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Updated on Friday, October 19 at 11:04 AM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

PRESS STATEMENT ++  ++

Raid against illegal bird trappers at Lake Garda
Robins end up on the skewer in Italy


Bonn/Tremosine. On Thursday 18 October, officers of the Italian forest 
police dismantled a huge net trapping site for migrant dong birds in the 
middle of a popular holiday region and arrested two poachers. According 
to CABS, whose teams discovered the trapping site, more than 100 dead 
and living song birds, including finches, robins and dunnocks, were 
seized in the raid in the Tremosine district. The poachers had erected 
10 fine mist nets, with a total length of some 200 m, as well as lime 
sticks in their gardens. The traps were surrounded by 26 live bird 
decoys in cages. "This facility has probably been responsible for the 
death of hundreds of song birds in the past few weeks, which are then 
sold" commented CABS spokesman Axel Hirschfeld. Both poachers, one of 
whom has a hunting licence, will be prosecuted.

Song birds, grilled on skewers and served up with polenta, are still 
regarded by many Italians as delicacies and, despite strict laws banning 
their trapping, are still caught and sold in large numbers. The main hot 
spot for illegal trapping is in the Southern Alps, where hundreds of 
thousands of birds meet their death every year in nets and traps. At the 
present time more than 30 CABS members are active in the area around 
Lake Garda on operations conducted to prevent the illegal trapping. CABS 
teams, together with their Italian partner organisations, search daily 
for trapping sites which are then reported to the forest police. Since 
the start of operations at the beginning of October some 820 bow and 
other traps and 44 nets set out for illegal trapping have been located 
and dismantled. 20 poachers have been caught red-handed and 37 live 
decoy birds have been set free. Details and results of our operations 
are published online daily in our camp blog at www.komitee.de/en.

Distributed on behalf of CABS by:

David
--
David Conlin
Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... 
doing nothing costs birds 

Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively 
operating against illegal hunting across Europe 

Skype: david_conlin  
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Please action and pass to your contacts and lists:

<...>
THE EU HAS SENT ITS FINAL WARNING TO THE MALTESE GOVERNMENT
 

BirdLife Malta have now initiated an email campaign on this matter

To make life easier fo all of you, I have now prepared a draft text and 
email link to Prime Minister Gonzi at:

http://www.proact-campaigns.net/malta/ban_spring_hunting_now.html

I urge you to send an email to the Maltese Prime Minister as soon as you 
can, asking him to respond to the European Commission's warning and to 
declare the end to spring hunting in Malta once and for all.

David
--
David Conlin
Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... 
doing nothing costs birds 

Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively 
operating against illegal hunting across Europe 

Skype: david_conlin  
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Dear Marko,
Thank you for your interesting response. Yes, finding out more facts on wagtail 
hybridisation may take many, many years. As to the picture of tschutschensis on 
radioactive robins as it is so strikingly similar to what we see portrayed in 
Field Guides as tschutschensis there really is no need to use another name. 
Imagine it is a hybrid. How can we tell it apart from true tschutschensis? You 
say by call perhaps but what if the individual one sees doesn't call and what 
if you find one dead? I really should not worry too much. There are plenty 
vagrants reaching Europe which come all the way from the area where 
tschutschensis is supposed to occur so why should tschutschensis not be able 
come here on it's own steam? Besides our knowledge about the areas where the 
respective races occur is still evolving. May be tschutschensis occurs much 
more westerly than we think. Here lies an interesting challenge for our Russian 
friends! However if it will ever be proven that tschutschensis look-alikes are 
in fact hybrids then we are in real trouble! 


As to your question about leucism, our expert in these matters of the Natural 
History Museum in Leiden, Hein van Grouw, says: "I have come across more cases 
of leucism among both White as well as Yellow Wagtails. Indeed leucism is one 
of the commonest mutations among birds and evidently this heridiatery quality 
is well eastablished in the Serbian yellow wagtail population!" Norman 



Marko Sciban wrote: >I have to say that I strongly agree with Peter. There is a 
lot problems 

with females, as they are even more variable then males. This August I 
caught one female feldegg, so I will soon send them to you. Also, better 
time to do research on yellow wagtails is spring while autumn is very 
hard because of moult and juveniles. But on the other hand it is more 
easy to catch birds in August and September when birds can be caught in 
their roosts in reedbeds. Spring is very rapid and birds are not present 
in big flocks, so you are not able to catch bigger numbers of birds 
which would be better for comparision. In any case, here in Serbia 
spring ringings are very needed if we want to make a good research. 
Especially direct capture of breeding pairs with callers would be more 
productive for your question. But since we still do not have 
possibilities and time for such research, in any case this is a subject 
for a several year study.
As for the photo of "tschutschensis" on your website, I must say that it 
is looking strikingly similar to the birds from Siberia, but I could 
never dare to say something like that since I know that we have such, 
nearly identical, birds here in northern Serbia actually breeding. Yes, 
they are rare, but you can find all kinds of them if you search enough. 
If the call recordings are indeed a good way to separate these 
subspecies then only then you can say that it is tschutschensis. Head 
patterns are not enough to say that bird is from east Siberia although 
it look identically to the subspecies. In the following e-mail I am 
sending you photos of some birds which we managed to collect until now. 
If anyone else is interested I can forward to them also.

And now, I have one question. This autumn we menaged to catch and ring 
about 150 yellow wagtails, from which 5 were leucistic. As this is the 
high % of the captured birds, I wonder is this normal to have so much 
leucistic cases or we just had a lot of luck?

> ����� �� ����� �� "Norman D.van Swelm"
> :
> Dear Norman,
> We catch also females, not less than males. But it is much
> more diffucult to orientate among them.In most of the
> cases(approx. 80%) M.f.flava females can be distinguished
> from M.f.feldegg females if the bird is in your hands.But
> there are some "intermediate" 20% ....so , probably I have
> to work 1-2 more springs to study them. And on the field it
> is more difficult to see the differences. So if somebody
> will study the pairs in the contact zones to prove the
> hybridisation he must catch the birds and he must have big
> experience with catching breeding females in spring from the
> "core distribution" of each studied subspecies.
> Peter_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
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Please distribute widely:

I have put all the press reports in connection with recent bird 
protection operations and their aftermath online at:

http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/press_maltacamp_2007.html 

The cartoons http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/cartoons.html  are 
excellent and show how much publicity we received.

As Mae West once said: "The only bad publicity is NO publicity!".

In an interesting development the Catholic Church, once a firm bastion 
of the hunting community, has now come down unambiguously on the side of 
the environment. This is no doubt allied to recent Vatican policy on 
this subject: See 
http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/church_on_hunting.html 

I hope we have shaken things up a little. Our next aim will to campaign 
against a renewed opening of the spring hunting season.

David

--
David Conlin
Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... 
doing nothing costs birds 

Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively 
operating against illegal hunting across Europe 

Skype: david_conlin  
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

I just put the full report on front page of Fatbirder

bo

www.fatbirder.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: sylvia wallace 
  To: proact-campaigns AT online.de 
  Cc: ebn AT physis.pnw.fi ; UKBN 
  Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 2:49 PM
  Subject: Re: [UKbirdnet] Shooting incident on Malta


 This is outrageous. His trees were ripped down and damaged by hunters. This 
sounds to me as if he has been targetted not once, but twice or perhaps more? 


 Can anyone tell me the name and address of the Head of the Police and Tourist 
Board in Malta? 


 Please pass on my regards to Ray for a speedy recovery. He has picked his 
spirits up once and he can do it again, but this is serious. 


 Once I am able to ascertain the above contact addresses, rest assured, I will 
be sending a swift letter to express my disgust and concerns. This is 
intimidation and the police need to act before someone is killed. 



  Sylvia.

   
  On 02/10/2007, Proact Campaigns  wrote: 
    Update:

    The Foresta ranger shot in the face was Ray Vella - a PROACT member -
    who has often contributed to our forum and other mailing lists. 

    I will write to him on behalf of us all. Anyone wishing to send a
    personal message can ask me for his mail address or - as Proact members
    - mail him online via the Proact team list: Europe South -Malta
    (restricted access). 

    Ray was the initiator and warden of the Foresta 200 project which was
    destroyed by vandals  this year:

    "On the night of 8-9 May 2007 a group of criminals entered Foresta 2000
    and destroyed 3000 trees. They uprooted, broke or sawed them off one by 
    one, methodically."

    There is an appeal by BirdLife Malta for donations to repair the
    damage and regain at least the lost work and the lost trees as fast as
    possible.  I am sure that, if any of you can help, this would make Ray 
    feel much better.

    See http://www.birdlifemalta.org/join/foresta2000appeal/  and scroll
    down to donate online. My donation is on its way.

    Thanks,


    David
    --
    David Conlin
    Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing
    ..... doing nothing costs birds
    Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ ....
    actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe
    Skype: david_conlin
    _______________________________________________
    UKbirdnet mailing list 
    ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
    http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet




  -- 
  The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of
  private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic
  state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism -- ownership of government by 
  an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power."   

  Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
  "Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies",
  April 29, 1938 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  UKbirdnet mailing list
  ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
  http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

This is outrageous.  His trees were ripped down and damaged by hunters. This
sounds to me as if he has been targetted not once, but twice or perhaps
more?

Can anyone tell me the name and address of the Head of the Police and
Tourist Board in Malta?

Please pass on my regards to Ray for a speedy recovery. He has picked his
spirits up once and he can do it again, but this is serious.

Once I am able to ascertain the above contact addresses, rest assured, I
will be sending a swift letter to express my disgust and concerns. This is
intimidation and the police need to act before someone is killed.


Sylvia.


On 02/10/2007, Proact Campaigns  wrote:
>
> Update:
>
> The Foresta ranger shot in the face was Ray Vella - a PROACT member -
> who has often contributed to our forum and other mailing lists.
>
> I will write to him on behalf of us all. Anyone wishing to send a
> personal message can ask me for his mail address or - as Proact members
> - mail him online via the Proact team list: Europe South -Malta
> (restricted access).
>
> Ray was the initiator and warden of the Foresta 200 project which was
> destroyed by vandals  this year:
>
> "On the night of 8-9 May 2007 a group of criminals entered Foresta 2000
> and destroyed 3000 trees. They uprooted, broke or sawed them off one by
> one, methodically."
>
> There is an appeal by BirdLife Malta for donations to repair the
> damage and regain at least the lost work and the lost trees as fast as
> possible.  I am sure that, if any of you can help, this would make Ray
> feel much better.
>
> See http://www.birdlifemalta.org/join/foresta2000appeal/  and scroll
> down to donate online. My donation is on its way.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> David
> --
> David Conlin
> Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing
> ..... doing nothing costs birds
> Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ ....
> actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe
> Skype: david_conlin
> _______________________________________________
> UKbirdnet mailing list
> ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
> http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet
>



-- 
The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of
private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic
state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism -- ownership of government by

an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
"Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies",
April 29, 1938_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

I hope most of you can take British-Maltese humour ..... in the Times of 
Malta today:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=275908

David
--
David Conlin
Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... 
doing nothing costs birds 

Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) 
http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?index .... actively operating against 
illegal hunting across Europe 

Skype: david_conlin  

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Please take action:

The Lesser Spotted Eagle shot down over Malta was (subsequently) named
after the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel - in order to
provide a lever to encourage him to put direct pressure on the Maltese
Government to put a stop to illegal hunting. It is relatively easy to
mail him using the contact form in English here:

http://www.bmu.de/english/contact/content/4126.php

In case anyone wants a crib - try to include the following points:

I have been concerned for a long time about this needless annual killing
of protected European bird species on Malta.
I was appalled to read in the press recently of the arrogance and
aggression of the hunters. German and other international
conservationists were pushed, spat on and called Nazi spies.
There were reports of many magnificent birds of prey being shot down -
a tragedy.
I hope the Lesser Spotted Eagle "Sigmar" survives. Thanks to his sad
fate, efforts by European conservationists and their supporters
worldwide, and the illegal hunting problem, are being brought to a
larger public. I hope also that you and your ministry will use the
publicity to put pressure on the Maltese Government to give the problem
more priority and provide the police with more personnel and resources.

I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,"
---------------
Here as well on the Berlin-Brandenburg evening regional news:


http://www.rbb-online.de/_/brandenburgaktuell/beitrag_jsp/key=rbb_beitrag_mini_6484020.html 


(Click on video - requires RealPlayer)
 David
--

David Conlin
Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing
..... doing nothing costs birds
Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)
http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?index .... actively operating against
illegal hunting across Europe

_________________________________________________________________
Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. 
It's easy! 


http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.aspx&mkt=en-us 

Dear Magnus,
Thank you for sharing your pictures with us. Thank God the internet prevents 
the kind of censorship you propose. Now not only can we claim whatever we want 
but we can also show the world what we claim! 

Wagtails dear Magnus are long distance migrants, they are excellent flyers. 
Birds like that can and do turn up in weird places all the time. They are the 
spices in the birders soup! If you want to spoil the party and keep saying that 
my 'claim' of tschutschensis is false than start doing what I requested you to 
do: proof me wrong! You can do that by showing us 1) definite proof that 
thunbergi and flava hybridise and 2) that their offspring look like 
tschutschensis. When you have done that Magnus tell us how to separate 
tschutschensis from a hybrid tschutschensis look-alike! For those who have no 
idea what this is all about please have a look here: 


 http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/

then click Wagtails

and choose Yellow Wagtails.

Have fun, good night, cheers, Norman


Magnus Hellstr�m:>I believe that a claim of tschutschensis in W Europe without 
good notes 

(recordings?) of the call should be left outside every publication. The
intergradation zone between flava and thunbergi is wide and the phenotypic 
claim 

expression of the offspring is highly variable. The chances that a
tschutschensis-like bird in W Europe origin from this zone should be far,
far, greater than the occurrence of a true tschutschensis from E Siberia.

Some photos can be viewed here - mostly from breeding ground (or close to).

