Short Eared Owls are fairly thin on the ground down here in Cornwall/Devon, with just very small numbers wintering on the moors in the far west and the odd one or two closer to my home on Bodmin moor, this year seems to have been a bit of an exception with more than usual turning […]
Wheatears everywhere – Haradh
Whilst birding the pivot irrigation fields of Haradh in late January we came across large numbers of both Desert Wheatear and Isabelline Wheatear. The bird spent most of their time around the stony edge of the large pivot fields or in the field themselves where they tended to use sand banks to sit on. We […]
Results of the Best Photo of the Month February 2019
We are delighted to announce the results of our latest photo competition. Candy McManiman wins First Prize for her brilliant capture ‘In Need of a Crossswalk’. Paamul Jack wins Second Prize for his outstanding image ‘Ocellated Turkey – Showing the Colors’. Third Prize goes to Candy McManiman for her inspiring photo ‘Best Weather Vane Ever’. […]
21 hours
Yesterday was extremely long. I left home very early, met up with Piki and together we sailed down towards the Dead Sea. Despite the dire state of the shrinking Dead Sea, Climate Change, Sixth Extinction, Donald Trump etc., I find the view of the sun rising over the Edom Mountains of Jordan, above the Dead […]
Ural Owl in Flight, October 2018, Semplén Hills, Hungary
Zoli Ecsedi and I led another tour this autumn to Hungary and one of the key species to find was the Ural Owl. It’s not so simple in finding these creatures in the vast forest of Eastern and Northern Europe. Sometimes of course, you can have luck and just happen across one, but often you […]
A new Great Grey
In the last month there has been a record number of observations of Great Grey Owls along the coast in Southern Norway and the reported birds must just be the tip of the iceberg – one even found its way into a mist net at a bird observatory. I am guiding for owls next week […]
Courting Wild Dogs in Bandipur
During this trip to Bandipur we sighted many birds, including one of the elusive raptors – the Black Eagle, that is said to be rarer than Tigers. Some of the birds that we saw, we shared them in the previous post on Birding in Bandipur. If you are on the lookout, sometimes even the common […]
Lapwings of various species – Haradh
Haradh is a well known wintering location for Northern Lapwing, with flocks of several hundreds seen in recent winters. This trip we located many birds scattered around the fields, but no large flocks and probably saw more than 100 Northern Lapwings in total. The species is an uncommon winter visitor to the northern areas of […]