Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher and observer of nature. He pioneered the study of zoology, but he was utterly clueless about bird migration. The seasonal appearance and disappearance of the birds in his native Greece perplexed him. Similar appearing species must be “transmuted” into each other across seasons, he reasoned, to explain the disappearance of […]
Tag: Bar-tailed Godwit
Savvy bar-tailed godwit equipped for climate challenge
The bird world’s long-distance champion is probably savvy enough to cope with climate change, researchers believe. The bar-tailed godwit makes the biggest no-stop migration, flying 11,000km from Alaska to New Zealand every autumn. It relies on the right type of winds to make this epic journey – winds that computer models indicate could become less […]
Birding the Gambia
For birders on a budget, or perhaps nervous first-timers to Africa, the Gambia offers some of the best of the continent’s bird life without the expense of a safari. This tiny West African country is not only the closest Sub-Saharan African destination to the UK but is also served by numerous package companies offering budget […]
August Migrant Shorebirds
I visited Daijyugarami, Saga prefecture, last Friday to see what birds had started migrating through. The highlights were a solitary juvenile Asian Dowitcher, a Long-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, a Red Knot also in breeding plumage, a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Long-toed Stint, four Black-faced Spoonbill, one Saunders’s Gull, a few Black-tailed Godwit and plenty of […]
A few days in Sharjah, UAE
Earlier this year, I was fortunate to represent Kuwait at the 14th Conservation Workshop for the Biodiversity of Arabia. I am pleased to report that the bird team was able to achieve the workshop objective of assessing the regional Red List of all the breeding birds of Arabia. On the last day of the workshop, […]
Which Way Will This Bird Flu Fly?
Are you neurotic about all things zoonotic? Perhaps you should be. A new strain of bird flu, H7N9, has recently emerged and has killed more than 30 people in China to date. There are concerns that this flu may mutate into a form that can be transmitted through human-to-human contact, risking its transformation into a […]
Waterbirds and migratory waders of Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic park is one of the best places to see waders and waterbirds in the Greater Sydney environs. At the Waterbird Refuge pond artificial islands have been set up to provide additional habitat for a breeding colony of Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus). In summer months migratory species make their home at this pond before […]
A Morning’s Birding in January
First of all a Happy New Year to all my readers!We were away for quite a while this holiday period and I was in need of some birding at my local patch, La Janda. Every month of the year there is continual migration through our area and change is apparent almost on a weekly basis.The […]