M. f. tschutschensis:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#

M. f. taivana:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#
http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#

M. f. beema:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#

M. f. beema X leucocephala:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Hi Norman,





Sorry I was too busy to read your first message and reply earlier. I cannot 
hear any 

difference in the flight calls of flava and flavissima but flava and
cinereocapilla flight calls are dramatically different with cinereocapilla 
sounding much reedier and throaty. You can pick out the flava-type birds on 
call as they fly over on migration in mixed flocks. 


Re. hybridisation. Feldegg males have been recorded feeding young in the nest 
in NE Italy (cinereocapilla area), the difficulty is assigning the female birds 
to a subspecies with any degree of certainty. 


Regards,

Paul Tout, Duino (TS) ITALIA

From: Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl
To: BirdsinRussia AT yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:36:51 +0200
CC: EUROBIRDNET AT listserv.funet.fi; ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
Subject: Re: [UKbirdnet] [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 
hybridisation 











Dear Christoph, thank you for your response, my 
impression is that if we were to decide on the races of Yellow Wagtails on 
the basis of calls life would be a lot easier, I have not been able to hear 
any difference between the calls of the various races in Western 
Europe!
Dear Magnus the aim of my message is to find out 
whether hybridisation among Yellow Wagtails is still taking place or that it 
simply based on interpretation of plumage characters perhaps originating from 
ancient times. So when you say that flava and thunbergi interbreed in C.Sweden 
please tell us on the basis of which facts you base your vieuw that indeed they 

hybridise.
Norman
 
Christoph Z�ckler wrote:>
I have sound recordings of M.f. plexa from 
Siberia https://www.birdsounds.nl/index.php?pg=newarticlesitem&id=684, 
but I did not pick up any differences in the calls with the European spp. Some 
of the birds might interbreed with tschutschensis, but I have no recordings 
clearly pointing to this subspecies from the breeding range.

Magnus 
Hellstr�m
You cannot expect to receive a serious response to your questions 
when
you jump your conclusions they way you do in your photos. With birds 
out
of defined breeding ranges (e.g. birds on migration in the Netherlands) 
you
will (and should!) have a hard time to prove them as tschutschensis, 
beema,
iberiae etc. You can't just say "Well, it sure looked like one..."! 
Are
there, for instance, any recordings of vocalizations of these birds? 
Have
they been properly assessed by your records committee?

Your 
tschutschensis looks a lot like birds commonly seen in C Sweden where
flava 
and thunbergi meets (and interbreed).<

2007/9/26, Norman D.van Swelm 
Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl:
>
> 
The Yellow Wagtail races hybridise frequently. That at least is the
> 
explanation given for the existence of individuals which differ in
> 
appearance from birds considered typical of their kind. This 
hybridisation
>
> is said to occur in border areas where two races 
occur. So f.i. the forms
> superciliaris and dombrowski are said to be the 
product of Black-headed
> Wagtails M.f.feldegg and M.f.beema and the 
nominate race flava
> respectively.
> More recently Dubois has 
described hybrids between M.f.flava and
> M.f.flavissima in NW France. The 
latter two also breed in The Netherlands
> where hybridisation has not 
been seen. I have followed Blue-headed and
> Yellow Wagtails for more than 
ten years and also never seen any attempt of
>
> hybridisation. It 
does not mean that is does not happen but in any case it
>
> would 
be very hard to prove as 1) the wagtails are very wary while
> 
breeding
> and 2) the females of flava and flavissima do not differ so 
much as f.i.
> females of feldegg, lutea and flava. So I wonder if anyone 
has
> photographic
> evidence of interbreeding between Yellow 
Wagtail races. If there is no
> proof
> of recent interbreeding than 
perhaps intermediate forms are just the
> result
> of ancient 
interbreeding and can now best be considered to be a variety of
>
> 
the race where they occur.
> I have selected a number of pictures of both 
breeding and migrant Yellow
> Wagtails taken in the SW Netherlands. I have 
designated each portrayed
> bird
> to a race as best as I can.The 
pictures can be found here:
>
> http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/
>
> 
then click Wagtails
>
> and choose Yellow Wagtails.
>
> 
Norman


_________________________________________________________________
Explore the seven wonders of the world
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Dear Christoph, thank you for your response, my impression is that if we were 
to decide on the races of Yellow Wagtails on the basis of calls life would be a 
lot easier, I have not been able to hear any difference between the calls of 
the various races in Western Europe! 

Dear Magnus the aim of my message is to find out whether hybridisation among 
Yellow Wagtails is still taking place or that it simply based on interpretation 
of plumage characters perhaps originating from ancient times. So when you say 
that flava and thunbergi interbreed in C.Sweden please tell us on the basis of 
which facts you base your vieuw that indeed they hybridise. 

Norman

Christoph Z�ckler wrote:>
I have sound recordings of M.f. plexa from Siberia 
https://www.birdsounds.nl/index.php?pg=newarticlesitem&id=684, but I did not 
pick up any differences in the calls with the European spp. Some of the birds 
might interbreed with tschutschensis, but I have no recordings clearly pointing 
to this subspecies from the breeding range. 


Magnus Hellstr�m
You cannot expect to receive a serious response to your questions when
you jump your conclusions they way you do in your photos. With birds out
of defined breeding ranges (e.g. birds on migration in the Netherlands) you
will (and should!) have a hard time to prove them as tschutschensis, beema,
iberiae etc. You can't just say "Well, it sure looked like one..."! Are
there, for instance, any recordings of vocalizations of these birds? Have
they been properly assessed by your records committee?

Your tschutschensis looks a lot like birds commonly seen in C Sweden where
flava and thunbergi meets (and interbreed).<

2007/9/26, Norman D.van Swelm 
Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl: 

>
> The Yellow Wagtail races hybridise frequently. That at least is the
> explanation given for the existence of individuals which differ in
> appearance from birds considered typical of their kind. This hybridisation
>
> is said to occur in border areas where two races occur. So f.i. the forms
> superciliaris and dombrowski are said to be the product of Black-headed
> Wagtails M.f.feldegg and M.f.beema and the nominate race flava
> respectively.
> More recently Dubois has described hybrids between M.f.flava and
> M.f.flavissima in NW France. The latter two also breed in The Netherlands
> where hybridisation has not been seen. I have followed Blue-headed and
> Yellow Wagtails for more than ten years and also never seen any attempt of
>
> hybridisation. It does not mean that is does not happen but in any case it
>
> would be very hard to prove as 1) the wagtails are very wary while
> breeding
> and 2) the females of flava and flavissima do not differ so much as f.i.
> females of feldegg, lutea and flava. So I wonder if anyone has
> photographic
> evidence of interbreeding between Yellow Wagtail races. If there is no
> proof
> of recent interbreeding than perhaps intermediate forms are just the
> result
> of ancient interbreeding and can now best be considered to be a variety of
>
> the race where they occur.
> I have selected a number of pictures of both breeding and migrant Yellow
> Wagtails taken in the SW Netherlands. I have designated each portrayed
> bird
> to a race as best as I can.The pictures can be found here:
>
> http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/
>
> then click Wagtails
>
> and choose Yellow Wagtails.
>
> Norman_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

< Unacceptable hunting contraventions>
by Fiona Darmanin Tedesco, Xemxija.

I would like to draw the urgent attention of the Administrative Law Enforcement 
(ALE) to the continual indiscriminate gunning down of protected species in the 
Pwales and Mizieb area (near Xemxija), to the fact that hunters shoot birds 
from the immediate vicinity of the Xemxija Simar nature reserve (a supposedly 
protected area), to regular hunting out of season and on Sunday afternoons, and 
to the regular use of guns firing five automatic consecutive shots. 


The other evening (September 4) for example a hunter was shooting down any bird 
that dared fly from the back fence of the Simar nature reserve at 7.30 p.m. 



When once again reporting illegal hunting last Sunday afternoon, the ALE person 
contacted replied that they were assigned beach patrol and did not have any 
vehicles to look into illegal hunting reports, while courteously thanking me 
for my interest to report. 



I challenge the hunters' federation to show some spine, patrol the countryside 
and turn in any members that blatantly contravene hunting regulations. To the 
best of my knowledge not one member has been turned in to date. Evidence of 
internal enforcement within the hunters federation might serve to gain the 
federation some credibility with the public, as well as finally shed some light 
on the "conservationists" part of their name. 



One last point. Why does the whole island belong to hunters or trappers during 
their seasons, at the expense of the rest of the population that might want to 
enjoy a safe quiet walk or picnic in the countryside? The authorities must 
seriously consider allocating designated hunting/trapping grounds, which will 
result in both law abiding hunters/trappers and the public separately enjoying 
their free time safely outdoors. 



I seriously hope that this letter together with my numerous telephone calls 
will not fall on deaf ears. 

___________________________________________

This article may also be viewed at 
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=274341 


_________________________________________________________________
Capture your memories in an online journal!
http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

FYI

>From: "Sherif Baha El Din" 
>To:
>Subject: massacre on the nile
>Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 00:38:28 +0300
>
>Dear all
>
>Over the past few days, un-noticed by most perhaps, one of the largest
>heron colonies in the Cairo area (and Egypt perhaps) has been decimated.
>This colony was located at the southern tip of Dahab Island (just south of
>the Pharaonic village and visible from Muneib Bridge). The nice dense reed
>beds have been home to one of Egypt's largest and most diverse heron
>breeding colonies right in the middle of Cairo (containing Cattle Egret,
>Little Egret, Night Heron, Squacoo Heron and some Little Bitterns). I think
>it is one of the largest colonies of Night Herons in Egypt .. perhaps North
>Africa?? or even the Med. basin (the source of all those Night Herons one
>sees up and down the Nile at dusk in Cairo and they go all the way to the
>southern Delta to feed!!.). Other water birds include Purple Gallinule and
>Spur-winged Plover. A bright spot in Cairo's grim concrete skyline.
>
>On Monday 3 September I noticed several large cranes placed on floating
>barges dredging on the outskirts of the colony but by Wednesday (today), it
>was all flattened with thousands of birds (fledglings and god knows how
>many nests and eggs ) scattered and scrambling in the open. When I stopped
>to take pictures and examine the spot more closely a military man
>approached me saying (no photo mister!!) and told me that the army
>operation??. There were some military barges with rocks in them and I think
>they intend to cement in the edges of the island (so called shore
>protection), which is one of the worst practices that reduce the
>biodiversity value of the Nile River by turning it into a virtual desert
>for fauna and flora (including fish as well).
>
>These islands are protected areas (in theory).. , couldn't this have
>happened outside the breeding season? When will such destruction caused by
>a bunch on un-informed (i.e. ignorant) people be controlled .. as you can
>see the damage can happen so fast .. we do not unfortunately have the
>mechanisms or capacity to follow up and react to every incident. But our
>role and responsibility as NGOs and individuals is to be vigilant and to
>complain, make noise when we see a disaster (especially one that not too
>many would notice such as this) to inform and raise the awareness of every
>one concerned of such disasters that no one seems to notice or care about.
>
>Please go take pictures.. it is easy right on the cornish of Giza, write to
>the Minister of Environment mseaoffice AT eeaa.gov.eg, Cairo Governor, etc. We
>might be too late to save the birds in the colony now but we could save the
>colony on the long run and prevent it from being cemented in and help
>preserve it as a landmark for Cairo.
>
>Best to all
>
>Sherif Baha El Din

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Committee against Bird Slaughter (CABS) -- News August 2007
(Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. -- www.komitee.de)

Naples is not only famous as the home town of the Camorra, but also for 
poaching and illegal animal trade. On the slopes of Vesuvius finches are 
traditionally trapped in nets and cage traps; to spend the rest of their 
lives in tiny, cramped cages. The trade in stuffed birds and animals or 
in exotic reptiles also flourishes in the metropolis.

On 10 August wildlife wardens from our partner organisation LIPU Naples, 
in cooperation with the forest police, found and confiscated 4 
Goldfinches, 3 Greenfinches, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Kestrel and a South American 
Caiman in a house in the middle of the historical old town of Naples.

More information (at present in German only) at 
http://www.komitee.de/index.php?napoli

(Most of the CABS website will be available in English later this year)

www.komitee.de
www.artenschutzbrief.de

Translated and distributed on behalf of CABS by

David Conlin

Proact Campaigns www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ... doing 
nothing costs birds 


_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

An immature Yellow-nosed Albatross was picked-up exhausted on an English 
beach, taken into care and released the following day without being seen by 
a single birder - a potential "first" for Britain that won't be on anyone's 
list (unless sea watchers manage to catch sight of it now it's back to 
ocean-wandering). Sounds to me like a classic case of Sod's Law!

Details of how the bird came to be taken into care - including pictures and 
even a video sequence - can be seen by clicking on:

http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/

Brian Unwin 

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

It is time for the bird societies to prove that they have the interests of
these eagles at heart instead of wind power.

Is this another PR release to co-incide with bad news?

