Bob the Birder: May 2015

Sunday, 24 May 2015

Ifs, buts and maybes.

Working through a weeks photos there are always the goodies you can't wait to publish, the majority of out of focus rejects and a couple that get you reaching for the reference books.With proper research reality takes over from fantasy in most cases anyway. I have 2 birds I'm still not sure about. The quality of the images and the visability of the key ID features is crucial and unfortunately because of distance, etc. etc. these are not clear images. See what you think.
Shrike spp.

Shrike sp

Best bet is probably an adult female Red backed Shrike but 1w female Isabelline (dark tailed variant) had to be considered.

This bird popped up as I was trying to get a decent shot of the Shrike. So unfortunately I didn't give the bird the attention it deserved. Bigger than the House Sparrows around and the shape of the supercilium and 'hefty' bill suggesting Rock Sparrow?

Friday, 22 May 2015

Cyprus - 2015

6th -20th May 2015

Report on birds encountered on holiday on Cyprus. As usual Jan and I were based at Paphos but ranged into the Arkamas and as far as Limassol. We did our usual walks keeping a keen eye open for any bird activity. There was some evidence of late migration along the coast with parties of Purple Heron and Glossy Ibis on the move with small numbers of White winged Black terns and Collared Pratincoles on South facing shorelines. Warblers were in short supply but there was a large influx of Spotted Flycatcher just as we arrived and single Pied and Collared Flycatchers. Our regular 'patch' was at Mandria with a couple of recently ploughed fields and a stubble field getting almost daily attention. The reward was; Red backed Shrike, probable Isabelline Shrike,18 Ruff, 5 Collared Pratincole, 4, 2 and a single White winged Black Tern, Northern Wheatear, 2 Tawny pipits, Grey headed Wagtail a Black winged Pratincole and an as yet unidentified Lark.
Credit for one of the birds of the trip must go to Jan. On one of our walks on the Akamas Jan heard something - 'its either a frog or an Owl' well it wasnt going to be a frog. So I tried my usual one size fits all, Owl call. Well it worked, From the nearest tree came a single note from a Scops Owl and unusually it wasnt that hard to see.

Scop's Owl

I managed to get a few other shots of some of the species I've mentioned plus some of the regulars.

Tawny Pipit

Collared Flycatcher

Purple Heron

Black Francolin

Griffon Vulture

White winged Black Tern

Monday, 4 May 2015

Georgia - 2015

26th April - 2nd May 2015

Travelled to Tbilisi in Georgia via Istanbul on a tour organised by Birdfinders. From the airport we drove through the Caucasian mountains via the Krestovy pass to our base at Stepantsminder on the Terek river next to Kazbegi. We stopped several times at the pass and soon started picking up our target species such as Caucasian Snowcock on the snow covered slopes and Guldenstadt's Redstart, but by far the commonest birds were Ring Ouzel and Water pipit on the lower levels. Despite a complete lack of sleep the previous night the adrenalin from seeing so many exciting birds kept us going. After a 5.30am breakfast day 2 began with a check of some areas of bushes not far out of the village. We saw our first Caucasian Black Grouse but struggled to see another target Great Rosefinch. We knew they were around but they were not showing at all. Until, having started to search on my own a male popped up right next to me on top of a bush. What a moment that was. I gently raised the camera and took a few shots. The bird seemed totally unconcerned and started to sing quietly. The rest of the group were some way away but eventually responded to my gestures. It was a great start to the week with all the group seeing 4 out of the 6 target species.During the remainder of the week we visited a number of sites around Kazbegi either in the river valleys or in the foothills of the mountains which towered above us. We saw a number of Raptors including; Griffon Vulture, Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Black Kite, Steppe Buzzard,and Peregrine soaring overhead and evidence of migration with flocks of Purple Herons and Demoiselle Cranes passing through the mountains. On the whole the weather was good although we did have prolonged rainfall on a couple of occasions. I should at this point mention the local drivers who ferried us about the mountain roads/tracks, which were challenging if not downright hairy.
Having failed to see Wallcreeper at a couple of sites in the pass we revisited the sites again where we found 2 pairs of Wallcreeper this time. I was particularly fortunate in having a close encounter with one of the birds.
The remaining two target species proved to be more difficult. Largely because they hadn't 'arrived' in any great numbers yet and because they weren't so obvious in the leafy habitat and the numbers of Common Chiffchaff and Willow warblers. Eventually by the end of the week Mountain Chiffchaff were arriving and Green warbler was also found on the last day close to Tbilisi.So an excellent weeks birding with quality birds throughout.