52 European Wildlife Weekends

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.

"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

• Introduction ivHow to use this book ixJanuary1 Into the trees Bialowieza Forest, Poland, for European bison, Eurasian beaver, black and three-toedwoodpeckers, northern long-tailed tit2 Hundreds and thousands Extremadura, Spain, for common crane, great bustard, Iberian imperial eagle, red deer, otter3 Big mouth strikes again Kake Kerkini, Greece, for Dalmatian pelican, greater spotted eagle, lesser white-fronted goose,sombre tit, rock nuthatch4 Mid-Atlantic Europe Azores, Portugal, for Azores bullfi nch, Atlantic canary, vagrant American birds, sperm whale,short-beaked common dolphinFebruary5 Wild goose chase Black Sea, Bulgaria, for red-breasted goose, white-fronted goose, Yelkouan shearwater, pygmycormorant, golden jackal6 The lynx effect Sierra de Andújar, Spain, for Iberian lynx, mouflon,Schreiber's bat, European free-tailed bat, stripeless tree frog7 Blind love and headless chickens Canary Islands, Spain, for houbara bustard, cream-colouredcourser, monarch, blind squat lobster, east Canary gecko8 Snow? Go! Latvia for Ural owl, pygmy owl, white-backed woodpecker,three-toed woodpecker, raccoon dogMarch9 Parrots of the Arctic Lapland, Finland, for Siberian jay, Siberian tit, pine grosbeak, red squirrel, aurora borealis10 Lynxed in Estonia for Eurasian lynx, Eurasian elk, hazel grouse, pygmy owl, three-toed woodpecker11 Northern delights Varangerfjord, Norway, for Steller's eider, king eider, gyrfalcon, Brünnich's guillemot, hawk owl12 Giant transformers, phantom farters Alentejo, Portugal, for great bustard, little bustard, black-bellied sandgrouse, Montagu's harrier,calandra lark13 Costa del Chameleon Málaga, Spain, for Spanish ibex, Mediterranean chameleon, mirror orchid, black wheatear,conehead mantisApril14 Going underground Sardinia, Italy, for Supramonte cave salamander, imperial cave salamander,European leaf-toed gecko, lesser horseshoe bat, sawfly orchid15 King of the gods - and orchids Crete, Greece, for bory's orchid, Cretan orchid, snake's-head iris, dragon arum, Balkan terrapin16 Hide and seek Corsica, France, for Corsican nuthatch,Corsican finch, Marmora's warbler,Corsican fire salamander, Corsican crocus17 Berlin's dark grail Berlin, Germany, for goshawk, great bustard, mandarin,wild boar, northern raccoon May18 Delta force Danube delta, Romania, for white pelican, ferruginous duck, Pallas's gull, dice snake, steppe runner19 Estonian nightlife Estonia for Siberian flying squirrel, brown bear, raccoon dog, pine marten, capercaillie20 Lesser is lovelier Extremadura, Spain, for lesser kestrel, white-rumped swift, European roller, Spanish terrapin,Schreiber's green lizard21 Melting pot the Burren, Ireland, for dense-flowered orchid, mountain avens, spring gentian, large-floweredbutterwort, transparent burnet22 City-break falcons Matera, Italy, for lesser kestrel, lanner falcon, Egyptian vultureJune23 Nimble as a mountain goat Gran Paradiso, Italy, for Alpine ibex, Alpine chamois, Alpine marmot, owly sulphur, nine-spotted24 Perfect blues Iceland for blue whale, humpback whale, harlequin duck, barrow's goldeneye, red-necked phalarope25 Tisza, in bloom Hungary for long-tailed mayfly, southern festoon, red-footed falcon,European pond terrapin, common tree frog26 Lakeland La Brenne, France, for lilypad whiteface, yellow-spotted emerald,brenne marsh-orchid, whiskered tern, viperine snakeJuly27 Ultimate meat-eaters Finland for wolverine, grey wolf, brown bear28 Top of the world Pyrenees, Spain, for lammergeier, Alpine marmot, Pyrenean rock lizard, Pyrenean brook newt,Pyrenean saxifrage29 Angel of the north Svalbard, Norway, for Arctic fox, bearded seal, walrus, ivory gull, little auk30 Butterfl y nirvana Picos de Europa, Spain, for Apollo, dusky large blue, split-eyed owl-fly, wallcreeper, snow vole31 Strong as an ox Norway for musk ox, Eurasian elk, reindeer, Norway lemming, bluethroatAugust32 Moby-Dick under the midnight sun Norway for sperm whale, long-finned pilot whale, harbour seal, white-tailed eagle, Atlantic puffin33 Zino moonwalk Madeira, Portugal, for Zino's petrel, Madeiran firecrest, bryde's whale, Madeiran pipistrelle,Madeiran wall lizard34 Übercute Vienna, Austria, for black-bellied hamster, European souslik, particoloured bat, moustacheddarter, banded darter35 Bounteous Biscay Bay of Biscay, France/Spain, for Cuvier's beaked whale, fi n whale, basking shark, ocean sunfish,Macaronesian shearwater36 The bear necessities Somiedo, Spain, for Cantabrian brown bear, wildcat, Iberian grey wolf, Pyrenean chamois,Spanish ibexSeptember37 Rock and a hard place Spain and Gibraltar for barbary macaque, striped dolphin, honey buzzard, northern bald ibis,two-tailed pasha38 Et tu, Abruzzo? Abruzzo, Italy, for Abruzzo chamois, Apennine grey wolf, Marsican brown bear, white-backedwoodp