Sylvia


On 23/06/07, Brian Unwin  wrote:
>
> After Eddie Chapman raised this issue and wondered whether the RSPB knew
> about the further deaths and whether they could comment about it, I set
> about producing a news story for UK papers. The answer to his query was
> that
> the they had not, at that time, been notified, but they are now aware of
> Eddie's alert and certainly have commented. Meanwhile they are also
> assisting NOF-BirdLife in the preparation of a new case against the Smola
> windfarm to be considered by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention
> in November.
>
> Unfortunately the news story I produced coincided with the arrival from
> Norway of 15 White-tailed Eagle chicks for the new re-introduction scheme
> in
> eastern Scotland. As a result I angled it on the irony of eagles that
> clearly don't get on well with windfarms being restored to a landscape
> that
> could well have a lot more turbines in future. As I anticipated, no paper
> seems to have published anything about the potential conflict between
> turbines and eagles, preferring to go for "Hooray, the eagles have
> landed-type stories."
>
> I won't bore subscribers with the full news story I circulated but below
> is
> the extract the feature the RSPB comments.
>
> Brian Unwin (extract follows)
>
> ********************************************
> (extract from news story sent to newspapers on June 22 but not published)
>
> The conflict between turbines and eagles is not disputed by Statkraft, the
> Norwegian state-owned enterprise aiming to be "a European leader in
> environment-friendly energy", which went ahead with the Smola scheme
> despite
> environmental groups warning of this danger
>
>
>
> Last October the company admitted: "Since start-up of Phase 2 of Smola
> Wind
> Farm in August 2005, a total of ten sea eagles have collided with rotor
> blades on the turbines and died. This is a serious problem and Statkraft
> is
> doing everything in its power to find a solution to this situation."
>
>
>
> Dr Rowena Langston, senior research biologist with Britain's Royal Society
> for the Protection of Birds, which strongly opposed the Smola project,
> said
> there was evidence that the eagles faced particular risks during their
> breeding season.
>
>
>
> The birds killed so far had been both adults and juveniles. "Smola had the
> world's highest concentrations of breeding sea eagles and their fortunes
> have been hit hard in the two years since the turbines started turning.
>
>
>
> "Just as significant is the disappearance of other sea eagles, seemingly
> unwilling to return to their traditional breeding site. Before the wind
> farm
> was built, there were at least 16 nesting pairs where the wind farm
> stands.
> We think as many as nine of those territories could have been abandoned
> with
> no evidence that the displaced birds are nesting elsewhere on Smola."
>
>
>
> Birds that have moved away may well face similar problems in future as
> more
> windfarms are planned in the growing international drive to produce clean
> power in a bid to counter global warming by reducing carbon emissions.
>
>
>
> Now the RSPB, which is much involved in the Scottish sea eagle
> re-introduction scheme, is anxious that the Smola "mistake" is not be
> repeated in the UK.
>
>
>
> Particularly in mind is the controversial proposal to build 181 turbines,
> each towering 462ft over huge area of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer
> Hebrides. The RSPB fears not only dangers to eagles but also to migrating
> swans and geese, nesting wading birds and the peatland habitat generally.
>
>
>
> Dr Mark Avery, RSPB Conservation Director, said: "The fate of sea eagles
> on
> Smola shows just how much harm poorly sited wind farms can do. It is a
> timely reminder for those now deciding whether to allow a much bigger wind
> farm on the Isle of Lewis.
>
>
>
> "Wind energy can make a hugely significant contribution to tackling
> climate
> change and many in the renewables industry have been working with us and
> others to ensure that turbines are built where damage to wildlife is
> minimised."
>
>
> ********************************************************
>
> _______________________________________________
> UKbirdnet mailing list
> ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
> http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet
>_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Apologies if anyone regards this as blatant advertising but subscribers 
wiswhing to see the Sula Sgeir Black-browed Albatross and wondering how to 
reach the site 50 miles out into the Atlantic might be interested in seeing 
this email that has just been sent to me. 


Brian Unwin
********************************************


An experienced and reliable local skipper has just been on the phone to me. His 
name is Angus Smith and he runs a charter boat service from Lewis. Details on: 


http://www.58degreesnorth.co.uk/latest/58-degrees-north-sails-in-stornoway.html

He can be contacted on  or via the contact details on the website.

At the end of next week he is sailing to North Rona and Sula Sgeir and has 5 
spaces. Cost is likely to be around �200 per head. It is a two day trip with an 
overnight on the boat anchored off the islands (weather permitting) 


Clearly a chance to try for the Black browed Albatross that is out there this 
summer and see two of Britain's most remote nature reserves. 


If you could pass this onto anyone you know who may be interested that would be 
great 


Martin Scott

RSPB Conservation Officer (Western Isles)
Office 2
Clintons Yard
Rigs Road
Stornoway
Isle of Lewis
Western Isles
HS1 2RF
Tel: 
Mobile: 

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

look like a Cetti's but i dont see ;
- good  dark eye strip from lores to back eyes
- no long supercilium smal above lores and broad after eyes
- and i think for cetti's to long tail
- and not real to see short 2 and 3 primaries

so i vote for Savis warbler

greets Alfons

  ( �)>
/(    )\
 / \/ \

Dagelijks vogelsringen van 06.00 tot 13.00 u. in de periode 20 juni/20 
november.
Ringplaats;Prov.Domein Broek Denaeyer, 51.04N-04.22E, Willebroek, Antwerpen, 
Belgi�
KBIN - Ringers  ID : 1395
http://www.trektellen.nl/
http://proaction.tripod.com/team/
http://www.birdingpal.org
www.vogelopvangcentrum-malderen.be
www.ooievaars.vlaanderen.be/
www.planckendael.be
www.birdlife.net/
< Vivat, crescat, floreat Ornithologia >
Wij moeten streven naar het behoud van de ons omringende natuur.
Wij zijn het aan onszelf verplicht.
Om haar ongeschonden door te geven aan de komende generaties.
 "We have the choise to use the gift of our lives to make the world
a better place for all living things" Jane Goodall
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "howardk" 
To: ; "'UKBIRDNET'" ; 

Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 4:04 AM
Subject: [UKbirdnet] Warbler


> Morning all,
> Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of
> Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a
> warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought
> himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am
> also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are
> Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site
> under O&B with AJ to view please see the following
>
>> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php
>
> comments as usual are most welcome.
>
> Howard King
> Bahrain
>
> _______________________________________________
> UKbirdnet mailing list
> ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
> http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet
> 

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Morning all,
Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of 
Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a 
warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought 
himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am 
also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are 
Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site 
under O&B with AJ to view please see the following

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php

comments as usual are most welcome.

Howard King
Bahrain

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Morning all,
Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of 
Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a 
warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought 
himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am 
also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are 
Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site 
under O&B with AJ to view please see the following

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php

comments as usual are most welcome.

Howard King
Bahrain

  .
 Absolutely true Lee, the Turtle Dove is in great trouble and not just because 
of the appalling hunting practices in the Meditteranean. Those birds which make 
it through the line of fire find an empty table. The EU agricultural policies 
have been and still are a total disaster for wildlife. Just imagine the mind 
boggling number of hedges which have been cut in Britain, France and elsewhere 
in Europe by farmers, payed for by the European taxpayers. Why? Only for the 
sake of subsidizing farmers, there was and is no sense in the destruction but 
the subsidizing for the sake of subsidizing caroussel just went on and on and 
on. And even if the European landscape had not been demolished then still the 
Turtles and many other species will perish as modern farming leaves them no 
opportunities to survive. 75% of the Northwest European Black-tailed Godwits 
used to breed in The Netherlands. That was 20 years ago! Now may be just may be 
40% is left and at this rate in 20 years time there will be none left! Why? 
Because Agricultural Scientists paid for by EU subsidies are still trying to 
squeeze the absolute maximum harvest out of each square meter of land and for 
that no stone is left unturned. Farmers in Holland start mowing from the middle 
of April onwards, when the Godwits and other waders start breeding, cows are 
kept inside, vast amounts of land have been drained, the overproduction of 
manure is injected into the ground through pipes 40 cm's apart. A child can 
tell this is a disaster unfolding but those in charge turn a blind eye as they 
are part of the system. The sad thing is, not only is nature destroyed so are 
farming communities as no decent income is being earned. An astonishing 
destruction of our natural world payed for by the EU subsidy machine has led to 
nothing! 

  Norman 

 Lee Evans wrote:>Once again a disgraceful decision by a government with no 
interest in bird 

 preservation. In my short time on this planet, I have seen the European Turtle 

 Dove population decimated, so much so that the UK population has plummeted by 

 up to 96%. How long is this going to keep going - until the last bird is 
killed 

  - just as with the Passenger Pigeon?

 The Turtle Dove is now only 'common' in Southern Morocco in April (on passage 

 south of Agadir) and in certain areas of Spain. In Britain, it is now largely 

  restricted to Kent, Essex and south Suffolk, but in appallingly small 
 breeding numbers. I have seen just two birds (a pair in Bedfordshire) this 
year. 


  In May and June 1976, sitting with the late Richard Richardson on East Bank, 
  Cley Marshes (North Norfolk), John White and I observed large 'flocks' of up 
  to 56 Turtle Doves migrating west along the coast, with numbers sometimes 
 totalling over 400 birds in two hour mid-morning period counts. These 
experiences 

 were wonderful and at the time, a phenomenon I thought would never change. How 

  wrong could I have been. Just 30 years on, this event has become part of 
 birding history, along also with the demise in Linnet migration along the same 

  lines of orientation.

  I have always associated the soft 'purring' of the male Turtle Dove with the 
 onset of summer but sadly, like the calls of the Common Cuckoo, it is getting 

 harder and harder to experience such natural joys. There is a direct link with 

 the demise of the Turtle Dove with the continual slaughter and carnage of our 

  migrants as they attempt to outfly the guns in Cyprus and southern France.

 The UK government should demand an end to this barbaric destruction of one of 

  the world's most enchanting species immediately and not AFTER the final bird 
  is killed. The Ortolan Bunting has suffered a similar fate 

  Lee G R Evans
  British Birding Association
 UK400 Club, Rare Birds Magazine, Ornithological Consultant and Conservationist 


   

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

  .
 Absolutely true Lee, the Turtle Dove is in great trouble and not just because 
of the appalling hunting practices in the Meditteranean. Those birds which make 
it through the line of fire find an empty table. The EU agricultural policies 
have been and still are a total disaster for wildlife. Just imagine the mind 
boggling number of hedges which have been cut in Britain, France and elsewhere 
in Europe by farmers, payed for by the European taxpayers. Why? Only for the 
sake of subsidizing farmers, there was and is no sense in the destruction but 
the subsidizing for the sake of subsidizing caroussel just went on and on and 
on. And even if the European landscape had not been demolished then still the 
Turtles and many other species will perish as modern farming leaves them no 
opportunities to survive. 75% of the Northwest European Black-tailed Godwits 
used to breed in The Netherlands. That was 20 years ago! Now may be just may be 
40% is left and at this rate in 20 years time there will be none left! Why? 
Because Agricultural Scientists paid for by EU subsidies are still trying to 
squeeze the absolute maximum harvest out of each square meter of land and for 
that no stone is left unturned. Farmers in Holland start mowing from the middle 
of April onwards, when the Godwits and other waders start breeding, cows are 
kept inside, vast amounts of land have been drained, the overproduction of 
manure is injected into the ground through pipes 40 cm's apart. A child can 
tell this is a disaster unfolding but those in charge turn a blind eye as they 
are part of the system. The sad thing is, not only is nature destroyed so are 
farming communities as no decent income is being earned. An astonishing 
destruction of our natural world payed for by the EU subsidy machine has led to 
nothing! 

  Norman 

 Lee Evans wrote:>Once again a disgraceful decision by a government with no 
interest in bird 

 preservation. In my short time on this planet, I have seen the European Turtle 

 Dove population decimated, so much so that the UK population has plummeted by 

 up to 96%. How long is this going to keep going - until the last bird is 
killed 

  - just as with the Passenger Pigeon?

 The Turtle Dove is now only 'common' in Southern Morocco in April (on passage 

 south of Agadir) and in certain areas of Spain. In Britain, it is now largely 

  restricted to Kent, Essex and south Suffolk, but in appallingly small 
 breeding numbers. I have seen just two birds (a pair in Bedfordshire) this 
year. 


  In May and June 1976, sitting with the late Richard Richardson on East Bank, 
  Cley Marshes (North Norfolk), John White and I observed large 'flocks' of up 
  to 56 Turtle Doves migrating west along the coast, with numbers sometimes 
 totalling over 400 birds in two hour mid-morning period counts. These 
experiences 

 were wonderful and at the time, a phenomenon I thought would never change. How 

  wrong could I have been. Just 30 years on, this event has become part of 
 birding history, along also with the demise in Linnet migration along the same 

  lines of orientation.

  I have always associated the soft 'purring' of the male Turtle Dove with the 
 onset of summer but sadly, like the calls of the Common Cuckoo, it is getting 

 harder and harder to experience such natural joys. There is a direct link with 

 the demise of the Turtle Dove with the continual slaughter and carnage of our 

  migrants as they attempt to outfly the guns in Cyprus and southern France.

 The UK government should demand an end to this barbaric destruction of one of 

  the world's most enchanting species immediately and not AFTER the final bird 
  is killed. The Ortolan Bunting has suffered a similar fate 

  Lee G R Evans
  British Birding Association
 UK400 Club, Rare Birds Magazine, Ornithological Consultant and Conservationist 


  __,_._,___ _______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Birdlife International has just put out the following news release:

"Indefensible" Cyprus Spring Shooting permit shocks conservationists across 
Europe 



Cyprus: Today's shock decision by the Cyprus government to permit shooting of 
Turtle Doves this spring poses an unacceptable threat to a declining species 
and is indefensible under the EU Birds Directive, say conservationists 
throughout Europe. [1] 


The Cyprus government's decision will allow for European Turtle Dove 
Streptopelia turtur - a species declining across Europe - to be shot in certain 
coastal areas on Sunday May 6 and Wednesday May 9. 


"It will be a case of targeting a threatened bird species at the most 
vulnerable stage of its life-cycle," said Executive Manager of BirdLife Cyprus, 
Martin Hellicar. 


 "These threatened doves will be hit as they pass through Cyprus at the 
tail-end of their long migration from Africa to their breeding grounds in 
mainland Europe. The EU Birds Directive bans shooting during migration towards 
nesting areas in order to ensure birds can successfully produce young to 
replenish their numbers," said Hellicar. 


Spring hunting is prohibited by EU law -the Birds Directive- in order to 
protect wild birds during their migration from Africa to breeding grounds in 
Europe. [2] 


"This step by Cyprus represents a serious and unacceptable infringement of 
European law..." -Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager, BirdLife 


BirdLife International in Brussels have informed the European Commission about 
this step and is to ask Commissioner Dimas for immediate and firm reaction, 
asking the Cypriot government to revoke this decision. 


"This step by Cyprus represents a serious and unacceptable infringement of 
European law, and BirdLife International will ask national governments and EU 
decision makers to express their protest to the Cypriot government." said 
Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager at BirdLife in Brussels. 


