Natural Break

Birding Trip Reports from 1972 to 2024

The following links will take you to 40 pages of bird watching logs from my book 'Bird Diaries' covering my trips abroad since 1972. The data is necessarily brief, however if visitors would like further information by all means contact me on kendall.nigel@gmail.com.

Below is a brief list of the visits with links

North Eastern Spain September 1972: 13 days, 133 species. Some nice migratory birds but the weather was lousy!
Corsica June 1973: 13 days, 68 species.

Superb birding. What the birds lacked in numbers they made up for in quality.
Majorca July 1974: 14 days, 99 species.

Eleonora's Falcon surprisingly easy. Constantly overhead at San Telmo.
Camargue April 1975: 10 days, 124 species.

Right up to expectations despite the Mistral! Could have seen more if the weather had been better.
Majorca July 1975: 13 days. 58 species.

Black Vulture seen close to Palma, above Randa Peak.
Britanny June 1976: 8 days, 74 species.

Not spectacular this time, but the Cap Frehel seabird colonies were good.
Yugoslavia (Montenegro) June 1977: 13 days, 100 species. Surprises included White-tailed Eagle, Rose-coloured Starlings and the frequency of Levant Sparrowhawks.
Tunisia April 1978: 7 days, 97 species.

Good birding around Sousse but you need a car to cover the interior. Roads good.
Majorca May 1980: 12 days, 38 species.

An eight-month old toddler didn't help matters, but Marjorcan Crossbills, Sardinian Warblers and Woodchat Shrikes from the balcony were satisfying.
France, Charante Maritime (La Rochelle area), August 1988: 13 days, 103 species.

Better than expected. Good birds within 7 hours drive of the St Malo ferry.
France, Charante Maritime (Royan area), May 1989: 15 days, 102 species.

Right up to the standard of 1988. Bluethroats take the 1st prize.
Scotland August 1990: 13 days, 80 species.

Wet, but managed to pick up quite a few Scottish specialities within a very small area.
North Eastern Spain, July 1992: 15 days. 82 species.

A great birding holiday despite domestic responsibilities. Bonelli's and Short-toed Eagles from the balcony!
Fuerterventura, Canary Islands, July 1993: 6 days, 23 species.

Not the most varied birding in the world, but interesting all the same.
Thassos, Northern Aegean, September 1994: 7 days, 68 species.

Visible migration well underway. Little brown jobs all over the place!
South Eastern Spain October 1995: 7 days, 76 species.

The Sierra Nevada was a little disappointing, but the coast was good.

Morocco, July 1996: 6 days, 68 species.

Two Bald Ibis circling low over Agadir has got to be a real incentive to visit this area.

North Western Greece, July 1997: 7 days, 83 species.

A really excellent bag for only 7 mid summer days, but a car is essential.

Kenya, March 1999: 9 days, 273 species.

This casual birding trip consisted of only about 30 hours of serious bird watching. For photographs see the link below.
Cyprus, June 2000: 7 days, 41 species.

A brief holiday in the height of summer, but the birds weren't as hard work as I had expected.
USA, August 2002: Five weeks, 85 species.

The purpose of the trip was medical help for my daughter, but I managed some birding as well.
Canada, September 2003: 21 days, 103 species.

A family trip to Ontario. The birding was terrific!
Kos, May 2004: A week, 85 species.

An excellent time of year to go birding in the eastern Mediterranean.
New Zealand, October 2004: 21 days, 80 species.

Little variety but excellent quality birding.
Canada, May 2005: 14 days, 101 species.

Spectacular falls of warblers and a couple of local rareties.
Andalucia, Spain, April to May 2006: Two months, 145 species. A beautiful spring in the Andalucian mountains. The raptor migration was spectacular.
Pyrenees, Spain, July 2007: 10 days, 114 species.

The Spanish Pyrenees. Very dramatic and some great birds.
Gambia, December 2008: 6 days, 268 species.

This trip was amazing, but also exhausting. 42 degrees heat!
Greek Macedonia, April 2009: 7 days, 125 species.

A week of superb birding and hard work!
Ontario, Canada, March and June 2010: 2 months, 106 species. An amazing spring's birding! I was early enough to catch some wintering species and late enough to get plenty of migrants. I hardly went any further than the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Extramadura, Spain, March 2011: 3 days, 111 species.

Just a short trip but the species were amazing! Spanish Imperial Eagle made the trip.
Tamil Nadu, India, January 2014: 16 days, 103 species. Awesome variety of species in mature woodland and wetlands. Travel was very restricted but new species were seen every day.
Cyprus, November 2018: 7 days, 21 species.

Some interesting winter species. Finsch's Wheatear and Armenian Gull headed the list .
Huelva, Spain, May 2019: 7 days, 50 species.

A super stay among the Cork Oaks of Southern Spain.
New Zealand, March 2020: 3 weeks, 71 species.

My second trip back to New Zealand and full of wonderful birdlife. A birder's paradise!

Spain, Nerja, October 2022. Page: 6 days, 30 species.

A good few days. Migration delivered Honey Buzzard, Montagu's Harrier and Egyptian Vulture, but 2 Rufous-tailed Bushchats made the trip!

Italy, Sila Mountains, July 2023: 6 days, 29 species.

A disappointing week for birds., but flora was excellent.

Iceland, July 2024: 11 days, 45 species.

An expedition cruise with some amazing wonderful birding! The list includes Gyrfalcon, Harlequin Ducks, Ptarmigan, Great Skua and many more.