53 : Zebra Dove

Zebra Dove - Geopelia Striata

I scattered some breadcrums to haul in a few life ticks at our hotel in Mauritius in July 2010. We had a wonderful couple of weeks at the Sugar Beach club. I have to say that these are perhaps the handsomest little doves I have yet seen. I love the soft buffy greys and the rose pink breast. Also called a "Barred Ground Dove". Its obvious where the Zebra name comes from. Its hard to get an idea of size but from memory one of these birds would happily sit in your hand.

They are not native to Mauritius but like many birds there introduced to those islands. You can't get upset with a few of these on your terrace.

Zebra Dove - Geopelia Striata

Mauritius, Sugar Beach Club

July 2010 

52 : Yellow-billed Babbler

Yellow-billed Babbler - Turdoides affinis

A noisy sociable thrush that frequented the understory across Sri Lanka. I hope these birds eat leaches. These horrible things would come out and attach themselves to your ankles when it rained. They really freaked the kids out after walks - the screams could be heard across the valley. We ended up walking wit little bags of salt or an indian lime in our pocket to make them fall off. Truly disgusting creatures.

I used watch one of these birds making its way through the leaf litter each morning tossing aside debris in its search for goodies - all the world like a Song Thrush back home. There are clearly "niches" for birds but I wonder why a super thrush couldn't dominate the world ? Tiny differences in food, fauna, other competitive pressures non-existant elsewhere ?

A fairly plain bird but on our side in the war against leaches !

Yelow-billed Babbler - Turdoides affinis
Sri Lanka, Ellerton Lodge near Kandy
April 2011

51 : Indian Pond Heron

Indian Pond Heron - Ardeola grayii

A common bird throughout South Asia. These two birds were photographed at the river at the bottom of my jungle walk in Sri Lanka. They look like the asian version of a Squacco Heron to me. Herons have the advantage that they are easily photographed !

The family are all back after the long Summer and routine is here so I am looking foward to getting into a routine with my blog pages and catching up the bird a day !

Indian Pond Heron - Ardeola grayii
Hills near Kandy, Sri Lanka
April 2011

50 : Black-rumped Flameback

Black-rumped Flameback - Dinopium benghalense

Not the best picture again I know ! I was very excited to see these noisy woodpeckers hacking away at the palm bark in search of big grubs. I watched a film about the lost ivory backs recently and these reminded me of a miniature version.

Sri Lanka, Hills near Kandy
April 2011

49 : White Rumped Munia

White Rumped Munia - Loncura striata

I think Munias are a type of finch and elsewhere I have posted on a Spice Finch which is also known as a Scaly Breasted Munia. The huge bill makes them look to me a bit like Bullfinches or Hawfinches back home. They cleary like bigger seeds. As far as little tracks go that track down from Ellertons lodge to the river in teh valley below must have thrown up 30 or more life ticks. You can addicted to flying to new countries just to go for a stroll !

White Rumped Munia
Hills near Kandy, Sri Lanka
April 2011

48 : Little Cormorant

Little Cormorant - Phalacrocorax niger

Cormorants are pretty unloved birds. They "steal" fish from man, tend to smell in large numbers and are not that attractive. They give a good indication of the health of a river or lake though in terms of its fish population so we should be grateful. In the UK cormorants are the bane of fish farmers and angling clubs. Guns get involved.

I had not heard of this species of cormorant before I saw it in Sri Lanka near to Kandy. I took this picture of a Little Cormorant drying its wings at the end of a short morning's walk down to a river near our lodge. I thought it was a smart little bird - identified from the photo by its shorter conical bill and smaller size. These birds frequent the upland wet zone rivers apparently - A jungle cormorant ! What's not to like about that.

Indian Cormorant - Phalacrocorax niger
April 2011
Hills near kandy, Sri Lanka

47 : Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike (Pied flycatcher-shrike)

Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike (Pied flycatcher-shrike) - Hemipus picatus

I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for decent images from Sri Lanka now (any decent images !) but this bird was seen from a restaurant on the way to Yala from the high tea country. This is the Sri Lankan endemic race "leggei". It is found throughout the island in any good stand of forest and prefers the canopy. I was lucky here because I was on the side of a steep hill and at canopy level.

It reminds me of a slim version of a pied flycatcher from home. Smart bird - an exciting bird.

Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike (Pied flycatcher-shrike)
Hemipus picatus
Somewhere on the way to Yala from the tea country ! Sri lanka
April 2011

46 : Eurasian Oystercatcher

Eurasian Osytercatcher - Haemotopodidae ostralegus

Another long shot on the Orwell to complete today's brace of catch up pictures. These are another classic of the British seaside and an all year round resident. I was suprised when staying in the North Yorkshire moors while supporting a friend running for Parliament to discover that they bread inland and up on the hills. I don't know why I was suprised as plenty of other wading birds perform the same trick - Dunlin and Golden Plover for example. I just thought they spent their life crunching molluscs which can't be in big supply on a hill top. Perhaps they eat snails or slugs when they are oop North ? Same idea with a different shell or without one. Perhaps they'd make a grand garden pet if you grow vegetables.

So my question today is what do Oystercatchers eat when they are breeding inland on a Yorkshire Moor ? What followers of this blog that existed will have given up on me over the Summer so I doubt I will get an answer.

Good news on the world birding front - I have a busines trip to the USA (both coasts) booked for about 8 weeks time. Palo Alto, Chicago, Washington and New York with a free weekend in Washington. If I get my camera sorted and do some research I may be able to pick up a bog hall of 'photo-ticks'. Watch this space. I suspect I will be on the Chesapeake rather than in the Smithsonian if I get my way !

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Haemotopodidae Ostralegus
Orwell estuary - Suffolk
August 29 2011

45 : Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa

I have been remiss. I have hung up my fingertips for the Summer and now find myself with a huge deficit of 70 or so birds. I have many excuses the biggest of which was the removal of the camera by my wife ! After a while the size of the deficit prays on your mind and it gets even harder to start again. I am determined however that when I get back to Dubai after the Summer break I will blog at a rate of 2 birds or more a day until I am all caught up.

So without further excuses I give you a long shot of some Black-tailed Godwits with the remains of Summer plumage. This was taken with a walk with the children on the Orwell in Suffolk last week. Its September and across the globe migration is in full swing. These birds have arrived back in their Winter quarters or are still on their way further South. They will have been North in the Spring probably to Iceland. A few Godwits breed in the UK on the lower reaches of the wash but most go to Iceland and the Nearctic.

How do you tell these apart from the other UK Godwit - the Bar-tailed Godwit. Bar tailed have a slightly upturned beak with a thicker base - Black-tailed are a 'finer' bird in bill and overall appearance - longer legged. Black-tailed of course have a think black band in the tail but that's only really visible in flight so not much use.  Stood in water you can't really tell on leg length so its the bills. I saw a Greenshank yesterday at Minsmere and I think Bar-tailed has a bill that's more like a greenshank if that makes sense. It is heftier at the base. I am sure there are better diagnostic tools to use but it just comes down to looking at a few dozen dozen over a number of years until you feel comfortable to call them. Which I never am !

I spent yesterday at Minsmere without a camera kicking myself - Bitterns, Marsh Harrier, Whinchat, Bearded Tit, a lovely treecreeper a few yards away - Agh !!! Camera and lense time. Repeat after me - I will invest in a camera and long lense and glue it to my hand.

Black Tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa
Orwell estuary
August 29 2011

44 : Indian (Common) Peafowl

Indian (Common) Peafowl - Pavo cristatus

Here's a bird we all feel we know - although I am not sure whether I actually knew it by any other name than Peacock. These are part of the Pheasant, Partridges, Grouse and Buttonquail family - Phasianidae - an extensive old World bird family with 155 species. The chickens emerged from this group as described in my post #18 on the Sri Lanka Junglefowl. That probably accounts for why we shoot this order of birds as the they are quite tasty. I note that out of 155 species 32 are listed as endangered - being good for the pot can't help can it.

These old world pheasants tend to have brightly coloured males and in the Peafowl the male has taken it to extremes. I am not actually sure  I got the money shot of a Peackock displaying with its tail (or train ?) fanned out. As I say we feel we know them because every country house in Europe has them perched on the stone walls calling out across a slightly colder landscape. This bird has a range across South Asia and this photo was taken in the Yala national park in Sri Lanka.

