Canal de Castilla Rey (Palencia), considered the beginning of the Northern Branch, Valladolid and Medina de Rioseco, lying at the end of the Southern Branch and Campos Branch respectively. The countryside crossed by the canal is of interest for its birdlife. In the Tierra de Campos there are two large Special Protection Areas ("La Nava-Campos Norte" and "La Nava-Campos Sur") which are notable for the birds such as great bustards ("Otis tarda") which live in the dryland farming areas (sometimes described as "steppes") which are typical of the region. The canal, on the other hand, provides habitats for wetland birds such as the
Strange Little Birds face, and really dry. There are not a lot of effects. There are some moments on the record that get really huge, but a lot of it is really intimate." Two of the songs written during the sessions, "The Chemicals" and "On Fire", were given a vinyl release on Record Store Day the previous year. "Strange Little Birds" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 26 reviews. Annie Zaleski of "The A.V. Club" wrote, "20-plus