Southern Cádiz provides top-class birding. Local specialties such as house swift and northern bald ibis were combined with migratory birds such as ortolan bunting in La Janda or puffins and poms in Tarifa.

The enigmatic Dupont’s lark is extremely range-restricted in our region. Some friends and I try to track down them at their habitat, and end up having a fantastic migration day with 13 raptor species seen.

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.

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.