Indian (Common) Peafowl
Pavo cristatus
15-18 April 2011

43 : Scarlet Minivet

Scarlet Minivet - Pericrocotus flammeus

Today's post is about the page in every birdbook where they seem to collect all of the exotica. If you are off to somewhere truly exotic you might get 2 or 3 pages with birds that look like they belong in the rainforest and feast on honey and sugared millet seeds. I had a good couple of pages lined up for Sri Lanka and one of the birds that danced off the page was this one. Through my 10 x 50 binoculars (Avians - a good also ran brand that give a nice light image but are half the price of Swaroski or Leica) I had a fairly good view. My scope gave up the ghost due to my stupidity a while back and as I have posted that the long lense camera has yet to be purchased. Trust me this bird in the morning sunlight does look brilliant black and scarlet/orange all over. It shines out like a perfect jewel foliage. If you weren't awake on first view you soon will be !

This was taken at about 6.30 am from our terrace at Ellerton's lodge near Kandy in Sri Lanka. A terrace at treeptop height on a hill has to rank fairly high now on my list of holiday pluses ! Birding on tap and then a short walk to breakfast surrounded with flower gardens teeming with Sunbirds, Whiteyes and Barbets. I am thinking about flying back and just sitting on that terrace with a new camera for a week with men in smart jackets bringing me the odd gin and tonic and  a bowel or nuts while I click away. Hardly Indiana Jones but tell me its not a nice way to bird !

I managed to catch a short clip on my camera as well. I am not intending to delve into a multi-media world regulary on this site but with such a poor shot I think you deserve a little more to get some sense of the bird.

The more I read up on this bird the more I want to go back and find another one ! I am sure it is probably a common bird but its a bit like the first time you see an Indian roller in Dubai - the colours just do it all. It is part of the Cuckoo-shrikes, Trillers and Minivets family - Campephagidae with 82, mostly tropical members who "conspicuously patrol the the canopies of forests and woodlands in search of insects and fruits'' - wasps dipped in rose water no doubt ! Collins Birds of the World confirms further that ''minivets on a small scale, are amongst the most resplendent of avian creatures, with males outfitted in bright red and orange, females in bright yelllow''. The larger family has 82 members with 13 ''stunning little minivets'' confined to Asia. Head East young man. A look in a couple of text books has me checking the Emirates flight times to India, Batavia and beyond !

I did my time - I recall one rain swept afternoon on Sheppey hugging the side of a sea wall trying to confirm a Lapland Bunting before calling it into the Birdline. When the sideways rain was stinging my face - I could barely make out the colours in the gloom and then it starts to hail to add insult to injury. I remember trying to pin down that bird and a particular metal button on my waxed coat kept flapping and catching me on the cheek. I earnt this Scarlet Minivet that afternoon - in fact I earnt all 13. It is my birding karma and I will enjoy it. Those were my Sundays and then the long drag back into London and then the tube the next morning. Why did you move to Dubai people ask me. For Indian Rollers, Purple Sunbirds and a short flight to Ceylon (I love that name) for a Crimson-backed Flameback or a Scarlet Minivet.

There is a lovely expression in arabic - SabaH al Kheir which is the morning greeting - I wish you a morning of  light. You can swap the light for Jasmine (SabaH il Yasmine) or honey (SabaH il Aaasal), roses and so on but I expect that is for a special friend. I need to know the arabic for Minivet but anyway I wish anyone who reads this post ''SabaH il minivets''. Double click on the picture and hopefully you will get a sense of the colour shining back in the morning sun - gorgeous - truly gorgeous.

I once woke my wife up at 6am at Cley windmill because I had seen a flight of 7 spoonbills circling the Marsh from the seawall at the bottom of the windmill's garden. She wasn't amused. I am not sure what qualifies as a drag out of bed bird but I was very close to bounding into the room like a four year old on this occasion ''you have to come and see - its a Scarlet Minivet !". I supressed the urge - barely !

Scarlet Minivet - Percrocotus flammeus
Ellertons Lodge, Hills near Kandy, Sri lanka
9 April 2011

42 : Northern Fulmar

Fulmar - Fulmaris glacialis

Probably not the best picture I have posted in the last two months but this is the closest I have got to a Fulmar. I usually see them powering along the tops of waves either from a ferry or far out to sea from a cliff top. Long range identification of seabirds is a 'dark art' and one which I have to confess that I have not had so much practice at. For a Fulmar in effect you have a cross shape which does not blink black and white like eg a Manx Shearwater as it follows the waves. They are quite bull chested and seem to soar effortlessly.

