Martí Rodriguez lives in Vic in the northwest of Spain. The following beautiful sketchbook is from Catalunya. What is, perhaps, most remarkable is that Martí is only 15 years old!

"I began painting seriously, at least, two years ago, but when I didn't begin doing sketchbooks until September 2000. When I go bird watching, I always do sketches, especially about birds, but, for example, I also draw mammals and flowers, too. I do my elaborate paintings at home, using my sketches, photographs and, sometimes, other paintings as reference.

I did these sketches during the summer in Catalunya (Catalonia is in NE Spain).

Cap de Creus is a very good place if you want to see Mediterranean birds. There you can see easily birds like Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), Rock (Monticola saxatilis) and Blue Rock (Monticola solitarius), Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana), Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica), Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis). In the picture there is a Rock Thrush, two Red-rumped Swallow and some Tawny Pipits.
The Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus) is very scarce in Catalonia. On July I saw four of them together, near their old nest. Two of them were young birds. Near the nest we saw some Rollers (Coracias garrulus), Southern Gray Shrikes (Lanius meridionalis) and a Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius).
Other birds easy to see there are Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax), Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus), Black (Oenanthe leucura) and Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica). In the picture there are the Great Spotted Cuckoo, the Roller and the Little Bustard.