86 : Isabelline Shrike

Isabelline Shrike - Lanius Isabellinus

The first point to note is that the picture below was taken with the old camera. The picture above was added to the page more recently.  This is big crop job on a ling range photo taken at the Pivot Fields with the old Lumix. I still have quite a few images floating around that will work there way through into the daily bird - especially while I am trying to work out how to use the new camera !

Hopefully you can see how far away this bird was from the below :

I am sure this is an Isabelline because of its rufous tail. This is a bird that Summers in Iran and northwards into Central Asia. It will be on the way through as ever on passage. Its usual habitat is dry steppe with bushes, and scattered acacias, semi-desert or barren mountains. Well there is a lot of that around this part of the world. 1% day is getting closer.

I think it will be an anti-climax. I am planning on having 20 new images under my belt and sitting up one night with a comfortable bottle and taking the site right through to about 120 - break the back on that second 100 and get some momentum. Its funny but targets are interesting things - if you miss a target by a mile it was the wrong one in the first place so thats bad target setting e.g. One bird a day was just impossible to maintain at my age and stage. I notice how often I will exceed targets by less or more than say 2-3%. That suggests to me the old adage that if you set a stretching target you will achieve it if you want to.

Its March now. It would be fun to see if (without Tanzania) I could get to 200 before mid July. I probably still have the odd image tucked away and I need a driver to get me using the new camera and comfortable before Safarigeddon ! I know what it was like in the Yala - a new bird every 5 yards. I already have multiple bird anxiety. Not only am I trying to see birds but also photograph them and thats a tall order at times. I can start some one that got away stories like some old seaman. I was watching my son play rugby last week for example - semi final of UAE under 11's - a Lesser Grey Shrike pops up on the floodlight scaffold - no camera !

All things to muse about anyhow. 86 - the centenary is coming - 1% of the worlds birds collected. Of all the things I have done in the last few years that will be something I am quite chuffed about. The corolary of that acheivement is that I will be at least 142 before I finish at the current bird rate. I watch cricket on occasion - the last game I saw was a Pakistan vs England 20/20 match - run rate is everything in that game. We already established that in order to see every bird before I was 67 the bird rate needed to be at least 1 per day. The rate is currently at 0.27 so the finishing day slips until I am 142 !

I may well work out my bird rate required in order to finish before I am 70 and capture the impossible Task as an audited statistic !! Boys and numbers. The funny thing is that as at today date "Neils Daily Bird" is a self prophesising statistical tool - I do literally need a bird a day to finish before I am 70 - then I am starting the butterflys.

Isabelline Shrike - Lanius Isabellinus
Pivot Fields, Dubai
March 2012