Rathlin Island is wonderful at any time, but there aren't many seabirds nesting on Boxing Day. Better save your visit until May and spend Boxing Day walking the mile-long Ballycastle strand, or the paths around Fair head if more energetic.

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

If you are remotely interested in wildlife you will love both visits.

The albatross centre has fantastic displays and you can either take a tour ($30) or go to the cliff tops and watch these fantastic birds soaring through the skies.

At Penguin Place you will see yellow-eyed penguins on the tour ($33). This is the only mainland place in the world you will see them. They are shy creatures but do actually come out of the sea before dusk and so are very easy to spot.

Binoculars are recommended for both trips, but are not a must.

www.albatross.org.nz
www.penguinplace.co.nz

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Hogganfield Loch is a local nature reserve. It's a shallow loch with a wooded island and there's an adjacent marshland reserve. There's free parking and a tarmac path around the loch allowing easy access. It's particularly interesting for bird-watchers as it has a large population of varied wildfowl often with rarities and all easily visible. It's popular with migrants and wintering birds including whooper swans.

Hogganfield Park
Cumbernauld Road
Robroyston
Glasgow
G33

The park lies 5km northeast of Glasgow city centre and is is bounded to the north and west by Cumbernauld Road (A80) and by Avenue End Road (B765) to the east. No railway station very close but lots of buses pass by.

www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Parks_Outdoors/Parks_gardens/hogganfieldpark.htm

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Serra dos Tucanos is about 90 minutes from Rio de Janeiro. The lodge is set in its own grounds in the Atlantic rainforest. Primarily it has been set up to cater for bird watchers who wish to see the varied bird life of the Atlantic rainforest. You can watch the many birds from the comfort of the veranda, see the hummingbirds feed from the special feeders at close quarters, or watch the many birds attack the bunches of bananas hung up in the trees.

Take a walk around the grounds on the signposted trails. Or go out on one of the many varied trips they do to different sites to see the many diverse birds the area has to offer.

The food was superb with breakfast, lunch and dinner included in the price, they do packed lunches when going out on trips. Even if you were not particularly interested in the birds it would make a good place to chill-out and enjoy lazing by their outdoor pool. Andy and Cristina who own and run the lodge are two wonderful people who will make your stay very enjoyable.

Serra dos Tucanos
Caixa Postal 98125
Cachoeiras do Macacu
CEP 28.680-000
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
www.serradostucanos.com.br/index.htm

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Parc de la Ciutadella lies to the north-east of the old city. It takes its name from the hated Bourbon citadel, which was torn down on the site. Ciutadella was modelled by the 1888 exhibition. The park is massively popular at weekends but despite the crowds, an interesting array of birds turns up. Check out the ornamental lake and the baroque cascade for seagulls and ducks. Robins, blackbirds, great tits, Cetti's warblers and pied and yellow wagtails are all common.

The park's north-eastern corner is taken up by the zoo. The zoo is home to a secret. Above the compounds and cages is the largest single heronry in Spain, and the biggest urban heronry in Europe, with some 70 nests. A single heron escaped from his cage in the 1970s and decided to stay. It was joined by a wild to-be mate, and so the colony was born, from which the then beleaguered Catalan population has expanded and grown. Cast your eyes upwards down Aragon, Parallel or Diagonal in the early evening and you've a chance of spotting a heron flying home to its zoo roost. They feed in the lagoons of the Delta de Llobregat and along the Llobregat and Besos rivers. Increased agricultural activity gives them permanent all-year food supplies.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) with six nests are also present along with cattle egret and glossay ibis (up to 10 nests, depending on the year). The zoo masters have been careless over the years and a number of birds have escaped: particularly monk parakeet. From here they set up in the palm tress of the park and then beyond. They now reign over the whole city. Although they add a streak of colour and fun to the city's dull litany of pigeons, sparrows and seagulls, they can cause serious problems as they expand out into the country.

A natural history of Barcelona: www.iberianature.com/

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends