I eventually found up to 9 breeding pairs of Red-backed Shrikes (5 pairs plus single birds at 4 sites) plus Wrynecks at 2 sites so these two species may well have an OK year after all. One of the pairs of Wrynecks had 3 young already out of the nest and I heard their begging […]
Tag: Honey Buzzard
Rare and unusual birds seen in Saudi Arabia in first half of 2017
An adult and juvenile Bewick’s Swan Cygnus (columbianus) bewickii near Al Jawf 14-15 December 2016 with three more adults in the north of the Kingdom 19 December 2016 being only the third to seventh records of the species for the Kingdom. Four See-see Partridge Ammoperdix griseogularis, including a calling male, were at a remote desert […]
Kaziranga explosion
I have a lot of catching up to do, after several wifi-less days in Kaziranga NP, Assam. Our first day in the reserve was incredible. The weather was good, the birds were active and we just saw so many birds. Our guide, Rofikul, did a great job and our daily score was over 170 species! […]
Wheatear at Minsmere
An early start saw us walking Minsmere in search of Swampy without joy as it had seemingly “done a bunk” been eaten or simply decided it likes the deeper section of reeds. Anyway we didn’t give much time to scanning the pool and instead decided to enjoy a mornings birding around the reserve. We picked […]
I did my flies up
Yesterday was Norway’s National Day which sees a lot of flag waving, hot dog and ice cream eating, general celebration and the consumption of vast quantities of champagne. Whilst imbibing by second glass of champagne I gazed skyward and saw a very high and very large bird. Its jizz did not fit with Crane, heron […]
Melanistic Montagu’s Harrier and other Raptors
Here are some of the raptor photos we managed to see with my Swiss group from Arcatour last week. The wind direction swung around to give us moderate to strong Levante (easterlies) for five days and only died down on our last two days. Still, knowing what the migrating raptors do and where they will […]
Migrating Raptors on The Strait of Gibraltar
It’s been a busy six weeks with almost non-stop birding here on The Strait and across Europe. I thought I’d quickly post some of the raptor shots I have managed to edit so far on the blog to show at least some of the autumn delights… Black-winged Kites (old name is Black shouldered Kite) have […]
Recent Birding Tour of Northwestern Kyushu
Between September 16 and 19 I led a couple from Canada around birding spots in Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Saga, Fukuoka and Oita prefectures. Before the tour started, I took the ferry across to Kumamoto from Shimabara, spotting a large flock of Streaked Shearwater just out from Shimabara Port, and then Brown Booby as the ferry neared […]