Ural Owl

In week three I went on a skiing holiday with my family to Idre Fjell in Dalarna in Sweden. A few good birds were seen during the week with Ural Owl being the highlight. This was my first observation of the species although I have visited the area in winter six times before. A Golden Eagle was seen in the same area as the owl.

14/1 Ural Owl, Idre Fjäll. Unfortunately I did not get close views of the owl. The first WP-tick for me in 2012!

14/1 Ural Owl, Idre Fjäll. Unfortunately I did not get close views of the owl.The first WP-tick for me in 2012!

16/1 Golden Eagle, Idre Fjäll. Seen eating something which was probably a Mountain Hare.

 A feeding station at Brunvallen near Burusjöen had good numbers of tits but the target Siberian Tit was not seen although I visited the place four times. A period with snow increased the number of birds and according to the locals at the place other birders had seen Siberian Tit prior to my visit. Out of seven visits I have only seen Siberian Tit once at Idre Fjell.

18/1 Willow Tit, Brunvallen. Most common tit in the area with more than 20 birds just at this feeding station.

 Siberian Jay is normally quite easy on the eastern slopes of Idre Fjäll but this year I completely failed even though I spent more time searching the area. Driving along Burusjöen I did see Black Grouse on two occasions and a flock of four Reindeers. Moose (4) was seen from the skiing area and a flock (3) on the way back south towards Denmark.   

18/1 Black Grouse near Burusjöen.

19/1 Reindeer on Burusjöen.

RDN

Little Auks

Little Auks are scarce winter visitors to the Aarhus Bay Area. In normal years only a few are seen with the area around “Den Permanente” being a hot spot. This winter an influx in late autumn/early winter due to many periods with westerly winds has caused high numbers of foraging birds in Aarhus Bay. Especially the coastal stretch from Aarhus North Harbor to Stationsgade has been very good with up to 10 birds often very close.

8/1 Little Auk near Den Permanente

8/1 Little Auk near Den Permanente

11/1 Little Auks near Den Permanente

RDN

Gull Fest

After having had incredible views of the Glaucous-winged Gull twice already this week things could not really get any better on the gull front. A report of a 2nd winter Iceland Gull also coming to bread in the University Park found by Simon Siggard Christiansen was just pushing it. Fortunately I was working from home as I got the news and after five minutes on my bike I was looking at the bird. The four birders present in the park were not completely thrilled as they still had not seen the GWG. After 10 minutes the Iceland flew off and the GWG landed on the ice. Everybody was happy but a shot of both gulls together would be the ultimate price. Luckily the Iceland Gull returned and both birds performed superb for the next hours allowing birders very good views of the unlikely couple.

27/1 The cold weather has made the GWG very easy to see.

27/11 On friday the 27th of january a 2nd winter Iceland Gull joined the GWG in the University Park.

27/1 IG + GWG going at it for bread.

27/1 IG + GWG going at it for bread.

27/1 Parklife

27/1 Two species not often seen together.

RDN

Glaucous-winged Gull...

Having just finished lunch at work I got a phone call from Kent Olsen (KO) saying that the Glaucous-winged Gull was eating bread in the University Park in the middle of Aarhus. Knowing that icelandic toplister Yann Kolbeinsson (YK) was currently visiting our department, Kent thought he might want to see the bird. Knowing the unpredictable nature of the bird from previous years we quickly left Kalø to go to Aarhus.

When we arrived in the park the gull was standing on a building not showing particularly well. A showy Short-toed Treecreeper made a brief appearance taking our attention away from the gull for a minute. When we looked for the gull again it was gone. A young couple was feeding the local mallards at the northern most lake in the park and it did not take long to locate the gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls and Mallards. For the next 20 minutes we had extreme views of the gull.

Glaucous-winged Gull Aarhus University. Good views...

Glaucous-winged Gull Aarhus University. Good views...

Glaucous-winged Gull Aarhus University. Good views...

Glaucous-winged Gull Aarhus University. Good views...

Glaucous-winged Gull Aarhus University. Good views...

This is the third year in a row that the Glaucous-winged Gull is wintering in Aarhus (2009 pictures and 2010 pictures). If you want to see the bird go before the current period with cold weather ends and visit in the morning when the bird is hungry and active and not in the afternoon when it has been fed toast bread for several hours...

Short-toed Treecreeper Aarhus University Park. Very common in this city park.

Hooded Crow, Egå Marina.

Like two years ago the gull was heavily celebrated in the evening/night...

Text: RDN, Photos: YK

Israel 7/3-13/3 2010

9/3

Left early (0530) to go to the Shizaf Reserve again. A quick stop at the Shaqaq Reserve to look for Arabian Oryx did not produce any animals beside few Dorcas Gazelle but we did see the first Desert Finches of our trip. Saw the lizard again on our way. At the Shizaf Reserve we quickly found a male Arabian Warbler. We had great views of the bird for the next hour as it sang from the top acacia trees. Having had such a successful morning we decided to go for KM 76 to strike gold with the larks.

At 1000 we arrived at very green area in the desert. It looked promising for larks. The next four hours were spend in company with Temminck’s Lark 2 ♂♂ + 1 ♀, Thick-billed Lark 6, Greater Hoopoe Lark displaying, Bimalculated Lark 3, Caspian Stonechat 2 and Cretzschmar’s Bunting 4♂♂+1♀.

We left KM76 and headed back north as we had an appointment with Barak Granit in Arad at 1730. A quick stop at the gorge near Idan did not produce any Desert Eagle Owl. Be careful of the landmines and stay on the road! Near Mount Sodom we saw a very nice adult Barbary Falcon among the thousands of pallid swifts.

Met up with Barak Granit who was going to show us Hume’s Tawny Owl. We heard an individual quite close but we did not see the bird. Even though not seeing the owl we had an amazing night including Striped Hyena, Iranian/Indian Wolf 2, Desert Hedgehog 3, Golden Jackal 5-8 (Yotvata) and Caspian Plover 2 (Yotvata). The plovers were all seen on the North Circular Fields. After finishing up at Yotvata we drove to Eilat. Arrived at Eilat 0500 and went to bed at 0545.

Text RDN and photos SSL

Desert Finch (Rhodospiza obsoleta)

Arabian Warbler (Sylvia leucomelaena)

Thick-billed Lark (Ramphocoris clotbey)

Spiny tailed lizard. Pretty cool lizard!

Cretzschmar's Bunting (Emberiza caesia)

Bimaculated Lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata)

Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

Iranian/Indian Wolf

Nebo hierichonticus

Ivory Gulls 2008

In May/June 2008 I got the chance to participate in aerial surveys in North-eastern Greenland. The main objective of the surveys was to find hot spot areas with birds or mammals. The surveys were conducted throughout the world's largest national park ranging from Scoresbysound in the south all the way to the northern most tip of Greenland. Highlights were plentiful with Narwhals, Polar Bears and lots of Ivory Gulls. The following pictures have all been taken at Station Nord at 81°36' North 16°40' West (making it the world's second most northerly lying constant settlement) where there is a breeding colony.

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

Station Nord June 2008

RDN

Spoon-billed Sandpiper 2011

As a christmas present we have uploaded a video of two out of the four Spoon-billed Sandpipers that we saw at Pak Thale, Thailand on the 9th of december. Birders wanting to see this species better start booking tickets to Thailand/China before it gets to late. It is truly one of the best birds around and by far the highlight of our recent tour to Thailand.



RDN

The Dirty Dubai Tour (DDT)

Having planned a trip to Thailand to catch up with Spoon-billed Sandpiper before it gets to late Stephan found tickets with a one-day stopover in Dubai at a very reasonable price. UAE have some very good birds that are rarely found at other places. Crab Plover, Plain Leaf Warbler, Hume’s/Red-tailed/Variable Wheatears, Socotra Cormorant and Persian Shearwaters were the main targets.