"This decision represents a very serious step backwards for both bird 
conservation and hunting in Cyprus. We are not opposed to legal, sustainable 
hunting - but this is not what we are faced with here." said Hellicar. [3] 


Malta, another EU country which permits spring hunting, is currently the 
subject of legal action from the European Commission. Cyprus would have to 
expect a similiar European Court case -with similiar EU wide embarrassment- if 
the country doesn't revoke its decision, conservationists have warned. 



ENDS_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Steven,

many thanks

Peter

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Asher" 
To: "Neil Tovey" ; "Peter Hellyer" 

Cc: "Adrian Chapman (new)" ; "Alan Galbraith (2)" 
; "Andrew Twyman" ; "Andy 
Mansfield" ; "Bruce Hansen" 
; "Chris Teesdale" ; "Dave 
Murdoch" ; "Dave Sergeant" ; 
"Dean Walsh" ; "EBN" ; "Emma Smart" 
; "ENHG (Al Ain)" ; "Erik 
Hirschfeld" ; "EuroBirdNet" ; 
"Gary Feulner" ; "George Gregory" 
; "Ginny dela Fuente" ; "Gordon 
Saunders" ; "Jack & Sylvia Aspinall" 
; "Jens & Hanne Eriksen" ; "Joel 
Maybury" ; "John Atkins (Oman)" 
; "John Rogan" ; "June Pretzer" 
; "Kelly Leach" ; "Kenna Sue 
Trickey" ; "Leslie Butler (Qatar)" 
; "Middle East BirdNet" 
; "Mike Blair" ; "Mike Ward" 
; "Oscar Campbell" ; "Paul 
Bourdin (Hotmail)" ; "Reza Khan (Office)" 
; "Salim Javed (EAD)" ; "Tommy Pedersen" 
<777sandman AT gmail.com>; "Tony Walsh (Oman)" ; 
"WestPalBirds" 
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:26 PM
Subject: Re: UAE Twitchers' Guide - The Final Whistle (but not the final 
twitch*)


Gents,

Likewise I will miss the guide which was a weekly highlight.

Thanks for all the work!

Regards




On 3/5/07 10:37, "Neil Tovey"  wrote:

> Peter,
>
> I will miss the Guide but maybe now you can make the 'Magic' Pelagic
> in June off the East Coast?
>
> On 5/2/07, Peter Hellyer  wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> UAE Twitchers' Guide - The Final Whistle (but not the final twitch*)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> After a little bit more than thirteen years of more or less regular 
>> weekly
>> publication, with the exception of the summer months, the UAE Twitchers'
>> Guide is now ceasing publication. Those wishing to keep up to date with 
>> the
>> latest UAE news will find that UAE Recorder Tommy Pedersen's website
>> (www.tommypedersen.com) carries all of the most important news (almost
>> always updated daily), as well as an ever-growing list of historical
>> records. Previous issues of Twitchers' Guide will continue to be 
>> accessible
>> on the www.uaeinteract.com website, run by Trident Press
>> (www.tridentpress.com) for the UAE's Emirates News Agency, WAM.
>>
>>
>> Twitchers' Guide first began as a weekly newspaper column in February 
>> 1994,
>> in the daily Emirates News, being compiled by Simon Aspinall and Peter
>> Hellyer, in response to the discovery of an Eversmann's Redstart in Abu
>> Dhabi. Following the closure of that newspaper in 1999, it's been
>> disseminated by e-mail and on the www.uaeinteract.com website. Since it
>> began,  we, but usually Peter on his own, have tried to cover the most
>> important UAE news, with a whole host of rarities and numerous UAE firsts
>> being reported, as well as reports on migration, unusual breeding records
>> and other items.
>>
>>
>> It's been a pleasure to do it, but, with Tommy's website now up and 
>> running,
>> there really isn't the same need for it that there used to be. And while 
>> the
>> UAE was still very much of an unknown place in birding terms thirteen 
>> years
>> ago, it's now pretty well-known, and regularly visited, even if the rare 
>> and
>> unusual continue to arrive.
>>
>>
>> We are grateful to all of our contributors over the years, both past and
>> present UAE residents and the many visitors who have sent in their 
>> records.
>> We couldn't have managed to keep it going without them.
>>
>>
>> We'll keep birding in the Emirates, of course - but without this weekly
>> chore perhaps we too will have a chance to get out some more!
>>
>>
>> Our best regards to all those who have been on our mailing list over the
>> years. Good hunting, but please keep reporting.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Peter Hellyer & Simon Aspinall
>>
>>
>> *Final twitch � a Black Bush Robin � the UAE's 4th at the Abu Dhabi Golf 
>> &
>> Equestrian Club on 1st May was a top find for patch-working Oscar 
>> Campbell,
>> duly world-twitched by both Nick Moran and Steve James (already bristling
>> with pride from seeing his 400th UAE species, Masked Booby, only two days
>> previously and now moving to 401 without even really trying).
>> Congratulations to Steve. The lucky bustard.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

News from Kuwait
via Howard King

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[MEBirdNet] Wryneck Confirmed Breeding in Kuwait
Date: 	Thu, 03 May 2007 19:23:
From: 	George Gregory 
Reply-To: 	MEBirdNet AT yahoogroups.com
To: 	MEBirdNet AT yahoogroups.com


Late this afternoon Pekka Fagel, Brian Foster and I visited Tulha in
the Sabah Al-Ahmad Natural Reserve. Near the drinking pool I observed
a bird on the ground and focussed my binoculars on it - an obvious
Wryneck. Quickly I realised that the tail was very stubby (about 1cm
long) and the wings were very short - a fledgling. I called Pekka
Fagel and he and I observed the bird well. I approached very close
and it fluttered weakly onto the trunk of a tree. Approaching it
again it flew very weakly onto the trunk of a tree on an island in
the middle of the drinking pool and disappeared into the foliage.

A short time later Brian Foster found another fledgling in another
tree about 30 metres from the first one - again very short tail and
short wings. This bird was approachable to 1 metre. It fluttered
weakly to another tree and hid in a crack in a fork. Pekka Fagel took
some photographs. It finally flew very weakly onto the trunk of
another tree and was repeatedly photographed by Pekka Fagel.

We then left it to avoid further disturbance. Later I observed a hole
in the tree on the island and tomorrow Khalid Al-Nasrallah will try
to see if it was the nest hole.

This is the first breeding for Arabia, and a major range extension.
The nearest breeding area is in northern Turkey but it may have bred
in north-west Iran. However, there has been little breeding coverage
in Iraq and Iran recently and it may well have bred in these
countries.

After dark we, together with Khalid Al-Nasrallah, successfully
attracted with a recording an Egyptian Nightjar on the seaward side
of the Sabah Al-Ahmad Natural Reserve, in coastal scrub near to the
tideline. It repeatedly sang and we had good flight views using
torches. This was close to where it was heard singing over a week
ago. It probably breeds in this area and there may be 10 or more
pairs present, taking into account the uncovered similar habitat. Now
we know how to find them we will monitor them in future for evidence
of confirmed breeding.

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/14_stub.php

__,_._,__________________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
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Further news from Bahrain

Whilst touring the various aviaries at Al Areen Wildlife Park with Essa 
Farraj, the Head of the Bird Section, Essa pointed out in one of the 
aviaries a pair of nesting captive Cattle Egrets, they were housed in 
with the White Storks who themselves were busy nest building, 
incidentally almost on top of the egret nest which held to my surprise 
two well developed chicks. However what surprised me more was that on 
the outside of the aviary another pair of Cattle Egrets, migrant 
visitors to the park had also built a nest and raised three chicks 
themselves. The presence of the captive birds doing what comes naturally 
had obviously encouraged them to breed. One has to wonder on the 
tolerance of the storks in accepting the egrets into their lofty domain. 
I had to go around the back of the large aviary to photograph all the 
nesting birds as the nests were situated in the corner furthest from the 
road and the gaze of the bus touring visitors.
see for photographs.

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/index.php

Howard King

Further news from Bahrain

Whilst touring the various aviaries at Al Areen Wildlife Park with Essa 
Farraj, the Head of the Bird Section, Essa pointed out in one of the 
aviaries a pair of nesting captive Cattle Egrets, they were housed in 
with the White Storks who themselves were busy nest building, 
incidentally almost on top of the egret nest which held to my surprise 
two well developed chicks. However what surprised me more was that on 
the outside of the aviary another pair of Cattle Egrets, migrant 
visitors to the park had also built a nest and raised three chicks 
themselves. The presence of the captive birds doing what comes naturally 
had obviously encouraged them to breed. One has to wonder on the 
tolerance of the storks in accepting the egrets into their lofty domain. 
I had to go around the back of the large aviary to photograph all the 
nesting birds as the nests were situated in the corner furthest from the 
road and the gaze of the bus touring visitors.
see for photographs.

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/index.php

Howard King
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

UAE Twitchers' Guide - The Final Whistle (but not the final twitch*)


After a little bit more than thirteen years of more or less regular weekly 
publication, with the exception of the summer months, the UAE Twitchers' Guide 
is now ceasing publication. Those wishing to keep up to date with the latest 
UAE news will find that UAE Recorder Tommy Pedersen's website 
(www.tommypedersen.com) carries all of the most important news (almost always 
updated daily), as well as an ever-growing list of historical records. Previous 
issues of Twitchers' Guide will continue to be accessible on the 
www.uaeinteract.com website, run by Trident Press (www.tridentpress.com) for 
the UAE's Emirates News Agency, WAM. 


Twitchers' Guide first began as a weekly newspaper column in February 1994, in 
the daily Emirates News, being compiled by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer, in 
response to the discovery of an Eversmann's Redstart in Abu Dhabi. Following 
the closure of that newspaper in 1999, it's been disseminated by e-mail and on 
the www.uaeinteract.com website. Since it began, we, but usually Peter on his 
own, have tried to cover the most important UAE news, with a whole host of 
rarities and numerous UAE firsts being reported, as well as reports on 
migration, unusual breeding records and other items. 


It's been a pleasure to do it, but, with Tommy's website now up and running, 
there really isn't the same need for it that there used to be. And while the 
UAE was still very much of an unknown place in birding terms thirteen years 
ago, it's now pretty well-known, and regularly visited, even if the rare and 
unusual continue to arrive. 


We are grateful to all of our contributors over the years, both past and 
present UAE residents and the many visitors who have sent in their records. We 
couldn't have managed to keep it going without them. 


We'll keep birding in the Emirates, of course - but without this weekly chore 
perhaps we too will have a chance to get out some more! 


Our best regards to all those who have been on our mailing list over the years. 
Good hunting, but please keep reporting. 



Peter Hellyer & Simon Aspinall 

*Final twitch � a Black Bush Robin � the UAE�s 4th at the Abu Dhabi Golf & 
Equestrian Club on 1st May was a top find for patch-working Oscar Campbell, 
duly world-twitched by both Nick Moran and Steve James (already bristling with 
pride from seeing his 400th UAE species, Masked Booby, only two days previously 
and now moving to 401 without even really trying). Congratulations to Steve. 
The lucky bustard. 


 

 


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Morning All

While out in the field on the 24th April with visiting Spanish ringer 
Juan Carlos Fern�ndez-Ord��ez I took him to Buhair Valley (see this post 
 
for site details) to check it for potential ringing sites, the very 
first bird we encountered was a Little Tern  Sterna albifrons complete 
with a single chick - the chick was quickly caught, ringed and 
photographed and successfully returned to its parent in a very short 
time. After returning to the car we were able to photograph from some 
distance the adult Little Tern when it returned to its chick as a means 
of confirmation of its species see  
http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php  for photographs of 
chick, adult and location. This observation represents the first 
documented record of Little Tern breeding in Bahrain - numerous small 
terns thought to be Little not Saunder's are regularily in spring seen 
sitting on nests on the small islands and mudbanks at the Race Course 
lake but access problems have resulted in these never having been 
properly documented. Saunder's do also breed here but prefer more 
coastal sites.

I have also placed a photograph on my web page of one of a pair of 
Swans  that were seen flying across Badaan Farm a few weeks ago here in 
Bahrain . They were seen at a distance by all Bahrain Birders (except me 
I was in the UK) and visiting ringer Juan Carlos. All observers tell me 
that they were too small to be Mute Swan which would imply Berwick's 
however with only a long range photograph by Jahani available as an aid 
to confirmation of ID,  I am not certain of species.
 ---- follow link to Problems with ID. Comments on the species involved 
would be most welcome, and any information on the likelihood of Whopper 
or Berwick's Swans occurring naturally in Bahrain.     Neither of these 
species are present in local private collections. A larger resolution 
image can be sent to interested parties by contacting Juhani Kyyr� email 
juhani.kyyro AT sci.fi

In the post below the swans I have placed some images of one of  Badaan 
Farms resident exotics - comments on the ID of this individual would be 
welcome also.

For those that have not visited our pages recently you should check out 
all the pages as many new spectacular and exciting images have been 
added recently -
For the Ringing project I have today added over 250 
 new in the hand 
images as ringed by Juan Carlos and on the others pages over 50 new 
images have been added during this last month with more to follow after 
this last weekends excusions.


    Site Navigation - main pages with additional photos added

Bahrain Observations  
O&B with AJ 
Problems with ID 
Birding Projects 
Birding Kuwait 

Howard King
Bahrain


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Morning All

While out in the field on the 24th April with visiting Spanish ringer 
Juan Carlos Fern�ndez-Ord��ez I took him to Buhair Valley (see this post 
 
for site details) to check it for potential ringing sites, the very 
first bird we encountered was a Little Tern  Sterna albifrons complete 
with a single chick - the chick was quickly caught, ringed and 
photographed and successfully returned to its parent in a very short 
time. After returning to the car we were able to photograph from some 
distance the adult Little Tern when it returned to its chick as a means 
of confirmation of its species see  
http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php  for photographs of 
chick, adult and location. This observation represents the first 
documented record of Little Tern breeding in Bahrain - numerous small 
terns thought to be Little not Saunder's are regularily in spring seen 
sitting on nests on the small islands and mudbanks at the Race Course 
lake but access problems have resulted in these never having been 
properly documented. Saunder's do also breed here but prefer more 
coastal sites.

