Facing the Atlantic

The journey begins in the Azores, an archipelago of nine islands pushed up from the sea by volcanic eruption. The islands belong to Portugal and are a third of the way across the Atlantic to America. They are surrounded by clear blue sea which is full of extraordinary creatures including sperm whales, sharks and giant devil rays. Because of their isolation, the Azores have unique wildlife: the Azores Bullfinch is one of Europe's rarest species. On mainland, Portugal we discover storks nesting on western cliffs of the Algarve - it's the only place in the whole of Europe that they do this. Away from the coast on the steppe land of Castro Verde we see the amazing courtship display of the Great Bustard; a bird that's heavier than a turkey and Europe's heaviest flying bird. In Spain on the Sierra Morena uplands of Andujar, we find the lynx, the world's rarest big cat. We go to Europe's biggest wetland in Coto Doñana National Park near Seville and see beautiful purple herons, purple gallinules and flamingos. In the Cantabrian Mountains, we find red deer, and on the foothills of the Pyrenees we see an incredible flock of 500 griffon vultures.

The journey continues over the Pyrenees to France. Orlu National Park is a rich upland area south of Toulouse and home to the largest squirrel in the world - the marmot. On lowland near Toulouse and rural Ariege, you'll find fertile land where beautiful bee-eaters and snakes are common. Facing Arcachon Bay, some 40 miles from Bordeaux, we discover Europe's tallest sand dune overlooking Europe's biggest coastal pine forest. In Brittany west of Nantes, we visit one of the largest marshes in France with its amazing variety of wetland birds, birds of prey and alien muskrats. On the Channel Islands we find a rich underwater world created by the warm sea of Gulf Stream, and on land an unusual blonde hedgehog and the most colorful lizard in Europe. On the Cornish coast of England, Grey Atlantic Seals haul up to give birth to their young. On the Isles of Scilly, the south-westerly point of Britain, American birds which have lost their way on their migratory flights to south America have turned up after mistakenly crossed 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean.