As mentioned in a previous post Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran and found some access to some very good looking fields in various stages of growth from ploughed to fallow to newly growing. We eventually came across two very damp newly […]
Tag: Northern Lapwing
Sixteen Sociable Lapwing – Haradh
On 5 February Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran. We left at 03:00 hrs to allow us to be at the site at first light. We tried the big farm complexes first but were not allowed entry to any so tried a […]
Red List reveals Europe’s farmland wading birds in crisis
The latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is out – and it’s sounding alarm bells for some of Europe’s most charismatic and cherished shorebirds (also known as wading birds). The list highlights sharp declines in most farmland wader species across much of Europe in recent decades. In some cases, these falls […]
Lapwings and Water rail: mirror, shine and attitudes
Vanellus vanellus – 3 Northern lapwings landed about 60 m from the hide, the distance was a pity but the show was great! 3 Vanneaux huppés se sont posés peu avant que le râle n’apparaisse, à environ 60 mètres de nous: même avec le 500 mm c’était juste en distance. Rallus aquaticus – […]
Loss of farmland birds provokes action from BirdLife Partners
We are currently in the midst of an EU wide crisis that is causing birds to disappear across European farmlands. Biodiversity rich grasslands are being converted on a massive scale to maize fields for the production of biofuels and fodder. Heavy subsidies for biogas production add pressure on top of the ever growing intensification of […]
The new “blue lagoons”
In the late 1990s Tom Tarrant was birding the Riyadh area and he kept good records which I often compare against today’s findings. He has written about “the blue lagoons”. This was part of the Riyadh river where the habitat is more open than the area around the pivot fields where I normally bird. He […]
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Thanks to hurricane Sandy, we have had an influx of the Northern Lapwing into North America, with 12 confirmed sightings, in Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, New York and Newfoundland. An excellent explanation of why this has occurred was explained in the BirdCast site. Here in Massachusetts, the first sightings were on Nantucket Island, […]
All along The Strait
Yesterday the weather started to change, as a low-pressure system came up from the south-west. Rain came in the night which is a pity as it’s our daughter Amelia’s birthday today! There were some insects around as I explored the coastline from Tarifa to Pelayo with father and son, Terry and Gary from the UK […]