Very sad news reached us from Rome, Italy. On 18 June, Michele Panuccio died at the age of only 42 years. He was one of the best European raptor specialists, a passionate researcher of birds of prey, especially in the Mediterranean. His doctoral thesis was titled 'Across and around a barrier: migration ecology of raptors in the Mediterranean basin'. Michele was the founder member and coordinator of the Mediterranean Raptor Migration Network – a non-profit association of ornithologists, that works to improve research and conservation of migrating raptors. His interest was focused mainly on population and phenological trends as well as movement ecology, and in particular on social interactions, effect of ecological barriers and the effect of weather conditions on raptors' migration. For this, he used visual observations, radar monitoring, ringing recoveries and GPS tracking. Besides raptors, he also studied waterbirds. Michele authored more than 100 papers, many in scientific journals. Thanks to his passion and research we discovered a lot about behavioural ecology of raptors, in particular during their migration. Most of his papers are available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele_Panuccio/publications. The Dutch Birding team offer their condolences to his family and friends.