I have also placed a photograph on my web page of one of a pair of 
Swans  that were seen flying across Badaan Farm a few weeks ago here in 
Bahrain . They were seen at a distance by all Bahrain Birders (except me 
I was in the UK) and visiting ringer Juan Carlos. All observers tell me 
that they were too small to be Mute Swan which would imply Berwick's 
however with only a long range photograph by Jahani available as an aid 
to confirmation of ID,  I am not certain of species.
 ---- follow link to Problems with ID. Comments on the species involved 
would be most welcome, and any information on the likelihood of Whopper 
or Berwick's Swans occurring naturally in Bahrain.     Neither of these 
species are present in local private collections. A larger resolution 
image can be sent to interested parties by contacting Juhani Kyyr� email 
juhani.kyyro AT sci.fi

In the post below the swans I have placed some images of one of  Badaan 
Farms resident exotics - comments on the ID of this individual would be 
welcome also.

For those that have not visited our pages recently you should check out 
all the pages as many new spectacular and exciting images have been 
added recently -
For the Ringing project I have today added over 250 
 new in the hand 
images as ringed by Juan Carlos and on the others pages over 50 new 
images have been added during this last month with more to follow after 
this last weekends excusions.


    Site Navigation - main pages with additional photos added

Bahrain Observations  
O&B with AJ 
Problems with ID 
Birding Projects 
Birding Kuwait 

Howard King
Bahrain_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the two weeks ending 7th April 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of key sightings of the past week, (or 
weeks). Anyone wanting more is referred to the website run by UAE Bird Recorder 
Tommy Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records 
submitted, month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


The best news of the last fortnight has been the discovery of more breeding 
greater flamingos near Abu Dhabi, at a site not previously visited (a 
privately-owned lake inside a high wall). They are being artificially fed, so 
perhaps not completely kosher, but wild birds are moving in and out from the 
area. 


The worst has to be the fact that "development" is now well under way at Umm 
al-Qaiwain's Khor al-Beida, starting with the coastline, and with the 
inter-tidal to follow. One of the UAE's top birding sites for 30 years, since 
regular birdwatching began, and a hot-spot for great knot, crab plover and 
thousands of wintering and passage waders, as well as for many other species, 
it's changing rapidly, and with the development of marinas and residential 
property due to be under way for the next few years, we'll just have to wait 
and see what's left! 


And on that note, we'll pass up the opportunity to nominate our Bird of the 
Week, and go straight to the records. On 25th March, a masked wagtail and a 
sacred ibis were in Dubai's Safa Park with a masked shrike and a semi-collared 
flycatcher also in the Dubai Creekside Park. 


On 26th March, a semi-collared flycatcher was in Dubai's Creek Park with a 
grasshopper warbler at Ra's al-Akhdar (Khalidiyah) in Abu Dhabi. 


On 28th March, a glossy ibis, 3 greylag geese, 2 marsh sandpipers and 2 green 
sandpipers were at the Sharjah Tip and another semi-collared flycatcher was 
found, this time in the Dubai Irish Village at Garhoud. 


On 29th March, the first yellow-throated sparrow of spring was seen at Abu 
Dhabi's Ra's al-Akhdar (Khalidiyah). 

On 30th March, birds at Sharjah's Khalid Lagoon included 6 grey herons, 3 
Western reef herons, a little green bee-eater and a pied wheatear. 


A visit to Khor al-Beida in Umm al-Qaiwain found bulldozers hard at work along 
the shoreline at the inner end preparing for the construction of the new marina 
complex (of which the least said the better). Birds still enjoying this area � 
one of the best sites in the Emirates, (for a little while longer), included 12 
grey herons, 10 Western reef herons, a spoonbill, 260 greater flamingos, 45 
oystercatchers, 25 grey plovers, 155 common ringed plovers, 360 Kentish 
plovers, 258 lesser and 75 greater sand plovers, 600+ bar-tailed godwits, 26 
whimbrel, 10 curlew, 45 redshank, 3 marsh sandpipers, 35 greenshank, 20 Terek 
sandpipers, 46 turnstone, 390 little stints, 58 curlew sandpipers, 1000+ 
dunlin, 32 gull-billed terns and 12 black-crowned finch larks. 


Just to cheer us up, the 'Dreamland Beach' area, further north along the Khor, 
is also about to be developed and the access track has already been bulldozed 
away. 


2 Oriental honey buzzards were still in the Mushrif Palace Gardens / Abu Dhabi 
Golf and Equestrian Club area. 


On 31st March, birds in the Dubai pivot fields included 4 glossy ibis, 25 
cattle egrets, 7 collared pratincoles, 2 wood sandpipers, 3 Temminck's stints, 
3 little ringed plovers (now in breeding mode), a Siberian stonechat, 12 
red-throated pipits and 2 beema yellow wagtails. 

3 Socotra cormorants were in the Umm al-Qaiwain harbour (rather rough 
offshore), along with 6 slender-billed gulls, a Sandwich terns and a swift 
tern, with 4 Arabian babblers and 4 pied wheatears (2 m, 2 f) at Hamraniyyah. 


On 1st April, 2 barred warblers were at Green Mubazzarah. 

On 3rd April, a Socotra cormorant, a purple heron and a white-cheeked tern were 
at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club at Umm al-Nar with 20+ European bee-eaters, a tree 
pipit and a black redstart at Abu Dhabi International Airport. 


On 4th April, a desert eagle owl was in Wadi Tarabat, Jebel Hafit, along with a 
kestrel, a rufous bushchat, a pied wheatear, a Hume's wheatear, an olivaceous 
warbler, a brown-necked raven and 5 house buntings. 


Birds at Green Mubazzarah included a squacco heron, 2 grey herons, a spotted 
crake, a pair of Barbary falcons, a blue rock thrush, a mourning wheatear, 2 
lesser whitethroats, an Upcher's warbler and an olivaceous warbler. 20+ turtle 
doves were seen in Al Ain City. 


On 6th April, a black kite and 2 red-necked phalaropes were at Al Wathba Lake, 
with an imperial eagle, 52 black-necked grebe, at least 3 juvenile flamingos, 
just out of the nest, and 3 shelduck at the lake between Shahama and Abu Dhabi 
International Airport, (inside a walled enclosure, that is generally 
inaccessible, well - to birders, at least). The female semi-collared flycatcher 
that has been in Mushrif Palace Gardens was last seen on this date. 


On 7th April, birds at the Fujairah National Dairy Farm at Dibba included a 
squacco heron, 2 pallid harriers, a Montagu's harrier, a pintail snipe, 10+ 
European bee-eaters and 4 Richard's pipits. An Egyptian fruitbat was at the 
Oceanic Hotel, Khor Fakkan, for those interested in our rarer mammals. 


 

Observers included Rob Quested, Clive Temple, Andrew Twyman, Nick Moran, Oscar 
Campbell, Neil Tovey, Rod Fox, Richard Nowotny, James Buckler, Huw Roberts and 
the editors. 


 

 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 


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Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed an unusual Bulbul in Eastern Provice S 
Arabia recently -what appears to be a Hybrid a cross with either a 
Red-vented or other species of escaped Bulbul any thoughts or comments 
welcome Photos at following

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php

Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed an unusual Bulbul in Eastern Provice S 
Arabia recently -what appears to be a Hybrid a cross with either a 
Red-vented or other species of escaped Bulbul any thoughts or comments 
welcome Photos at following

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php


_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

 
UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the three weeks ending 24th March 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


Just as well, actually, that Tommy has got his website up and running (and a 
fine job it does, too), since one of the editors has been out of the country 
for the last two and a bit weeks and the other has been suffering from work 
overload. Our apologies to those who have submitted records for the three weeks 
covered in this issue of TG, and, to overseas readers, thanks for your 
patience! 


A summary of recent reports below. 

The highlight of the period, though has to be a new one-day record for the UAE 
of 161 species recorded by Nick Moran, Steve James, Oscar Campbell and Simon 
Aspinall on 9th March. Highlights, says Nick, (some because they really were 
highlights and others because they are hard to find while racing around) 
included 


quail (Al Wathba fields), black-winged pratincole (Sharjah tip), great knot 
(Khor al-Beida), Lichtenstein�s sandgrouse (pool between the 2 tunnels on the 
Kalba road), olive-backed pipit (Safa Park), buff-bellied pipit (Pivots), rock 
thrush (Masafi wadi), nightingale (Back Wood at Mushrif Palace Gardens, at 
01.40 in the morning!) and Eastern black-eared wheatear (Khor al-Beida dunes). 


None of those make our Bird of the Three Weeks, though, which has to go to the 
long-tailed shrike seen by Steve James at the Umm al-Nar golf course. 


To the records.

Highlights from 5th March included a sparrowhawk, 24 avocets, 3 spotted 
redshanks and 3 red-necked phalaropes at Al Wathba Lake. 


A black-eared kite was at Al Wathba Lake on 6th March, with a red-breasted 
flycatcher in Mushrif Palace Gardens and a common nightingale, a rufous bush 
chat and a grey wagtail in the gardens of Abu Dhabi's Zayed University. 


On 7th March, birds at the Sharjah tip included 3 greylag geese. This area is 
now being drained and in-filled rapidly. We wonder whether the resident 
crocodile will be buried, or whether it'll wander away at night to another 
location! 


29 hoopoes, 21 song thrushes, a black redstart and an Ehrenberg's redstart were 
on Ra's al-Akhdar (Khalidiyah Spit), with a purple heron, a squacco heron, 2 
great white egrets, 10 black-tailed godwits and a rose-coloured starling at the 
Umm al-Nar (Sheraton) golf course. 


On 9th March, (besides birds seen by the racing quartet), birds at Green 
Mubazzarah included 7 cattle egrets, a striated heron, 2 sand partridges, 4 
blue rock thrushes, 3 rock thrushes, an Orphean warbler, a desert warbler and 5 
Hume's,7 red-tailed and a hooded wheatear. 12 Western reef herons, 4 Arabian 
babblers and three bulbul species (4 red-vented, 50 white-cheeked and 7 
yellow-vented). 


On 10th March, the Wadi Al Ain (by the golf course) had 63 cattle egrets (a 
high count or the Al Ain area) and 20 black-winged stilts, which will no doubt 
stay and breed if conditions remain right. 45 little grebe, 15 mallard, 2 
wigeon and 65 more stilts were at the Al Maqam golf course. 


On 12th March, an Ehrenberg's redstart and a common redstart of the nominate 
race, 12 chiffchaffs, a Menetries' warbler and a woodchat shrike were at 
Mushrif Palace Gardens with birds at the Abu Dhabi racecourse including 9 pied 
wheatears plus 1 vittata, an Eastern black-eared wheatear, 2 desert and 3 
isabelline wheatears, 7 Turkestan and 3 Daurian (isabelline) shrike and a 
woodchat shrike. 


On 13th March, a quick dash to the Sheraton Golf Resort at Umm al Nar produced 
57 species on 2 hours, including a European golden plover and, the highlight, a 
long-tailed shrike. An Egyptian nightjar that appears to have taken up 
temporary residence there managed to avoid the perils of the driving range and 
a cat to make three tentative flights. 


On 14th March, the mountains between Ra's al-Khaimah and Dibba produced 4 
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse, a cuckoo and the usual mountain fare. 


On 15th March, a return journey through the mountains from Dibba to RAK 
produced a short-toed eagle and a chukar. 


An Oriental honey buzzard was at the British School in Abu Dhabi on 16th March, 
with a sparrowhawk and a woodchat shrike at the racecourse. 


On 17th March, birds at Al Wathba Lake included a black-eared kite, a spotted 
eagle, 15 avocets and 8 red-necked phalaropes. 


On 18th March, highlights in the pivot fields included 241 cattle egrets (a 
record count?) and 14 collared pratincoles (with 16 there on the 19th). 


A red-breasted flycatcher was in Safa Park on the 19th, while birds in the 
'Back Wood' at Mushrif Palace Gardens included a grey wagtail, 4 redstarts (3 
samamisicus), 8 chiffchaffs, 3 Menetries' warblers and an adult male 
semi-collared flycatcher. 


Another semi-collared flycatcher was in the Mosque garden on Airport Road in 
Abu Dhabi, seen by two UK visitors, Andy Baxter & John Hall. 


On 20th March, birds at Green Mubazzarah included 2 sand partridges, 3 blue 
rock thrushes, a rock thrush, a bluethroat, a Siberian stonechat, 2 black 
redstarts and the usual good mix of wheatears. 


On 20th March, a male white-throated robin was at the Abu Dhabi racecourse, 
along with a short-toed lark and at least 3 Northern wheatears, while the 
'normal' robin was singing strong in the Mushrif Palace Gardens 'Back Wood'. 


On 21st March, a tour of key Dubai sites, led by Tommy for two visiting British 
birders, Roger Broad and Duncan Orr-Ewing, produced 500 greater flamingos, a 
Eurasian spoonbill, 4 spotted eagles and an avocet at Ra's al-Khor, 3 glossy 
ibis, 13 collared pratincoles, a European golden plover, a Richard's pipit, 2 
Blyth's pipits, a buff-bellied pipit and 6 citrine wagtails at the pivot fields 
and 2 rock thrushes, 2 blue rock thrushes and a Northern, 3 pied, 3 Eastern 
black-eared, a red-tailed and a desert wheatear at Qarn Nazwa, 


On 22nd March, birds in Safa Park included 2 semi-collared flycatchers and 3 
pairs of red-wattled plovers, all showing signs of breeding. 


On 24th March, 2 red-wattled plover nests (4 eggs and 2 eggs) were in the pivot 
fields, where little green bee-eater are also nesting. A osprey, a greater 
spotted eagle and 19 spoonbills were at Ra's al-Khor and a purple 
gallinule/swamphen at Al Warsen Lakes. 


