Status | Starts | Group size | Leader | Duration/price Inc. flights from/to UK | Duration/price Exc. international flights | Single supp. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
We return to one of Britain’s most remote and beautiful corners, where waders still breed in abundance, where divers in full breeding plumage haunt the lochs, where golden eagles soar, and where, almost uniquely now, the rasping calls of corncrake can still be heard around the crofts.
-
- 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
- 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.
-
- The Uists, Benbecula, Berneray, and Eriskay (the ‘Whisky Galore’ island) are all linked by causeways, and are in many ways the best of the islands to visit, with the healthiest raptor populations.
- Sweet smelling kidney vetch, tufted vetch and both red, and white clover will be blooming in the ‘machair,’ and high concentrations of breeding waders will be present. Amidst the cacophony of wader calls here we will pick out ringed plover, oystercatcher, lapwing, redshank and dunlin, with the fabulous ‘drumming’ of snipe, and listen for the area’s most sought-after bird: the elusive corncrake. In contrast, the eastern moorlands and lochs should hold breeding red- and possibly black-throated divers, whilst the skies are always worth inspecting – the islands remain one of the best areas in Britain to see the magnificent golden eagle. Late July is best for the diversity of flowers and insects – the very rare Irish ladies tresses orchid, and maybe some lesser butterfly orchids, will be in bloom, and the increasingly rare great yellow bumblebee is a strong possibility.
-
- 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
- Guided activities
Accommodation
On this tour we stay in a well-situated hotel on Benbecula.
All rooms are en suite. A limited number of singles are available at no supplement.
Meals
All meals are included
Birds
In summer, waders still breed in abundance, divers can be seen in full breeding plumage and the rasping calls of the corncrake can still be heard around the crofts.
- Golden eagle
- Ringed plover
- Corncrake
- Red-throated diver
Flora
Late July brings a diversity of plant species, and attendant insects, with sweet-smelling white, and red clover blooming in the machair grassland.
- Irish ladies tresses
- Lesser butterfly orchid
- Bog orchid
- Kidney vetch
Scenery
The habitats of the remote and rugged Outer Hebrides – sea lochs, white sand beaches, rugged moorland and machair grassland in bloom – 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.