Bright snow and northern lights lit up Helsinki over winter. Different owls, woodpeckers, crossbills and other northbound specialties show up randomly over cold breezes, turning outings harsh but rewarding.
Tinença de Benifassà Natural Park provided red-backed shrikes, ortolan buntings, stock dove, common rock thrush, tawny pipits — all localized breeders in the region — and a handful of picturesque villages.
Ceuta hosts different North African birds: African chaffinch and blue tit, common bulbul, Levaillant’s woodpecker, long-legged buzzard, house bunting, black-crowned tchagra, Maghreb owl and Barbary partridge.
I recently started collaborating in teaching at university during field courses. We visited Murcia region and monitored Barbary sheep, Greek tortoise and griffon vultures with students on the way.
Hiking paid off lately with montane winter specialties. Aitana provided goldcrest, ring ouzel, fieldfare, and redwing. Penyagolosa with friends resulted in white-winged snowfinch, citril finch, and alpine accentor.
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.
A trip to Kazbegi five years ago marked my first experience watching birds abroad. Highlights include wallcreeper, Caucasian snowcock, and flocks of migrating kites, buzzards, sparrowhawks, chiffchaffs, and wheatears
A long drought is especially evident by June. Rufous-tailed rock thrush, tawny pipit, pin-tailed sandgrouse, stone martens, and Lataste’s vipers are some specialties found with friends and family.