Birds in Mamzar Park included a wryneck, a Eurasian scops owl, a red-breasted 
flycatcher and 2 masked shrike, with a semi-collared flycatcher and a masked 
shrike in Dubai's Creek park. 


 

Observers included Steve James, Clive Temple, Andrew Twyman, Nick Moran, Oscar 
Campbell, Neil Tovey, Dave Clark, Tommy Pedersen, Reza Khan and Huw Roberts, 
visitors Andy Baxter, John Hall, Roger Broad, Duncan Orr-Ewing and Richard 
Nowotny and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed an unusual Wheatear on Thursday March 
22nd at Badaan Farm - while AJ had it posing in front of him, I was also 
observing the same bird but from another location 100m away but from the 
right side and rear. A second Wheatear was on the ground close by, both 
were females. The one on the ground appeared to be Northern but this one 
remained unidentifiable from where I was however, it did show some 
characteristics of a pale throated Black-eared Ssp melanoleuca. The bird 
was very obliging staying on its little rock perch for some considerable 
time however it only ever presented both of us a single view, it did not 
turn around unfortunately, it flew while I was changing location to get 
better views so I missed seeing it in flight. Its stance did not 
indicate Isabelline O isabellina examples of which where also numerous 
around the farm and from the back it did not look like a Northern O 
oenanthe. Since AJ had it in his sights I stayed well back - I could 
wait to see AJ's photos before attempting any ID. (3 images at the 
following)

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php

After he posted the images on Bird forum a lengthy discussion has since 
developed over whether it is a female Isabelline O isabellina or 
Northern O oenanthe - We would be interested to hear other opinions as 
to species ID.  Myself I say Isabelline

Howard King_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed an unusual Wheatear on Thursday March 
22nd at Badaan Farm - while AJ had it posing in front of him, I was also 
observing the same bird but from another location 100m away but from the 
right side and rear. A second Wheatear was on the ground close by, both 
were females. The one on the ground appeared to be Northern but this one 
remained unidentifiable from where I was however, it did show some 
characteristics of a pale throated Black-eared Ssp melanoleuca. The bird 
was very obliging staying on its little rock perch for some considerable 
time however it only ever presented both of us a single view, it did not 
turn around unfortunately, it flew while I was changing location to get 
better views so I missed seeing it in flight. Its stance did not 
indicate Isabelline O isabellina examples of which where also numerous 
around the farm and from the back it did not look like a Northern O 
oenanthe. Since AJ had it in his sights I stayed well back - I could 
wait to see AJ's photos before attempting any ID. (3 images at the 
following)

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php

After he posted the images on Bird forum a lengthy discussion has since 
developed over whether it is a female Isabelline O isabellina or 
Northern O oenanthe - We would be interested to hear other opinions as 
to species ID.  Myself I say Isabelline

Howard King


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Pekka Fage, Brian Foster and George Gregory were out in the natural 
reserve (SAANR) today (March 15) in ideal conditions. Black eared 
Wheatears were abundant, in fact the 40 seen today represents the 
highest daily count for Kuwait  An interesting and  unusual Wheatear 
showing characteristics of being a hybrid between Pied and Black eared 
was  observed and photographed images have been place on the Birding 
Kuwait web page at

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/14_stub.php

comments please to

<>George Gregory email: ggregory71 AT hotmail.com 

<>Pekka Fagel email: pekka.fagel AT temet.fi 
<>Brian Foster email: brian_foster_uk AT yahoo.co.uk 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tom wrote: >> Checked out the previous one yesterday, and all I can say is 
that we had 39
> degrees here in Brisbane, Australia yesterday (...and summer is officially 
> over!)
> You don't need scientists to tell you it's getting hotter.....<

Clearly Tom, what you need is cold Heineken, I do it all the time when we 
have 39 degrees and it works!
Norman 

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

Tell us after you have seen this:



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=&q=The+Great+Global+Warming+Swindle&hl=en 


Cheers, Norman_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

 
UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the week ending 3rd March 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


Although migration during the week was getting into its full swing, there was 
little in the way of new rarities. Long-stayers, though, included some good 
birds, with sociable plover, European golden plover and buff-bellied pipit at 
the Dubai pivot fields, a great grey shrike in Abu Dhabi and great knot at Khor 
al-Beida, where crab plovers are still present in good numbers. A few greylag 
geese are still around (3 at Sharjah Tip being the peak number). Preparations 
for breeding are being noted, with lesser short-toed larks song-flighting at 
Khor al-Beida and common starlings in breeding plumage in Hamraniyyah. 


We'll give the buff-bellied pipit (Steve James) the Bird of the Week title.

To the records. 

On 26th February, 15 song thrushes and an Ehrenburg's redstart were on Ra's 
al-Akhdar (Khalidiya Spit) in Abu Dhabi. 


On 27th February, a great grey shrike (Steve) was singing at the Abu Dhabi Golf 
and Equestrian Club, with a steppe grey shrike and a woodchat shrike also 
present. 


On 1st March, a good total of 7 greater spotted eagles was at Ra's al-Khor, 
with birds at the pivot fields including a sociable plover, 58 white-tailed 
plovers, 2 collared pratincoles and a buff-bellied pipit coming into summer 
plumage. An Eastern greylag goose was at Al Warsen Lakes ('Wimpey Pits'). 


On 2nd March, a greater spotted eagle, 43 crab plovers and 7 great knot were at 
Khor al-Beida, where the 'Dreamland Beach' area produced 260 greater flamingos, 
13 mallard, 45 oystercatchers, 2 hoopoe larks, 6 lesser short-toed larks 
(song-flighting in their sole remaining breeding site) and 6 isabelline 
wheatears. There were slim pickings at the Fujairah National Dairy Farm at 
Dibba, with highlights being 2 little egrets, a sparrowhawk, 2 red-throated 
pipits, a citrine wagtail and a song thrush. 


The Hamraniyyah area of Ra's al-Khaimah produced a greater spotted eagle 
(plenty of those around at the moment), a Menetries' warbler, 28 common 
starlings, many in full breeding plumage in the only UAE breeding location, and 
4 Southern grey shrike. 


Birds at Sharjah Pits (Tip) included 23 little grebe, 48 greater flamingos, 3 
greylag geese, 2 gadwall, 5 teal, 6 mallard, 4 pintail, 70 shoveler, a marsh 
harrier, a coot, a little ringed plover (time to start prospecting for a nest 
site soon), 3 snipe, 8 whiskered and 2 white-winged black terns and 35 pallid 
swifts. 


On 3rd March, birds in the pivot fields included 5 glossy ibis, a juvenile 
pallid harrier and an adult male marsh harrier, a sociable plover, a European 
golden plover, a jack snipe and 48 common snipe, 13 Temminck's stints, a 
bluethroat, 15 yellow wagtails (including 8 feldegg in summer plumage), 6 
citrine wagtails and 2 isabelline shrike. 3 purple herons, an Eastern greylag 
goose, 45 pochard, 10 tufted duck, 2 greater spotted eagles a juvenile Pallas's 
gull and a great black-headed gull (among the black-headed gulls) were at Al 
Warsen Lakes. 


In Abu Dhabi, a wryneck was on Karama Street, with 2 curlew, a pied wheatear, a 
desert wheatear, a steppe grey shrike and an isabelline shrike at the Golf and 
Equestrian Club. 6 pied wheatears, 3 isabelline wheatears and an isabelline 
shrike were at the Officers' Club. 


3 blue rock thrushes, a hooded wheatear and 4 black redstarts were on Jebel 
Hafit with 2 Barbary falcons, a rock thrush, 7 blue rock thrushes, a rufous 
bushchat and a hooded wheatear at 'Green Mubazzarah'. 


 

Observers included Steve James, Clive Temple, Andrew Twyman, Nick Moran, Oscar 
Campbell, Neil Tovey, Dave Clark and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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Morning all

Both Mike Pope in Kuwait and myself in Bahrain have been busy over the
last few days adding further photographic bird images and data to our
respective sites - Bahrain Bird Report and Kuwait Birding.

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php

On the Kuwait site beside some really interesting species shots which 
include quite a few rarities. The 2006 Kuwait Bird Report has now been 
added to the other annual reports available - these now cover the period 
  2001 to 2006

I have also added a folder containing all posted images within the 
Kuwait posts (which now total over ninety) so that people can browse 
just the images. Follow link in right side menu.

On The Bahrain pages I am creating a similar resource however with more 
images to list I am listing the images in species folders under Images. 
Around 25 species covered here so far.

The format for theses folders all created in photoshop are basically the 
same - thumbnails that once clicked link to the full size picture. 
Output size is 800 pixels wide.

Plus new images and information has been added to all the pages
For Ringing Returns an updated list of species trapped plus latest 
project images
For Bahrain Obs new images added
For ID problems - last post is on plants and a moth caterpillar

AJ has returned so further images from him can be expected soon

For those interested in plants I have also adding a photographic library 
illustrating these - inspired by the good winter rains. ID on these 
plants is proving a nightmare so the folders will be constantly up dated 
I have around a further 100 images inhand to identify - any one 
interested in assisting here please contact me direct.

Howard King
Bahrain

Morning all

Both Mike Pope in Kuwait and myself in Bahrain have been busy over the
last few days adding further photographic bird images and data to our
respective sites - Bahrain Bird Report and Kuwait Birding.

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php

On the Kuwait site beside some really interesting species shots which 
include quite a few rarities. The 2006 Kuwait Bird Report has now been 
added to the other annual reports available - these now cover the period 
  2001 to 2006

I have also added a folder containing all posted images within the 
Kuwait posts (which now total over ninety) so that people can browse 
just the images. Follow link in right side menu.

On The Bahrain pages I am creating a similar resource however with more 
images to list I am listing the images in species folders under Images. 
Around 25 species covered here so far.

The format for theses folders all created in photoshop are basically the 
same - thumbnails that once clicked link to the full size picture. 
Output size is 800 pixels wide.

Plus new images and information has been added to all the pages
For Ringing Returns an updated list of species trapped plus latest 
project images
For Bahrain Obs new images added
For ID problems - last post is on plants and a moth caterpillar

AJ has returned so further images from him can be expected soon

For those interested in plants I have also adding a photographic library 
illustrating these - inspired by the good winter rains. ID on these 
plants is proving a nightmare so the folders will be constantly up dated 
I have around a further 100 images inhand to identify - any one 
interested in assisting here please contact me direct.

Howard King
Bahrain



_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the week ending 24th  February 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


First, by the way, the Emirates Bird Records Committee has rejected the 
description of the mistle thrush from Abu Dhabi which got last week's Bird of 
the Week award. Well, we DO stress that reports are subject to evaluation! With 
hindsight, in case anyone keeps a note, we'll nominate the great knot at 
Dreamland Beach (Neil Tovey) instead � though the editors (one in particular) 
were slightly disappointed not to find them still present this week. 


The best new bird reported for the week was a lappet-faced vulture at Hatta 
(Steve James), with a Mediterranean gull still at Al Wathba Lake, redwings and 
a crested honey buzzard still in Abu Dhabi, European golden plovers at the 
pivot fields and a European stonechat in Dibba. 


Migration is also now getting under way, so there should be more good pickings 
in the weeks ahead. 


Bird of the Week is the lappet-faced vulture.

To the records.

On 20th February, the Mediterranean gull was still at Al Wathba Lake, along 
with 11 common shelduck, 58 avocets (a high count), a red-necked phalarope and 
a spotted redshank. 


On 23rd February, a lappet-faced vulture was at Hatta Dam, with 2 pintail 
snipe, a masked wagtail, a female European stonechat and 2 Spanish sparrows at 
the Fujairah National Dairy Farm at Dibba. An adult female black-throated 
thrush was in Dibba Park. 


Birds at the Wadi Al Ain, now with dumped water in it for a distance of around 
5 kilometres, included 45 cattle egrets, a long-legged buzzard, 100+ 
black-winged stilts,50 red-wattled plovers, a common snipe, 6 green sandpipers, 
15 common sandpipers, a bluethroat, 3 tawny, 4 water and 2 red-throated pipits 
and a Menetries' warbler. It should prove a migrant trap, if the water keeps 
flowing. 


At Wimpey Pits, highlights included 2 purple herons, 2 ferruginous ducks, 2 
tufted ducks, 2 purple gallinules and 150 Caspian gulls. 2 European golden 
plovers were still in the pivot fields, along with 3 pin-tailed snipe, 60 
common snipe, 10 swallows, singles of Richard's and Blyth's pipits, 2 
red-throated and 30 water pipits and 6 citrine wagtails. 


On 24th February, a crested honey buzzard, a house martin, the 2 redwings, 2 
song thrushes, a black redstart, a pied wheatear, a red-breasted flycatcher and 
a robin were in Mushrif Palace Gardens. 


3 sand partridges, 2 rock thrushes, 14 blue rock thrushes, 2 rufous bush-chats 
(first returning birds) and a hooded wheatear were among birds at Green 
Mubazzarah. A booted eagle and 30 bimaculated larks were at Al Wathba Camel 
Track. 


At Khor al-Beida, there were a greater spotted eagle, 69 crab plovers, 150 
bar-tailed godwits and 38 gull-billed terns (but no great knot). An isabelline 
wheatear was singing in the nearby dunes � perhaps confusing the habitat after 
winter rains (plenty of spring flowers and vegetation) with its normal breeding 
quarters. 


 

 

 

 

 

Observers included Steve James, Ian Cunningham, Neil Tovey (and visiting 
friends from Britain), Dave Clark and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 




 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



This list is maintained by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, 
Caucasus and Central Asia. 


Read all about us at http://www.osme.org

To unsubscribe by email send an empty email message to:- 
MEBirdNet-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com 

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEBirdNet/

<*> Your email settings:
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We have not been able here in Bahrain to do much ringing these last few 
weeks due to persistent winds however St. David's Day (March 1s) proved 
ideal so we decided to try for some Hypocolius. We did get one but the 
most interesting observation were not of the 45 plus Hypocolius at the 
site but of a Kentish Plover nest at the Saar roost. The nest with two 
eggs was  watched from a distance and seen to be actively tended by one 
adult. It was photographed with a picture placed on the Bahrain web page 
as follows
 >http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/gen_stub.php

The roost site is around 4 km from the nearest coast - there is no water 
to be had other than in the adjacent housing compounds and building 
sites nearby - a steady supply of building trucks cris cross the roost 
area  many passing within a few feet of the nest. If this one makes it I 
will be suprised.

Please note additional images have been recently added to both Bahrain 
and Kuwait pages links can be found on the above

Howard King

 
UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the week ending 17th  February 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


Only a few records this week to report.

Highlights among the new birds included 2 great knot at 'Dreamland Beach' (Neil 
Tovey) and a mistle thrush at Mushrif Palace Gardens (Ian Cunningham) 


2 redwings were still at Mushrif Palace Gardens, while 135 crab plovers were at 
Dreamland Beach. A remaining sociable plover, the 2 European golden plovers and 
the female European stonechat were still in the pivot fields. 


We'll give the mistle thrush the Bird of the Week

To the records.

On 15th February, 2 redwings, a mistle thrush, a song thrush, 4 hoopoes and 2 
olivaceous warblers were in the front wood at Mushrif Palace Gardens. 


On 16th February, a sociable plover (coming into summer plumage), 2 European 
golden plovers, a female European stonechat and a tree pipit were at the Dubai 
pivot fields. The nearby Nouakchott Street marsh, though, is now being 
infilled. A pity � but it was always destined to be a temporary feature. 


Green Mubazzarah at the base of Jebel Hafit produced a night heron, 3 grey 
herons, 3 green sandpipers, 2 blue rock thrushes, 2 rock thrushes, a black 
redstart, 2 bluethroats, 5 clamorous red warblers and 2 European reed warblers. 


100 little grebe, 6 greater flamingos, 3 little egrets, 4 grey herons, a 
Western reef heron, 2 avocets and >100 black-winged stilts were among birds at 
the Zakher pools, while a booted eagle was over the Al Maqam fodder fields. 


On 17th February, birds at Sharjah Tip included 35 little grebe, a glossy ibis, 
20 greater flamingos, a greylag goose, 4 gadwall, 4 pintail, c. 60 shoveler, 12 
teal, 16 mallard, a white-tailed plover, 3 greater spotted eagles and 6 
black-tailed godwits (but the crocodile stayed in cover). 


At the Wasit Nature reserve in Sharjah were 6 black-necked grebe, 25 greater 
flamingos, 2 shoveler and 40 black-winged stilts. 


8 glossy ibis, a collared pratincole, a single sociable plover, a marsh 
sandpiper and 45 common snipe were in the Dubai pivot fields with highlights 
from Al Warsen lakes ('Wimpey Pits') including 3 tufted duck, a ferruginous 
duck and a hybrid coot (red-knobbed x common). 


A crested honey buzzard (rare in Dubai) and 10 black redstarts were in Mushrif 
Park. 


Up at 'Dreamland Beach', at the northern end of Khor al-Beida, highlights 
included 350 greater flamingos, 135 crab plovers, 35 oystercatchers, 25 Pacific 
golden plovers, 100 black-tailed godwits, 98 bar-tailed godwits, 2 spotted 
redshanks, 30 turnstones, 2 great knot, 250+ little stints, 1200 dunlin, 12 
broad-billed sandpipers and 96 lesser short-toed larks. 


 

Observers included Ian Cunningham, Clive Temple, Andrew Twyman, Nick Moran, 
Oscar Campbell, Neil Tovey, Dave Clark and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



This list is maintained by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, 
Caucasus and Central Asia. 


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UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the week ending 10th  February 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


 

A fairly quiet week, with two of our regular observers away, and nothing much 
new of importance to report. A second European stonechat was re-found at Dibba 
(Nick Moran and Oscar Campbell), to add to the one still at the pivot fields, 
which also still hold 3 sociable plovers and 2 European golden plovers. The 
hypocolius seem to have left Ghantut, although one, possibly two, redwings were 
still at Mushrif Palace Gardens in Abu Dhabi, with 2 white-fronted geese still 
at the nearby Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Club. A black-throated thrush was 
still in Dibba Park, with 2 olive-backed pipits (and a shikra) still in Safa 
Park in Dubai. So plenty around for all except the most demanding. 


We'll opt for the Dibba stonechat as our Bird of the Week.

To the records.

On 8th February, 9,000+ small waders, mainly Calidrids and Charadrius plovers 
were off the North-East of Sammaliah island, Abu Dhabi, in a protected area 
only accessible by boat. 312+ broad-billed sandpipers were also present (a 
record number for Abu Dhabi emirate?), along with a spotted eagle and 15 
spoonbills. 


On 9th February, an early red-rumped swallow and a house martin were over a 
rocky outcrop inland of Samha with 2 white-fronted geese at the Abu Dhabi Golf 
and Equestrian Club (though with drainage works in their favourite area they 
had moved on a few days later). 2 steppe grey shrikes were also present. 


Also on 9th February, birds at Al Warsan Lakes ('Wimpey Pits') included 10 
little grebe, 120 great cormorants, 10 grey herons, a great white egret, 45 
pochard, 4 ferruginous ducks, 6 tufted ducks, a purple gallinule and 10 Caspian 
gulls. Highlights from the nearby pivot fields were a collared pratincole, the 
3 sociable plovers, 2 European golden plovers, 60 common snipe,2 marsh 
sandpipers, 35 skylarks, a Blyth's pipit, 40+ water pipits and a European 
stonechat. 


12 great white egrets and 47 spoonbills were among birds at Ra's al-Khor, while 
2 olive-backed pipits were still in Safa Park. 


A European stonechat was at the Fujairah National Dairy Farm at Dibba along 
with 5 Spanish sparrows and what was described as "a lovely shrike that we 
couldn't identify", while a male black-throated thrush was still in the Dibba 
Park. 


At Green Mubazzarah, Al Ain, birds reported included 2 Egyptian vultures, a 
sand patridge, an Arabian babbler, 6 desert larks, a male rock thrush, a blue 
rock thrush, a black redstart, 7 tawny pipits, 2 Menetries' warblers, 3 
red-tailed, 4 isabelline, a Hume's, a Turkestan and a Southern grey shrike and 
4 striated (house) buntings. 


On 10th February, 2 chukar, 2 sand partridge, 2 long-billed pipits, 2 scrub 
warblers and 6 plain leaf warblers were in Masafi wadi with a shikra, 2 grey 
wagtails and 2 live-backed pipits in Safa Park. 


At least one redwing, possibly two, was at Mushrif Palace Gardens throughout 
the week, though somewhat elusive 


 

Finally, a word of warning � the crocodile (yes, crocodile) reported last year 
from the pools near Sharjah University City is still present, and has grown to 
a little over two metres. Observers should take great care (and the local 
Environment and Protected Areas Authority have been informed). If it's feeding 
on ducks,fine�. 


 

Observers included Nick Moran, Oscar Campbell, Neil Tovey, Dave Clark and the 
editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



This list is maintained by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, 
Caucasus and Central Asia. 


Read all about us at http://www.osme.org

To unsubscribe by email send an empty email message to:- 
MEBirdNet-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com 

 
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Here's my (belated) attempt to redress the balance after wild birds were
initially scapegoated for the Suffolk bird flu outbreak.
Adrian Pitches

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6362731.stm


http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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					_______________________________________________
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TWO VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH ON BBC new web site

from the BBC Web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6345089.stm

Tests on Hungary bird flu 'link'
Officials are to continue testing their theory that the bird flu 
outbreak at a turkey farm in Suffolk was caused by poultry from a plant 
in Hungary.

The government no longer thinks a wild bird brought the virus to the 
Bernard Matthews farm in Holton.

It says the virus "may well be identical" to a strain found in Hungary 
earlier this year.

And it says "partly-processed" turkey was trucked from the firm's plant 
in Hungary to the Suffolk farm each week.

-------------------------------------

AND THEN YOU HAVE THIS LOAD OF RUBBISH FROM THE EXPERTS ???????
Bird flu experts' answers

 From the BBC Web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6329419.stm

Virus expert Professor John Oxford and the Health Protection Agency's 
Jonathan Van Tam answer your questions about the bird flu outbreak in 
Suffolk.

How did the turkeys catch this virus? 

What if my cat captures an infected bird? 

If the birds are kept indoors, how can they get bird flu? 

Do the birds really need to be culled? 

Does keeping birds in unnatural surroundings lower their immune system? 

Will the turkeys be culled humanely? 

Which wild birds are most likely to be carrying the virus? 

I heard cooking kills the virus, what about pre-cooked meat? 

Why are the carcasses being moved to Staffordshire? 

Why are we reassured this incident is safe when there were so many scare 
stories last time? 

HOW DID THE TURKEYS CATCH THIS VIRUS?
Ann Mudd, Salisbury

Professor John Oxford, virologist, London Queen Mary's School of 
Medicine and Dentistry: It has most likely come from another infected bird.

We know that H5N1 is transmitted silently by migrating birds. The warm 
weather will have affected their migration patterns. So the chances are 
that is how it has reached Suffolk.

Jonathan Van Tam, consultant epidemiologist, Pandemic Flu Office of the 
Health Protection Agency: It is unclear at this point how the turkeys 
became infected with the H5N1 virus.

This is the subject of thorough investigation by Defra (Department for 
Environment Food and Rural Affairs). The route of infection for the 
turkeys is important since clues from this may assist in preventing 
other incidents either in the UK or abroad.




IF ONE OF OUR CATS CAPTURES AN INFECTED BIRD, WILL H5N1 TRANSFER TO THE 
CAT? AND WILL THERE BE A SUBSEQUENT RISK TO HUMANS?
Graham L, Chesterfield  

Professor Oxford: This has already happened in South East Asia, so the 
answer must be yes.

But the virus is extremely rare in Britain, so the chances are tiny. I 
don't believe anyone living outside the containment zone need worry 
about their cats.

If you're living less than a mile from the outbreak, you should be a bit 
more careful and maybe leave your cat outdoors, in case it has already 
eaten a bird. Those living further away, if they are still worried, 
should consider keeping their cat inside until all this dies down.

Jonathan Van Tam: It is unlikely that a cat will capture a bird infected 
with H5N1.

Should your cat bring home a dead bird remember that all dead wild 
animals may harbour infections and should be treated with care. If 
possible don't touch the dead bird directly (for instance use a handheld 
dustbin brush and pan), place the dead bird in a plastic bag and then 
seal it for example by tying in a knot or by using sticky tape to ensure 
it is air tight before placing it in the ordinary refuse.

Wash the dustbin brush and pan in hot water and detergent to remove any 
contamination to render it clean for use again. If any exposed skin (for 
instance your hands) comes into contact with the dead animal then wash 
the exposed area (for instance your hands) with soap and hot water and 
dry your hands. Even if your hands have not come into contact with the 
dead animal, it would still be advisable to thoroughly wash your hands 
with hot water and soap.

Domestic cats have been infected with H5N1 under experimental conditions 
and captive big cats (tigers) have been inadvertently infected in south 
east Asia through being fed chickens infected with H5N1. However non 
cat-human transmission of H5N1 has never been described.


IF THE BIRDS ARE KEPT INDOORS, HOW DID THEY GET BIRD FLU? HOW CAN THE 
COMPANY ASSURE SAFETY?
Andrea, London

Professor Oxford: It's unlikely that a building could ever be 100% 
secure. A very small bird could have made it through the ventilation 
system, for instance.

But the standard of biosecurity must be very high on this site because 
the infection has been confined to one shed.

Jonathan Van Tam: The normal biosecurity procedures in this type of farm 
with housed birds should prevent ingress of wild birds into the sheds.

It is unclear at this point how the turkeys became infected with the 
H5N1 virus. This is the subject of thorough investigation by Defra. The 
route of infection for the affected turkeys is important since clues 
from this may assist in preventing other incidents either in the UK or 
abroad.

 

WHY, IF THE BIRDS ARE IN AN ENCLOSED SHED, DO THEY NEED TO BE CULLED? 
WHY NOT LET THEM DIE? THIS COULD MEAN SOME BIRDS SURVIVING, MEANING THEY 
ARE IMMUNE TO THE VIRUS.
Ian Williams, Norwich

Professor Oxford: The problem with that is that it wouldn't work in 
practice. You can guarantee that 100% of the turkeys would die, and they 
would all die a horrible death.

Jonathan Van Tam: Unfortunately the virus causing this infection is 
highly pathogenic to poultry - that is to say that it kills almost all 
of the turkeys that it infects.

Defra made the decision to humanely cull, under controlled conditions, 
all of the birds to reduce the public health threat from the affected 
birds. This decision was taken in the best interests of the general 
public and the poultry.

 

DO YOU THINK THAT KEEPING BIRDS IN UNNATURAL SURROUNDINGS LOWERS THEIR 
IMMUNE SYSTEMS?
Sarah Patrick, Reading, UK

Professor Oxford: I suspect it does. I'm not criticising these places 
but the birds won't be at their prime to resist diseases.

Jonathan Van Tam: No. Poultry are prone to catch this type of virus and 
there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that these birds were more 
susceptible to disease.

 

I'M LOOKING FOR ONE SINGLE ARTICLE OR MENTION ON THE BBC WEBSITE ABOUT 
HOW HUMANE THE METHOD OF KILLING THESE TURKEYS IS, BUT CANNOT FIND ANY. 
SOME OF US CARE ABOUT THIS AS WELL AS THE EFFECT ON HUMANS.
Kitto, Geneva

Professor Oxford: It's very difficult to kill 100,000 turkeys, not least 
because you run the risk of getting infected yourself.

But people can be reassured that the birds will be treated much more 
humanely than those which were shown getting slaughtered by being thrown 
on fires in South East Asia. They will have to cull the turkeys as 
painlessly as possible.

Jonathan Van Tam: The disposal of the culled birds is being carried out 
under controlled humane conditions overseen by Defra.

