Posts by thehousebunting.com

Sunsets in l’Albufera

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.

Firecrest business

Firecrests are working hard to defend their territories during my morning walk in El Romeral urban park in Alcoy today. A female hawfinch returns to this wintering hub for the species.

Trekking the tuit-tuit volcano

A trip to visit friends in Réunion Island years ago included a hike to Roche-Écrite as the birdwatching highlight. While looking for the extremely rare Réunion cuckooshrike, I encounter most of the island endemics.

DANA brought an eider home

Two common eiders showed up in south Alicante after the deadliest storm of the century casted over Valencia. Looking at the sea seems promising this incoming winter, with jaeger, gannets, and shearwaters seen too.

Yellow-browed warblers in Font Roja

A Siberian migrant next to home: Birdwatching rarely gets as exciting as this! Only the 4th record of the species in Font Roja, the only inland place in the region where the species has been recorded.

Veles e vents

A light-hearted chronicle and gallery of a stormy day in the rocky shore of Cabo Cervera. Audouin’s and Mediterranean gulls, ruddy turnstones, sanderling, and black-bellied plover seen at close range.

Enjoying the hobby on Global Big Day

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.

Tales of the Greater Caucasus

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

Closing loops during fall migration

September brought the opportunity to look for long-awaited species: dotterel and northern bald ibis. Bee-eaters, wheatears, flycatchers, honey-buzzards, and whinchats showed up everywhere.

Hiding for pheasants in Cat Tien

We visit the photographic hides at Cat Tien National Park. Nearly-endemic Germain’s peacock-pheasant is readily seen, along with other specialties such as Siamese fireback or green-legged partridge.

Sensational endemics in Metro Manila

A visit to La Mesa Eco Park fits in a one-day stopover in Manila to connect with Luzon and Philippine specialties without leaving town: ashy thrush, western hooded pitta and stripe-sided rhabdornis.

After the hornbills of Borneo

On a quest during a trip through Sabah (Malaysia), we contacted seven of the eight hornbills of Borneo: oriental pied, black, rhinoceros, bushy-crested, wreathed, wrinkled, and the mythical helmeted hornbill.

Piping hot in the Gulf

A full-day stopover in Dubai provided good time to explore the city despite extreme heat. We connect with Indian rollers, purple sunbirds, shikras, and white-cheeked terns within urban Dubai.

Inland wildlife in a dry spell

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.

A farewell story

My last days in Helsinki are coincident with the arrival of thousands of migrant birds and the vegetation green-up. Scenic walks with friends result in European otter, red-breasted flycatcher, corn crake, and much more.

Oil spill and seabirds of Varanger

While birding in Norwegian Lapland with friends, a recent oil spill has affecting numerous seabirds. We notice its impact on common and thick-billed murres, Atlantic puffins, and black-legged kittiwakes.

Bingo of Helsinki owls

I finally managed to spot all nine owl species in Helsinki after two years, from the large and rare great gray owl to the minute Eurasian pygmy-owl. Here, I gather the stories of all these finds.

The sacred Lake Ravelobe

Within Ankarafantsika National Park, Lake Ravelobe holds an enchanting, mysterious beauty. Highly endangered Coquerel’s sifaka, Madagascar fish-eagle, and Madagascar jacana are some specialties.

King Julian in Anja Community Reserve

Anja Community Reserve stands as a capacity building project to conserve biodiversity in a dry forest of south Madagascar. Ring-tailed lemurs are the highlight of this tiny but biodiverse park.

The wonders of Île-aux-Aigrettes

A cancelled flight is giving me the chance to explore Mauritius for few days. Île-aux-Aigrettes stands out as the best place to spot local specialties: pink pigeon, Mauritius fody, and day geckos.

Of whales and volcanos

I visited São Miguel Island during the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdown. Besides incredible landscapes and a welcoming atmosphere, I looked for endemic plants and birds and went on a pelagic outing.

Rocks and goats in Antequera

Impressive geological formations and a wonderful starry night. Visiting El Torcal de Antequera in summer pays off: western Orphean, Bonelli’s, and Iberian warblers, western black-eared wheatears…

Storm-petrels of Benidorm

I join the monitoring staff of the local wildlife rescue center for a day to ring and count chicks of Mediterranean storm-petrel in the caves of Benidorm Island, a breeding bulkward for this seabird.

Releasing threatened waterfowl

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.

Midnight sun in Varanger highlands

Kongsfjordfjellet in early June provides incredible landscapes and wonderful Arctic species: horned lark, long-tailed jaeger, red-throated pipit, Lapland longspur, long-tailed duck, red-necked phalaropes, and ruffs.

Looking for Saimaa ringed seals

A University of Helsinki course on conservation brings me to Saimaa, the largest lake in the European Union. We find the endemic Saimaa ringed seal and learn how it is perceived by local communities.