It was the beginning of the new year, and I felt on going on a birdwatching trip somewhere to use my new 600mm telephoto lens. For a while I'd considered a trip to São Miguel Island; home of the exceedingly-rare Azores Bullfinch (the rarest endemic bird in Europe). After talking to Orlando, a friend of mine who was also up to a birdwatching trip, we settled on a 3-4 day trip to Alicante, Spain.
I arrived at Alicante's airport at 20:30 local time on the 5th January, before getting a lift by Orlando to the house that we were sharing in the nearby town of Santa Pola. By renting a car, we were planning to travel to some of the best nearby spots for birdwatching. On the first day, we travelled to Clot de Galvany and El Hondo Puerta Sur Riegos de Levante - two nature reserves that hosted a fantastic range of wildlife. On the second day, we travelled to the Sierra del Maigmó and Sierra del Sit nature reserves in search of Griffon Vultures, Alpine Accentors, and Crested Tits, alongside climbing the summit of Maigmó mountain. Day three was mainly spent travelling around the small island of Tabarca, just off the Spanish coast, as well as a final trip to the Clot de Galvany and a visit to The Pink Lake Of Torrevieja. It was an absolutely fantastic trip and is somewhere I'd recommend visiting regardless of if you're into birdwatching or not.