Menorca
Balearic Spring
Wednesday 23 – Wednesday 30 April 2008 (8 days)
We return to this small Mediterranean isle for dazzling spring flowers and an exciting range of resident birds and spring migrants, at one of our favourite and most welcoming guesthouses. Join us for a relaxed spring week, and an excellent introduction to Mediterranean birds and flowers!
© John Muddeman/Nature Portfolio
Dragon's Mouth
Much smaller than its better-known neighbour, Mallorca, the Balearic island of Menorca makes an ideal place for a relaxed spring getaway. Boasting a superb array of flowers, and holding a good selection of typical Mediterranean birds, from gaudy Woodchat Shrikes and Hoopoes to subtler Short-toed Larks and Tawny Pipits, it also makes an excellent place in which to catch the full magic of a Mediterranean spring. With the island only around thirty miles long, we can reach every part of it quite easily, and yet there is plenty to explore in a week.
Despite its size Menorca boasts a surprisingly good range of habitats, with rocky coasts, delightful coves with small beaches, offshore islets, traditional pastureland, woods, dunes, freshwater marshes and those delightful thyme-and-lavender scented Mediterranean hillsides, cut with steep-sided gorges, or 'barrancos'. It has a higher rainfall than Mallorca, and presents a landscape of green rolling hills and farmland, much of which is given over to grass and cattle, with small fields surrounded by neat stone walls. The island is also generally much less developed than Mallorca, which adds to its charm.
Birds here appear to be more confiding than on Mallorca, perhaps because there is less shooting here. Certainly the raptors are abundant, and we find Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Egyptian Vulture and Booted Eagle, the latter probably more common than anywhere else in its range.
Sardinian Warblers are probably the commonest small birds, and at this time display and sing vigorously from the tops of bushes. Other Balearic specialities, including Audouin's Gull, Pallid Swift, Blue Rock Thrush and Thekla Lark can all be found fairly easily. The island is also the major Balearic stronghold for Cory's and Yelkouan Shearwaters, with flocks to be seen off the north coast, sometimes at close range, and Eleonora's Falcons are arriving at this time.
Price: £ 1,245
Single supp.: £ 165
Deposit: £ 300 per person
The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of accommodation as detailed above, all meals including wine, return flight London - Menorca, airport taxes, surface transport, incidental tips, admissions and the services of the leaders.
The price excludes holiday insurance, drinks and personal expenses.
Please note that depending on charter schedules we may be able to arrange flights to and from Menorca from regional airports. Please enquire for details and cost.
Principal Leader: Ray Nowicki
Flowers can be stunning, with fields completely covered in yellow Crown Daisies, purple Galactites thistles, White Asphodels, red poppies and others. Species can include a fine variety of orchids, including Yellow Bee, Sawfly, Mirror and Small-flowered Tongue Orchids, and Violet Limodore, while Menorcan endemics include the delightful purple daisy-like Senecio rodriguesii. As usual on these tours we shall be looking at a broad range of wildlife, which in this case can include Hermann's Tortoises and Stripeless Tree Frogs.
Menorca is also rich in historical sites, and we'll be visiting the remains of neolithic tombs and settlements, many of which are also good for flowers and birds. Weather and services permitting, we'll also be taking a boat trip around Mahon's long and historic harbour, with its deep waters providing shelter for generations of seafarers, including, at one time the British Navy, which left an impressive array of colonial-style buildings. The glass-bottomed boat will also allow us to glimpse something of Menorca's undersea world.
Accommodation
We are based for the week at a small hotel in a converted typically Menorcan farmhouse.
Numbers: Max. 14 clients