Tinença de Benifassà Natural Park provided red-backed shrikes, ortolan buntings, stock dove, rufous-tailed rock-thrush, tawny pipits — all localized breeders in the region — and a handful of picturesque villages.

The fieldwork of a new ornithological project in Cabo Cope y Puntas de Calnegre provided great views of trumpeter finches and rufous-tailed scrub-robins, as well as numerous migrants and other highlights.

The bearded reedling is an uncommon inhabitant of reedbeds in south Alicante wetlands. Skulky and skittish, we eventually enjoyed some views of a couple of this stunning species in El Hondo.

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.