The Yemen Rock Agama occurs in northern Yemen and adjacent Saudi Arabia, but the limits of its distribution in Saudi Arabia are currently not well known, although I have seen it as far north as Bani Saad, where these individuals shown below were taken. It occurs from around 2,000 to 3,000 metres above sea level […]
On the trail of wolves in Belarus
Dawn in the Naliboki forest: mist over the marshes and bats skittering in birch trees. Above the clearing, stars are fading into a pale sky. We’re in deepest God-knows-where in one of Europe’s largest wild forests. Zoologist Vadim Sidorovich crouches in the half-light studying the track; I’m barely breathing, so intense is the silence. A […]
Migrants passing – Jubail area
The last few weeks a few more migrants have been passing through with plenty of warbler seen. Most have been Eurasian Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Barred Warbler but also a few Eastern Olivaceous Warbler have been seen and one or two Asian Desert Warblers. Wheatears have also arrived with Black-eared and Pied being the most […]
Protecting Your Land From Wild Animals Without Harming Them
It can prove tricky to maintain your garden of patch of land from wildlife with having to resort to hurting or killing them. It’s important to remember that animals and wildlife dont know that it’s your land. It’s not possible to completely make your land animal proof but there are steps you can take to […]
POLL: Should California’s wild horses be sold to slaughter houses?
For the first time in many years, this month the U.S. government plans to capture nearly 1,000 federally protected wild horses in Devil’s Garden Plateau, a 258,000-acre area inside Northern California’s Modoc National Forest. This is the largest herd of wild horses in the United States. The US Forest Service, which manages the land, initiated […]
Sea watch at Cley
With the north winds forecast I headed up to Cley this morning for a bit of a sea watch stopping off at Buckenham Marsh for a couple of Pec Sands and then a couple of Jack Snipe before landing at the coast guards car park. The weather looked good but the going was slow. Four […]
A forestry boom is turning Ireland into an ecological dead zone
We all love trees. We think of woods and forests as green lungs, peaceful spaces, brimming with wildlife. So when Europe’s least forested country, Ireland, sets a target to increase tree cover from 11% to 18% by 2046, we should all applaud, shouldn’t we? Unfortunately the new woodland rising across Ireland is an ecological dead […]
My contribution to Global Big day
Today was eBird’s October Global Big Day. For me it was a day full of family commitments, so all I managed to do is a good and intensive morning session. I birded Tal Shachar and Tsor’a area, mostly solo but I joined some other birders there for short periods. The big September push is gone, […]
POLL: Should international pressure be increased to end Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling program?
Japan’s “scientific” whaling program just took another major hit with a decision handed down by a global conservation body that slaughtering sei whales in the North Pacific is illegal. Despite a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling that was put in place in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan has continued with annual whale […]
Tiger cubs playing in Tadoba
On this first safari in Tadoba National Park, we realised that the monsoon was setting in and we were in for the occasional light drizzle. We were around the territory of a popular Tigress with two fully grown cubs, known to give spectacular sightings and were on the lookout for her. That is when we […]
