The first stop of a long backpacking trip allowed us to get the hang on Southeast Asian birds. Gardens by the Bay and Singapore Botanic Gardens are mandatory stops in the Lion City.

A full-day stopover in Dubai can provide some goodies despite extreme heat. We connected with Indian rollers, purple sunbirds, shikras, white-cheeked terns, Socotra cormorants or sooty gull within the city.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.