We contacted Mr. Tommy "Ambitious" Petersen about the possibility to guide us for a single day. Tommy runs the great site www.uaebirding.com. Fortunate for us Tommy had the day off from his work as a pilot with Emirates. We arrived in Dubai at 2300 on the 29th of November. A room was booked at the nearby Holiday Inn in order for us to get a few hours of sleep. We tried to walk to the hotel and even though we could see it from outside the airport we ended up taking a shuttle bus. It took 10 minutes to drive to a hotel that is about 300 meters from the airport!
We got picked up by Tommy at 0550 at our hotel and we quickly left Dubai heading north with the sight of the Dubai Skyline including the impressive Burj Kahlifa. At Umm al-Qaiwain Breakwater we ticked the first of our target species Socotra Cormorant. Other good birds included Pallas Gull (3). At nearby Khor al-Beida Stephan got his Crab Plover (35) offering quite good views alongside loads of other waders while the drier areas had Desert Warbler and Daurian Shirke.

30/11 Crab Plover at Khor al-Beida. A total of at least 35 birds was seen at this site only 30 km from the Dubai City Centre. Notice the Orientalis Curlew in the background.

30/11 Asian Desert Warbler at Khor al-Beida. This little beauty followed a Desert Wheatear.

Wamm farms are located in the northeast corner of the UAE. It is one of the prime locations for rarities in the country. We found Red-tailed Wheatear (2), Variable Wheatear, Pin-tailed Snipe (2) and Masked Wagtail. A supporting cast of Long-billed Pipit (6), Richards Pipit (4), Tawny Pipit (6), Blyth’s Pipit (1), Citrine Wagtail, Eastern Black Redstart, Duarian Shrike and Steppe Grey Shrike. A wintering White-throated Kingfisher (4th record for the UAE) made Tommy very happy as it made a short appearance (see Tommy's account).

30/11 Masked White Wagtail at Wamm Farms. A regular wintering site for this species/subspecies.

30/11 Variable Wheatear at Wamm Farms. Only one bird seen here. A scarce winter visitor to the UAE.

30/11 Redtailed Wheatear Wamm Farms. 2-3 birds seen here.

Masafi Wadi is a regular wintering site for Plain Leaf Warbler, a species that can be very tricky to connect with outside the UAE and Oman. We found one bird but more birds can be found if one spends more time there.

30/11 Desert Lesser Whitethroat in Masafi Wadi. Seen at many localtions. All birds giving a chattering call. 

30/11 Stephan with his head in the bushes documenting Plain Leaf Warbler.

30/11 Plain Leaf Warbler in Masafi Wadi. We walked the wadi until we found one bird and then turned around.

Fujairah Port Beach situated just north of Fujairah is a good place to sea watch. We quickly found a Persian Shearwater our main target here. A big flock of Socotra Cormorants was foraging quite close to the beach offering good scope views. As with many of the other localities more time could easily have been spend here. Good numbers of terns and gull passed continuously throughout our stay.

30/11 Persian Shearwater at Fujairah Port Beach. At least 20 birds were seen in 30 minutes.

30/11 Socotra Cormorant at Fujairah Port Beach. A big flock of at least 150 birds was foraging in the area. Notice the Bridled Tern flying right in the middle of the image.

30/11 Green Bee-eater. Commonly seen

Khor Kalba is an area of mangroves in the southeastern corner of the UAE right on the border with Oman. It is the only place in the world to see Arabian collared Kingfisher which is quite easy a high tide when they come out to forage. 10 minutes at the bridge to the area gave good views of at least three Green Turtles. Other good birds in the area were Sooty Gull (3), Steppe Grey Shrike and Daurian Shrike.

30/11 Arabian Collared Kingfisher Khor Kalba. The only site for this subspecies of Collared Kingfisher. We saw 3-4 birds out of a total population of 40 birds!

30/11 Steppe Grey Shrike at Khor Kalba. Two birds seen during the day.

Our tour of the UAE ended in Dubai International Airport at 1900. We connected with most of our target birds during a very busy day. A more relaxed visit to see Hypocolius and other good birds is definitely something for the future!! If you only have a restricted amount of time don't hesitate to contact Tommy!!

RDN