A celebration of woodpeckers to begin the month, both Three-toed Woodpecker still present and the Black Woodpecker on the peanut feeders at Labanoras.

Outshining both however, and the culmination of a multi-year search, a fabulous European Lynx impressed as it strolled across a forest track shortly before dark, three Raccoon Dogs seen the same evening.

Late month, incoming migrants added to the mix - Common Cranes, White-tailed Eagles and Hen Harriers on my land at Labanoras, Marsh Harriers and Smew elsewhere.

Introduction

A total collapse of diplomatic relations and an atmosphere tainted by mutual expulsions of consular staff and embassy closures, into Iran I arrived for my second visit.

Media headlines aside however, the real Iran remained a land of warmth and welcome - excellent birding at every turn and a generosity amongst the population that is second to none. This trip very much built on my previous - whereas the earlier travels had been at the height of summer, enduring sauna-like conditions in the south but generally having an excellent time with all the breeding species, this mid-winter trip focussed on the vast numbers of birds that winter in Iran, most particularly along the Persian Gulf and, later in the trip, in the Caspian lowlands.

Additionally, as temperatures and humidity had combined to create a cocktail that had hurried me along in August, I had also planned to linger in a few localities that I had either skipped or visited only briefly on the previous journey, notably sites in the Dez Valley, plus Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf.