Frequently, when it comes to deciding which natural areas get protection and which ones don’t, one sad reality surfaces: most of the lucky ones are the ones with no potential for urban, industrial or agricultural development. In other words, it is relatively easy to protect (at least on paper) a mountain range. Not so much a coastal area near a great city.
All the Birds of the World: A quick review
Having had the opportunity to (humbly) collaborate in the making of this extraordinary book, for what I am happy and grateful, I thought it would be nice to give it a quick review. Now, All the Birds of the World is already a commercial success (and will be for a long time, I’m sure), and thousands of people have it in their homes at this point…
Mapping rare birds: Where do they turn up?
Birds appearing unexpectedly far away from their regular range have delighted birders and puzzled ornithologists for a long time. The former may want to add a new species to their personal list or enjoy the exceptional sighting. The latter willing to trying to understand this complex phenomenon…
Cartografia de les rareses: a on apareixen?
Els ocells que apareixen lluny de la seva àrea de distribució, anomenats habitualment “rareses”, han despertat sempre un gran interès entre els ornitòlegs. Uns estudien aquest fenomen tan complex, per al qual de vegades es troba una explicació, però no sempre. Altres cerquen rareses per afegir-les a la seva llista personal d’espècies, o simplement per gaudir d’una observació excepcional.
Visualització de dades: Grasset de muntanya (Anthus spinoletta)
English summary: Water pipit distribution in Catalonia throughout the year. This animation was generated using thousands of records added by observers to www.ornitho.cat, a citizen science portal run by the Catalan Ornithological Institute (ornitologia.org). Bottom-right shows each 15-day period, the blue line represents the 1800 meters above sea level in the Pyrenees.
Purple Sandpiper in Catalonia: a closer look
Purple Sandpiper is a rarity in Catalonia, with only a handful of records in recent years. Unlike Ruddy Turnstone, which uses a similar habitat in winter, this species does not visit the Mediterranean regularly. Still, a few days ago, and for the second year in a row…
Video: Pin-tailed Sandgrouse tagging with GPS transmitter
While collaborating with the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia Consortium, which studies and monitors endangered steppe-land birds and their habitat, I had the chance to film and edit this short video that explains how Pin-tailed Sandgrouse are captured, handled and GPS-tagged at night…
RW Blackbird in the Canary Islands
Some friends went on a trip to the Canary Islands a few days ago. They are from Hong Kong and keen birders. On February 8th, during a short walk around “Parque de la Luz”, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, they were surprised by something unexpected: Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Not one, but two and possibly three individuals.