I arrived for a short family visit in Israel yesterday afternoon. This morning, completely knackered after yesterday exhausting day of travel, I did the obvious thing – I went in the early morning to Ma’agan Michael to see the putative Asian House Martin – potentially the first for WP. Since it was found by Barak, […]
Tag: Ruddy Shelduck
North-west China (Xinjiang) – 6th May (Day 16)
Today was on a knife edge, and stress levels in the group were high, we had two endemic birds to see and only around three hours in which to see them – it could go well or horribly wrong. If the latter then the only bird I would have gained from the Luntain part of […]
Plucky duck: highest-flying fowl’s Himalayan exploits revealed
A high-flying species of duck reaches altitudes of up to 6,800 metres (22,000ft) to cross the Himalayas, research from a British university has revealed. Scientists from the University of Exeter used satellite tracking to find out how ruddy shelducks – which are a similar size to mallards – find their way through the mountain range. […]
Mongolia – 19th May (Day 12) – Sangiin Dalai Lake, and Hustai National Park (Part 2)
Arriving at Bayan Nuur from Sangiin Dalai Lake it was immediately apparent that this lake was teaming with birdlife even though it was blowing a gale. Almost the first birds we picked up were a pair of stunning White-naped Crane on the far hillside with another pair closer in the reeds, we saw nine in […]
Mongolia – 18th May (Day 11) – Barig Mountain to Sangiin Dalai Lake
We were up at 05:15 to the sound of screaming Saker Falcon, packed our bags and after a quick coffee headed back up Barig Mountain at 06:00 for a last try for Hodgson’s Bush-chat. After climbing the steep grassy and rock strewn slopes of the mountains in the vehicles we parked at the summit and […]
Mongolia – 11th May (Day 4) – Travel from Ullanbataar to Dalanzadgad
Today was mainly a driving day 570km south from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad passing through the Gobi Desert with a few stops, mainly at lakes, en-route. The landscape was vast, stark and barren, mainly flat with a few rocky outcrops and dominated by gravel plains with sparse grass. The common birds here were Horned Lark, Asian […]
Tour of the east side
As well as visiting local farms on Friday, I toured some sites east of the city starting at Ayn Hamran. The stop at Ayn Hamran was relatively short but it is never uninteresting. Though there were no wintering birds seen yet apart from a couple of common sandpiper and a grey wagtail. It’s always a […]
The Canary Islands – Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura 3rd-8th February 2013 – Day 1 – Sunday 3rd Feb – An early drive to Seville started extremely well with a fabulous view of an adult male Pallid Harrier crossing the road close to Vejer de La Frontera. White Storks have already taken up their nest sites on electric posts and were warmly lit […]