Cape Town arguably offers some of the world’s most interesting urban birdwatching experiences. Within few kms, the city area harbors pelicans, penguins, albatrosses and a set of smart endemics.

A couple of days within student life in Naivasha and amidst local fishermen in Lake Oloiden provided close encounters with large mammals plus storks, pelicans, hamerkops, buzzards, swallows and more.

A morning visit to Lake Kerkini looking for lesser white-fronted geese and tundra swans resulted in three Greek rarities: a Siberian chiffchaff, three little bustards, and an Oriental turtle dove.