From February to June, participants in Spring Alive, a long-term BirdLife educational programme, observed and registered the arrivals of five migratory bird species in Europe and made more than 270,000 observations of migratory birds, the highest number ever! The people taking part in the programme, mainly children and their families represent countries across Europe, from […]
Tag: Barn Swallow
Rarities and Early Migrants at Jahra Pools Reserve, Kuwait
Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR) is a small fenced wetland reserve just off the Arabian Gulf coastline to the north of Kuwait City. Previously the pools were formed from a sewage outfall, but more recently a water network has been provided and this has allowed the pools to remain filled since the end of 2012. As […]
Butterflies, Bugs and other Insects
Weather dominates the lives of all living things and changing weather patterns have an effect on the life cycles of most species on the planet. We talk about the weather all the time and European weather, if not global weather are going through changes. In south-west Spain we are feeling and experiencing unsettled and abnormal […]
Summer time
Shachar Shalev (ourKiwi representative) has gone birding over the weekend and the following report shows that it is neverboringaround here. When there are few migrants, there is plenty of time to enjoy some of the region’s very interesting species… I Went out 5:30 in the morning not seriously expecting to find anything. I Started at […]
Zwaluwen in de polder
Naast de vele weidevogels zijn er in de polder ook veel boerenzwaluwen te vinden die ook vaak op een vast stekkie rondscharrelen op zoek naar vliegjes en ander gespuis. Zo heb ik een plekkie ontdekt bij een hek waar de vogels regelmatig weerkomen. Dit hek is bij een sluite met een duiker war ze ingaan […]
Hyotanike Lake
This morning I had a little bit of time and the weather was great, so I went to nearby Hyotanike lake to see what was happening. This lake has very nice scenery but is usually a bit low on bird life other than the resident Mallard and some introduced ducks. But the Barn Swallows love […]
Bird Tour Report
Yesterday and today I ran a birding tour in the Fukuoka area for two guests from the UK. Conditions were quite challenging, however we saw a total of 66 species and heard an additional 5. Highlights included Black-faced Spoonbill, Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot, Japanese Cormorant, Grey-headed Lapwing, Asian Stubtail, Narcissus Flycatcher, Japanese Thrush, Red-flanked […]
Feeding in the Rain
Yesterday afternoon was very wet and while photographing Grey-headed Lapwing at Koga, Fukuoka, we observed dozens of Barn Swallow flying among the flowering clover and other seeding grasses. At first I was mystified by this behaviour, but photographs confirmed our suspicions that the birds were feeding on insects. The heavy rain must have prevented insects […]