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Crossbill Guide: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Travel Guide Wildlife Guide
By: Dirk Hilbers(Author), Kees Woutersen(Author), Constant Swinkels(Author), Horst Wolter(Illustrator), Alex Tabak(Illustrator)
176 pages, colour photos, colour illustrations, colour maps
Publisher: KNNV Uitgeverij
Crossbill Guide: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain
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  • Crossbill Guide: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain ISBN: 9789491648045 Edition: 1 Paperback Nov 2014 In stock
    £22.95
    #210306
  • Crossbill Guide: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain ISBN: 9789491648267 Edition: 2 Paperback Oct 2023 In stock
    £23.99
    #262342
Selected version: £22.95
About this book Customer reviews Related titles

About this book

This is a revised and expanded edition of Crossbill Guide: Canary Islands, Volume 1, covering the two eastern islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. With their unique insular nature, these are attractive areas for ecotourists and birdwatchers. In comparison to other islands in the Canary group, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura possess impressive desert landscapes that are home to unique plants and birds such as houbara bustards and coursers.

It contains thirteen detailed itineraries and a large number of sites with observation tips. The guide describes the best sites for walking, birdwatching, and finding, butterflies, dragonflies and flowers; geological sites, scuba diving sites, and sites that reveal the unique evolutionary processes on the islands

Customer Reviews (1)

  • Great update to an excellent guide
    By Keith 1 Nov 2023 Written for Paperback
    This is the second edition of the Crossbill Guide to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura and includes many updates since the first edition was published, in 2014. The book focuses on the two easternmost islands in the Canary Islands archipelago, both of which are starkly different from the other islands in the group. While all islands there are volcanic in origin, these two are the oldest and have Saharan-like landscapes that feature some birds not found further west. The two present-day islands are separated by an 11-km gulf but were once connected as one land mass.

    Rather than focus solely on the bird interest, the Crossbill Guides are always quick to point out all the wildlife in the area. The first section of the book gives plenty of background on the landscape history of the islands as well as an outline of the ecosystems, geology, flora and fauna. Particular attention is given to where to watch birds and find flowers. The second section focuses on where to go, and there are 13 detailed routes to follow and a further 22 site descriptions, evenly split between both islands. Some photos have been improved since the first edition and there have been updates on breeding bird numbers, though the main changes relate to the routes, which all now have GPS coordinates to starting points and key locations along their length. Among the new sites featured is Teguise, on the east coast of Lanzarote, which can be spectacular for watching cetaceans. One location has become too difficult to access due to motorway construction and has been dropped, and a few tracks that were hard to find have also been deleted. A great addition is the walk to the Pico de La Zarza (Fuerteventura’s highest point), which offers spectacular views and opportunities to see localised plants, in particular.

    For birders, the major draw of these two islands will be birds associated with the desert habitat. The best of these is surely the Canary Island race of Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae, which differs from the nominate North African race in having more heavily vermiculated upperparts. Next up are Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor and Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus; these can be seen on either island. In contrast, Fuerteventura offers the best chances to see Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis, and also holds the endemic Fuerteventura Stonechat Saxicola dacotiae dacotiae. Those who want to bank a few potential future splits will want to make sure they see the local races of Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus majorensis, Common Buzzard Buteo buteo insularum, Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor koenigi and Common Raven Corvus corax tingitanus.

    Visiting the islands has never been easier, with direct flights from over 20 UK airports at attractive prices if you can be flexible with dates. There are slightly more birds to see on Fuerteventura, but both islands are special in their own ways. The car ferry between them is frequent and takes only 30 minutes. This guide is comprehensive and if you want to make the most of your time visiting, you will find it indispensable.
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Travel Guide Wildlife Guide
By: Dirk Hilbers(Author), Kees Woutersen(Author), Constant Swinkels(Author), Horst Wolter(Illustrator), Alex Tabak(Illustrator)
176 pages, colour photos, colour illustrations, colour maps
Publisher: KNNV Uitgeverij
Media reviews

"[...] In general, this Crossbill Guide is well written and presented, with some very attractive pictures and figures in full colour. The Authors have done a great job in their attempt to update the information on where to find common plants and animals on  Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, despite some clear mistakes. I strongly recommend buying the book when visiting either Lanzarote or Fuerteventura, or both."
– Eduardo Garcia-del-Rey, Ibis Volume 157(4), September 2015

"The first thing to point out is that this is not an identification guide – it does list the wildflowers, birds and other wildlife that occurs on the islands and gives very up-to-date locations and very accurate directions to get you to what you are looking for. I found the guide's mix of history, culture and wildlife refreshing, and making my walks on a family holiday this February much more interesting. There are lots of excellent photographs throughout that show some of the more interesting features and wildlife but you will need additional guides to help with identification as they only cover a few species.

The strength of the book comes in the routes section, where the authors provide 'guided' walks to take in target species. Houbara Bustard was at the top of my wish list and so I undertook route three – the one that would give me the best chance of seeing this amazing bird. The directions were clear, easy to follow and very accurate and pretty much guided me directly onto my first bird, even giving me tips of how to search it out – all-in-all a huge success. If you are planning a visit to either of these islands, don't go without this guide."
– Paul Stancliffe, BTO book reviews

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