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.

What started as a joke ended up as a quest. Through living between Finland and Spain and travelling across Africa and Asia, I managed to find 1,000 bird species in 2024.

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