I was guiding again in Hedmark yesterday and was basically hoping to give Rob and Gail from Australia a repeat of Saturday. The Great Grey Owls were as expected still there and young had definitely hatched in one nest and most likely also in the other. It was fantastic to see one of the birds […]
Sand Swimmer – Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili)
Whilst birding the Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili) with Phil Roberts we found a large number of Sand Swimmer Zophosis complanate. Sand Swimmer is a darkling beetle that is normally found in sand dunes. They prefer soil with some clay in them and the ones we found were near a wet sabkha area and […]
Spring birding – Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili
A spring trip in early May to Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili failed to produce much of interest. The best birds seen included Spur-winged Lapwing and Ruddy Turnstone. Spur-winged Lapwing may well be breeding at the site now as birds have been around all winter and most of last year. It was the first […]
South-east China – 27th April (Day 6)
Today was our only scheduled attempt for Chinese Crested Tern on Shanyutan Island to the north or Changle. Chinese Crested Tern is thought to have a total population of fewer than 100 birds. For many years it was only known from a few specimens collected prior to 1937, and a small number of, mainly unconfirmed, […]
Red-backed Shrikes – Jubail
Early May is always a good time to see Red-backed Shrike in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom and this year is no exception. A trip to the coastal areas of Jubail produced more than 30 birds in a single morning with five Turkestan Shrikes and a single adult male Daurian Shrike. Other migrants seen […]
Baby Coots at Dungeness
After a two hour search of Rye Harbour for the Terek Sandpiper we gave up and headed over to Dunge. Our reward for this 10 mile diversion was to connect with a smart little Kentish Plover from Dennis’s hide as it walked about on the shingle scrape in the company of Sanderling and Dunlin. I […]
Feisty Egrets
Here’s a lovely snowy egret with gold feet on display and plumes blowing in the wind. It’s in a great fishing spot near the outflow from a water gate at one of the ponds at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, New Jersey. It’s a spot worth defending, apparently, and any unwary egret […]
Martin Down and Pennington Marsh
The last couple of weeks have been manic at work with some very early starts for breeding bird surveys, late nights reviewing documents and getting the company ready for the new and extremely tedious General Data Protection Regulations which come into force later in May. However, I have managed to get out a little to […]