on the edge of the world. And it is the edge of the world for many migrant birds too. Whether they've strayed too far out into the Atlantic, and return to find first landfall here, or whether they just keep heading west beyond Cornwall until they simply run out of land, birds arrive here in amazing variety. Although birds are never found here in great numbers, the excitement of birding on the islands is that of simply not knowing what you may find. Every habitat is worth investigating, and every bird worth looking at. Mid May is an excellent time for spring migrants. Although it is impossible to predict the more unusual birds, the most likely source of these will be the south, with continental birds overshooting their destinations. Rare herons are a distinct possibility in spring (we've seen Purple Heron, Night Heron and Squacco Heron in the past), and Red-rumped Swallow on three occasions. Spring seabirds here include Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin - the latter best seen on some of the boat trips. We hope to take a boat trip out to Annet one spring evening to view the Manx Shearwater gatherings that occur here. While we aim to visit the off-islands of Tresco, Bryher or St Martin's, and St Agnes, the itinerary is very weather-dependent. A possible outline is as follows: Outline Itinerary Day 1: Depart Penzance in the afternoon on a scheduled helicopter flight (20 mins) Penzance-St Mary's. Evening slide talk by Will Wagstaff. Days 2 - 5: Excursions will include:
We shall be walking more than on our usual trips. It is difficult to predict the distances involved, but we shall be on our feet off and on for most of the day in our search for wildlife. Accommodation We are based at The St Mary's Hall Hotel, in Hugh Town, St Mary's, just 5 minutes walk from the quay. This is an extensively refurbished townhouse, which offers a high standard of accommodation set within its own grounds. All Rooms are en suite. Leader: Will Wagstaff Numbers: Max. 14 clients What you say:'Thank you for organising such a good holiday: birds, flowers, butterflies, an unusual dragonfly...we shall be back! Certainly we've never been on a holiday before where there's been so much laughter.' I. & N.S., W. Midlands'It was a splendid week. I hope to be back on one of your other holidays and I shall certainly recommend this one. Many thanks.' D.C., Yorks. |
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