The second episode of Chris Packham’s documentary “Malta – Massacre on Migration” opens on the cliffs at dawn. Apparently there are 384 bird species to be found on Malta. The videoclip includes stunning shots of Montagu’s Harriers circling on the outskirts of Gozo preparing to roost for the night, reports of “lamping” taking place using […]
Tag: bittern
Tricolor Heron, Egretta tricolor
Formerly known as the Louisiana Heron, the Tricolor Heron (Egretta tricolor) is a mid-sized wading bird native to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. One of only four Herons found in the U.S., the Tricolorfeeds in marshes and shallows by kinking up food with it’s feet. Most closely related to Bitterns (Ardeidae), Tricolors are seemingly […]
The heron family near Jizan
During the trip to the Jizan area, much of the heron family activity was at Lake Maliki. This is the largest fresh water mass in the kingdom by a big margin. The two commonest heron family members were glossy ibis and squacco heron. I looked carefully through the glossy bis for juvenile northern bald ibis. […]
Drama at Oe
This morning at Oe I observed a Peregrine Falcon consistently attack an Eurasian Bittern. Although the falcon gained height and swooped down on a few occasions, it never actually “hit” the bittern – it kept breaking off its attack just before striking. I can only surmise that as it had lost the advantage of surprise, […]