 

WHICH WILD BIRDS ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE CARRYING THE VIRUS?
April Showers

Professor Oxford: Wild migrating birds like geese, ducks and swans.

Jonathan Van Tam: Wild aquatic migratory birds are the most likely birds 
to carry avian influenza viruses.

They may have little or no symptoms but excrete virus in their faecal 
material and hence into watercourses. Other birds can then become 
infected through drinking this water (there is no evidence of humans 
being infected in this way) or through spreading this faecal material to 
contaminate the feed that they consume.

 

I HEARD COOKING KILLS THE VIRUS, WHAT ABOUT PRE-COOKED MEAT?
Anon

Professor Oxford: Pre-cooked meat will have been heated and that will 
have destroyed the virus. It is actually very fragile and easy to kill.

Jonathan Van Tam: As cooking kills the H5N1 virus all precooked meats 
would be free of risk of infection.

 

GIVEN THE WARNING THAT THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN OF BIRD FLU IS HIGHLY 
PATHOGENIC, WHY WOULD DISEASED BIRDS BE MOVED TO STAFFORDSHIRE?
Sheila Branch, Ely

Professor Oxford: This has been a difficult series of decisions for 
Defra. The carcasses will have to be moved in steel containers which are 
totally secure.

I suspect this option was the best compromise. They will have thought 
about it very carefully.

Jonathan Van Tam: All of the transport is being leak tested to ensure 
the safety of the public during the transport of the dead birds.

 

WHY IS IT THAT WHEN A LARGE COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE GETS HIT WITH THIS IT 
POSES LITTLE DANGER TO HUMANS, YET WHEN THE SCARE-MONGERING OVER BIRD 
FLU WAS AT ITS HEIGHT A YEAR AGO IT SEEMED A SINGLE INFECTED BIRD WAS 
ENOUGH TO WIPE OUT HALF THE POPULACE?
D. McNicholl, Tain

Professor Oxford: The dead swan in Fife was in a public place - anyone 
could have walked up to it. But the most recent case involved a secure 
site which only affects the people who work there.

I don't believe last year's incident was overstated. It was a huge 
educational exercise: people know now that a dead swan is potentially 
dangerous.

Jonathan Van Tam: In either scenario, there would be a very small 
theoretical risk to human health.

As time passes and more knowledge is gained, scientists are better able 
to understand and manage these risks on a case-by-case basis. The 
practices being undertaken are designed to minimise the risk to the 
population and ensure that the population is safeguarded.
_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

 
UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the two weeks ending 3rd February 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


Apologies for combining two weeks in one go this week. Not because of a lack of 
good birds, just "work" getting in the way. 


One highlight of the fortnight was a couple of olive-backed pipits found in 
Safa Park on 23rd January by Bart Brieffes, which conveniently stayed around 
permitting resident birders to go and have a look. They were still present as 
late as 2nd February. 


These were topped, though, by a redwing found in Mushrif Palace Gardens by 
Simon Aspinall, with a possible second bird, heard by Steve James. Elusive, but 
they stayed around for a bit as well. 


Other good birds included Baltic gulls at Umm al-Qaiwain (Tommy Pedersen) and 
Khor Kalba (Neil Tovey), and a Mediterranean gull still at Al Warsan Lakes, 
with another at Al Wathba Lake, along with sociable plovers and European golden 
plovers still at the pivot fields, a black-throated thrush at Dibba, a great 
grey shrike still in Abu Dhabi and much else besides. 


The unusually chilly weather, (well, chilly for us, anyway), and yet more 
rainfall in the wettest winter for ten years might yet bring something else in. 


Bird of the Week goes to the redwing(s).

To the records.

On 21st January, the Mediterranean gull was still at Al Wathba Lake, along with 
17 cattle egrets, a little egret, 40 shelduck, a black-eared kite, a spotted 
eagle, 400 slender-billed gulls, 26 avocets, 33 black-tailed godwits and 3 
little ringed plovers. 


On 22nd January, birds at the 'front' and 'back' woods at Mushrif Palace 
Gardens included a wryneck, a grey wagtail, a robin, a nightingale, 3 black 
redstarts, 6 song thrushes, a red-breasted flycatcher and an isabelline shrike 
as well as one, possibly two, redwings. 


On 23rd, 2 olive-backed pipits were found at Safa Park.

On 24th January, 8 Hume's wheatears were on Jebel Hafit (but no sign of the 
brambling that has been there recently). 


On 25th January, 2,000 Socotra cormorants were offshore from the Umm al-Qaiwain 
breakwater, with 16 great black-headed gulls and a Baltic (lesser black-backed) 
gull closer inshore. 


On 26th January, a Barbary falcon was in Masafi wadi, with 12 black-necked 
grebe, 6 great and 10 Socotra cormorants, 12 oystercatchers, 10 Western reef 
herons, 40 sooty gulls, 50 slender-billed gulls, and 2 lesser crested, 10 
swift, 5 common and 20 white-cheeked terns at Fujairah port beach. 


100+ sooty gulls were at Khor Kalba along with a Baltic gull, 25 Heuglin's and 
100+ slender-billed gulls, singles of white-collared and European kingfisher 
and 20 lesser short-toed larks. Highlights from the Fujairah National Dairy 
Farm at Dibba included 25 cattle egrets, a sparrowhawk,5 Blyth's, 6 tawny and 
15 water pipits, a masked wagtail, a black-throated thrush 2 Spanish sparrows 
and a house bunting. A pomarine skua was at Bidiya harbour. 


On 27th January, 4 cream-coloured coursers were near the DUCAB plant at Jebel 
Ali, (in an area shortly to be developed). Highlights at Al Warsan Lakes 
('Wimpey Pits') included 250 great cormorants,25 grey herons, 15 wigeon, 5 
gadwall, 35 teal, 12 mallard, 6 pintail, 50 pochard, 10 tufted ducks and a 
Mediterranean gull. Birds at the Dubai pivot fields included 8 moorhen, 3 
sociable plovers, 2 European golden plovers, 250 pallid swifts, 20 skylarks, 10 
sand martins, 35 red-throated pipits and 12 citrine wagtails. A shikra, the 2 
olive-backed pipits and 2 song thrushes were in Safa Park. 


One redwing was still in Mushrif Palace Gardens, with the great grey shrike 
still at the Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Club. 


On 29th January, 330+ flamingos, 12 spoonbills and 2 crab plovers were at Abu 
Dhabi's Eastern Lagoon. A red-breasted flycatcher, a nightingale and a robin 
were in Mushrif Palace Gardens. 


On 30th January, highlights from Al Wathba Lake included a black-eared kite, 37 
shelduck,60 avocets (an excellent count) and a house martin. 


On 1st February, a spotted crake, 7 green sandpipers, a mourning wheatear and a 
black redstart were among birds at Green Mubazzarah, 


On 2nd February, 2 olive-backed pipits were still in Safa Park, with 15 teal, a 
great black-headed gull, 2 grey wagtails, a citrine wagtail, 5 chiffchaffs, and 
3 song thrushes. 


On 3rd February, 2 spotted eagles and 2 glossy ibis were at Al Wathba Lake. A 
stone curlew and a trumpeter finch were at Green Mubazzarah, with 8 crag 
martins at the Neima compost plant on the outskirts of Al Ain. 


Birds at the Zakher Pools, where construction has stopped, but tankers are 
still taking water out, included 15 little grebe, 10 greater flamingos, >100 
black-winged stilts, > 200 little stints, 30 little ringed plovers, 3 grey 
herons, 2 Western reef herons, unusual so far inland, 3 little egrets, 10 teal 
and 2 shoveler, 


 

Observers over the two weeks included Bart Brieffes, Tommy Pedersen, Nick 
Moran, Oscar Campbell, Steve James, Neil Tovey, Kevin Hyland, Rob Quested, Dave 
Clark and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



This list is maintained by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, 
Caucasus and Central Asia. 


Read all about us at http://www.osme.org

To unsubscribe by email send an empty email message to:- 
MEBirdNet-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com 

 
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
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UAE Twitchers� Guide for  the week ending 20th January 2007 

 

Edited by Simon Aspinall and Peter Hellyer

 

Twitchers' Guide reports a selection of the key sightings of the past week. 
Anyone wanting more is referred to website run by UAE Bird Recorder Tommy 
Pedersen (http://www.tommypedersen.com), which includes all records submitted, 
month by month, with 'The Month So Far' and 'Latest News' sections. 


 

Some good birds again over the last week, with new highlights being a merlin at 
Ghantut (Simon Aspinall), a common gull at Al Warsan Lakes (Simon, Steve James 
and Rob Quested) and 2 Mediterranean gulls (Eirik Adolfsen, at Al Warsan and 
Nick Moran at Al Wathba). Plus hypocolius still at Ghantut and brown-throated 
and pale martins (Al Wathba) � the latter scarcely being rarities these days � 
and European golden plovers still at Al Wathba camel track and sociable 
plovers, Northern lapwings and a European stonechat at the pivot fields. 


We'll let the common gull and the Med gulls share this week's Bird of the Week 
title. 


To the records.

On 14th January, a stone curlew was in Mushrif Palace Gardens, with a wood 
warbler and 3 Spanish sparrows at the Fujairah National Dairy farm at Dibba. 


On 15th a visit to Al Wathba Lake found 33 little grebe, 2 black-necked grebe, 
a glossy ibis, 37 shelduck, 55 teal, 26 mallard, 17 Northern shoveler, 14 
moorhens, 140 black-winged stilts, 250 Kentish plovers, a pin-tailed and 4 
common snipe, 17 black-tailed godwits, 850 little stint, 175 ruff, 6,500 
black-headed gulls, 3 whiskered and 2 white-winged black terns, a 
brown-throated martin, 140 sand martins, 2 pale martins, 45 swallows and a 
house martin. 2 European golden plovers, 27 bimaculated larks, 61 Eurasian 
skylarks and 15 isabelline wheatears were at the Al Wathba camel race track. 


A Mediterranean gull was found at Al Warsan Lake, one having been seen there 
several weeks ago. 


On 16th January, birds at Ghantut included a male merlin, 13+ cream-coloured 
coursers, 9-10 hypocolius, a blythi lesser whitethroat, 3 plain leaf warblers 
and 18 starlings. 


On 18th January, a Mediterranean gull was at Al Wathba Lake, where there were 
high counts of a number of species, including 5 black-necked grebe, 18 cattle 
egret, 39 shelduck, 500 greater flamingo and 47 marsh harriers (!), along with 
a black-eared kite, a spotted eagle, 20 avocet and 200 curlew sandpipers. 


20 spoonbills and 3 spotted eagles were at Ra's al-Khor wildlife sanctuary. 
Birds at the Dubai pivot fields included a greater spotted eagle, a Bonelli's 
eagle and 2 Northern lapwing. 


On 19th January, a scout around Al Ain found a wryneck and a mourning wheatear 
at Green Mubazzarah (along with a hunter carrying a rifle � illegal, of 
course). 3 black redstarts and a blue rock thrush were at the Mercure Hotel, 
with a slender-billed gull and 6 Eurasian crag martins at the compost plant and 
Neima pools. The Al Ankah fodder fields � rarely visited � produced a 
sparrowhawk, 2 pallid harriers, a Montagu's harrier, 16 Namaqua doves (a record 
count), and a single bimaculated, 30 short-toed, 13 lesser short-toed and 100 
black-crowned finch larks. 


Birds at the pivot fields included 3 sociable plovers, 2 European golden 
plovers, a female European stonechat and a buff-bellied pipit. A purple heron, 
a purple gallinule, a great black-headed gull (unusual inland) and a first 
winter common gull were at Al Warsan Lakes ('Wimpey Pits'). 


On 20th January, 40 cattle egrets, an adult night heron and a clamorous reed 
warbler, in song, were at 'Samha Lake'. 


 

Observers this week included Nick Moran, Oscar Campbell, Steve James, Rob 
Quested, Eirik Adolfsen and the editors. 


 

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is a weekly news feature, and is NOT an official 
record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in any publication. 
All records are subject to adjudication. 


Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports and 
information: Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer) P O.Box 45553, 
Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: (Mobile): Abu Dhabi /. Fax: 
. E-mail addresses: hudhud10 AT emirates.net.ae OR 
hellyer AT emirates.net.ae 


Visitors coming to the Emirates who would like specially-guided tours should 
contact Neil Tovey (NeilTovey AT gmail.com), who is Dubai-based, or Steve James 
(Stephen.James AT zu.ac.ae) who is Abu Dhabi based. They cannot guarantee to be 
available, but will try! 


Tommy Pedersen's website (http://www.tommypedersen.com), besides carrying 
regular updates on EVERY report received, also provides a good introduction for 
all birders visiting the Emirates, and has a downloadable Rare Bird Report 
form, as well as a list of all species requiring descriptions. All records 
submitted to Tommy get uploaded (well, most of them!) 


 

Rare bird reports should be submitted to the Chairman of the Emirates Bird 
Records Committee, (Simon Aspinall). Please note that NO records of rare birds 
will be included in the national record unless they have been formally 
submitted to the EBRC for adjudication. 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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Evening all

I would be interested to here from anybody who knows of a good links or 
has contact with someone into Fungus - for the identification of a 
rather splendid individual I came across while out birding today at Saar 
Archeological site here in Bahrain.
Looking something like a cornetto (an ice-cream cone) I have place the 
image as the lead picture for reference on my Home page at the following 
address

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php


The following pages have also been updated to include new photos and images.
Projects - photos of recently caught species.
Hypocolius - new images and an update to recent observations on the species.
Follow links on the home page

Howard King

Evening all

I would be interested to here from anybody who knows of a good links or 
has contact with someone into Fungus - for the identification of a 
rather splendid individual I came across while out birding today at Saar 
Archeological site here in Bahrain.
Looking something like a cornetto (an ice-cream cone) I have place the 
image as the lead picture for reference on my Home page at the following 
address

> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php


The following pages have also been updated to include new photos and images.
Projects - photos of recently caught species.
Hypocolius - new images and an update to recent observations on the species.
Follow links on the home page

Howard King


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