So I have finally crossed the line and made the personal milestone of 400 birds seen in Britain and this has got me thinking back on a few of them and which ones I enjoyed most. Now you’d think it would be easy just by picking the rarest but it’s not that simple. One may […]
Tag: Purple swamphen
Birding Highlights of 2017
The birding wasn’t bad with ten lifers eventually plucked out following a very slow start. January saw Pine Bunting added and then the next tick didn’t come along until 11th June when the Elegant Tern was found down at Church Norton. In July I manged to get on the Marsh Sandpiper at Cliffe Pools in […]
One of the best venues in Florida for bird photographers.
Wakodahatchee Wetlands – the name Wakodahatchee comes from a Seminole Indian word which translates to “created waters”. The Wakodahatchee site is part of Florida’s Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility. Its approximately 50 acres of reclaimed freshwater wetland that has been turned into habitat wildlife. The site consists of a three-quarter mile, elevated, handicap-friendly boardwalk that […]
Ringing Grey-headed Swamphen – Jubail
Whilst ringing in Jubail we caught a Grey-headed Swamphen in a mist net. This is quite a feat as they are large and heavy birds that seldom fly. It had managed to fly into the net and was caught in the bottom shelf but as we place these shelves well above the water to stop […]
Purple Swamphens in Saudi Arabia
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio has been split into five species by IOC 5.3 largely in accordance with Sangster 1998 and Garcia & Trewick 2015 into 5 species. These splits will be followed by OSME and means that Grey-headed Swamphen P. poliocephalus is by far the main species in the Region, comprising the nominate, caspius and […]
Highlights from this year’s Spring Tour on The Strait of Gibraltar – April 2015
Here’s a quick photo summary of some of the birds we watched down in Andalucia on one of my spring birdwatching tours. Each spring we offer such small tour group holidays to go out in the field and see what bird species are arriving from Africa. The close proximity of the two continents makes this […]
Jahra Pools Reserve, Kuwait
Summer in Kuwait is searing hot and is traditionally a quiet birding month, however in late Spring we do have some species breeding at the Pools and mid-summer we have many Tern species breeding on the off-shore islands. Little Ringed Plovers (Charadrius dubius) have remained through the Spring and Summer and are suspected to be […]
The making of a Photographer
My 10-year old son Jaden had been asking to go birding and wanting to take some images of his own. There was an upcoming Photographic competition in the UK, so a good reason for him to try and get images for the Junior category. Jahra Pools Reserve is a small inland reserve in Kuwait with […]