What’s Subalpine Birding?

We’ve always enjoyed birding research, had it been an article published in a journal or just a blog post. Hence, we've always tried to publish our own findings, in what we consider a mandatory contribution to the birding community. Unfortunately, recent times have seen a significant decrease in the amount of identification papers - the publishing process is lengthy, partly due to the reviewing standards but also caused by the limited space and periodicity of printed publications. It's much easier to post on social media, as it allows to show as many pictures as you want and you quickly get feedback from potentially the entire birding community, including expert birders. However, we feel that this kind of posts don't push you to investigate as much as we all should, and besides they fall into oblivion after some time. 

This blog aims to be something in between, exploiting the benefits of online publications but with elaborated and rigorous posts. With a focus on Western Palearctic birds, and especially on (but not limited to) topics related to Southern European birds (hence the name) that have largely gone forgotten in the literature.

We truly believe in collaborative and open projects, so if you think you have a story to tell and you find this is the right place to share it, please contact us!

Meet the team

Guillermo Rodríguez Lázaro

I grew up in Santander, a small city in Northern Spain. From an early age I was attracted by wildlife in general, but as a teenager I started to focus on bird identification and rarities. My main interests lie on ‘coastal birds’ (seabirds, ducks, shorebirds) and especially raptors. After having visited almost every corner of the Western Palearctic during my college years, I became quickly interested in world birding, and although I’m not a crazy world lister I have visited quite a few countries all over the world. I lived in Boston for a couple of years and currently I’m based in Barcelona.

If you want to contact me, I will be happy to answer at grolazaro@gmail.com.

Marcel Gil Velasco

I was born in Barcelona, so I grew up as a birder at Llobregat Delta, where I also became a ringer with a deep passion for identification of tricky taxa and moult. My beloved origins are in Soria, though, a highly biodiverse province in central Spain, where every summer I had access to a different set of species. However, I soon felt in love with seabirds, whose study and conservation later became my job as a biologist, particularly on the Canary Islands. In my way there, I enjoyed a couple of years ringing at Falsterbo Bird Observatory and some trips to the Middle East, a region that is, together with the Canary Islands, my favourite corners of the Earth.

Feel free to email me at marcelgilvelasco@gmail.com.

Martí Franch

Raised in a small city in Barcelona’s countryside, as a teenager I spent many hours sketching birds in the field. This passion eventually led to working as a freelance wildlife illustrator, mainly for conservation and citizen science projects. Part-time illustrator, part-time biologist. I work in citizen science and bird monitoring in the Catalan Ornithological Institute, being involved in the coordination and production of the European and the Catalan Breeding Bird Atlases. I must confess I also chase orchids, butterflies and other bugs at home, but birds remain the main target in my trips around the WP.

Do not hesitate to contact me at franch.marti@gmail.com.