Ría de Santoña in New Year’s provides cracking winter specialties: brant geese, horned grebes, loons and waders. Mega red-breasted geese and redpolls are bonus additions to an awesome short trip.

A friends meeting in l’Albufera in the onset of winter resulted in good numbers of ducks and waders. Short-eared owl, black storks, several goldcrests and a cracking sociable lapwing were highlights of the day.

Summer season brings an array of specialties to Helsinki, including broad-billed sandpiper and common rosefinch in Viikki, red-breasted flycatcher in Haltiala and stakeouts of Blyth’s reed warbler and river warbler.

Laguna de los Peces is a glacial lagoon surronded by prime montane scrub near Sanabria. Ortolan buntings, red-backed shrikes, bluethroats, Galán’s rock lizards and Seoane’s vipers live in a magical yellow and pink infinity.

Two days birding l’Albufera finished with terrific sunsets. Highlights included a mega greater yellowlegs, wintering jack snipes, a common scoter, the local sacred ibis, and numerous waders and waterfowl.

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.

Amidst an avian botulism outbreak, several birds are released after recovering in the local wildlife rescue center. These include the common pochard and ferruginous duck, both locally and globally threatened.