Spending a day with colleagues from Asociación Ulula taught me a good deal about owl ecology while monitoring nests and driving Saladares de Guadalentín for little bustards and black-bellied sandgrouse.

Strong windstorms throughout February swept in kittiwakes, little and common gulls. While looking for different targets (and failing some), I connected with mega isabelline wheatear, citril finch and phalarope.

Mild winters in Alicante draw Alpine accentors, thrushes, finches and buntings to the mountains, raptors and waterfowl to wetlands and provide some good seawatching along the shores, plus some winter oddities.

My local birding reached a new level in 2025. I connected with 276 species in Comunitat Valenciana including unexpected rarities, highlights of different seasons and countless hours shared in the field with friends.

An intense full day watching birds in Alicante delivers a great final count for our party of three. Different migrant birds seen include four different Eurasian hobbies, definitely the top species of the day.

I finally managed to spot all nine owl species in Helsinki after two years: long-eared, short-eared, tawny, Ural, great gray, boreal, Eurasian pygmy owl, Eurasian eagle-owl and northern hawk-owl