The reason that this is such a blurred photo is that the nesting ledge was tucked around the corner from my vantage point and I was trying to time (with a digital camera) the pictures as it took off at break neck speed. I did get some wonderful views of the fulmars gliding around the cliff tops but did not manage to get a better picture. I will upgrade the photo in time.

For now I give you an ocean specialist - a true tubenose that spends months at a time at sea.

Fulmar - Fulmaris glacialis
Cumbria
June 2008

41 : Razorbill

Razorbill - Alca torda

While I was on English seabird colonies I thought I would post a picture of another "tenant". If you look at a seabird colony you will often find that the lower "floors" are occupied by these smaller Auks. I don't know why they favour the lower ledges over the higher ones that the Guillemots frequent. They often appear to me to be in lower numbers as well.

Cumbria - June 2010

40 : Common Guillemot

Common Guillemot - Uria aalga

Today a Guillemot breeding colony in the North West (I think Bempton) in late May/early June. When we lived in Manchester we would get a 2 week half term at Witsun which was a throw back from factory closedown in the mills. We got into the habit of having a week away for the last week of May or first week of June which is a great time if you go to the coast in terms of catching large numbers of breeding birds doing what they do. As we could the week when other counties were not having their half term we could often get the coast to ourselves. I remember one year having a mile of National Trust beach in Cardiganshire all to ourselves. Britain is beautiful place at that time of year - the Welsh coast, Cumbria, the Western Isles. There is something about the light, the wild flowers and the birds. Its also the time for asparagus ! An British holiday in June. We also used to find ourselves watching Springwatch on the BBC when we were away in whatever cottage we had rented in the evening. One year we were in Islay at the same time as the Springwatch team who were staying at a farm a few miles down the road. That was funny - seeing the same birds on film in the evening that we had seen during the day. Hen harriers for example of eider ducks. The evenings are long and the light is beautiful in the North at that time of year.

bask to Guillemots - There are 1.2 million of these seabirds nesting around the coast of Britain as I write this in some of the densest colonies of any birds. As wildlife spectacles go apart from perhaps winter geese or wader congregations a cliff top seabird colony is probably one of the high points for UK birding.

Common Guillemot - Uria aalga
Cumbria
June 2008

39 : Purple-rumped sunbird

Purple-rumped sunbird - Nectorina zeylonica

Another sunbird from the garden of Ellerton's lodge near Kandy in Sri Lanka. This is the male bird. Please see my post on Long-billed Sunbird (number 14) for a fuller description of this bird family.

I am getting postively low on images ! or decent images at least - I either have to raid the hard drives of the old computer or get out tomorrow up to Al Barsha park to see whats about. A couple more weeks and I will be running out. I haven't got the new camera yet so its going to be challenging to get some pictures of the various swifts and Hirundines. I am a post behind which I will catch over this weekend and also construct the page for Al Barsha park.

Purple-rumped Sunbird
Ellerton Lodge, Kandy, Sri Lanka
April 2011

38 : Redshank

Redshank - Tringa totanus

This picture taken in the UK at Essex Wildlife's Fingringhoe Wick just South of Colchester last Summer when I was home for a few days.

I have to say that I have just spotted the french name for this bird which is "Chevalier gambette". Something else the french are better at - bird names.

This is a common wader of the middle lattitudes in Europe - migrating South generally in Winter. It is one of those birds that you just expect to see on any seaside marsh, inlet or patch of mud on a lake that is frequented by waders. At some point in your head head they are downgraded to ordinairy or commonplace which is a shame as they are really rather handsome (click twice). The other thing they become at times is "not a Spotted Redshank" which is a bird that it somehow more exciting on an afternoon's list. That's the general way sometimes with many birds unfortunately when you see too much of them and you are hungry for new ones. It should not be that way but it can become like that. If you list you have to remember to enjoy the birds you know - there is always something new to appreciate about any bird.

I do remember when at 30 I decided that I would start birding properly again and wipe the slate clean of everything I had seen when I was growing up. I used to type up these field reports and for me every bird was a new bird. It was high adrenalin and birds were my new rock and roll. I started the life counter at zero. I used to hang about the Essex marshes a lot as I have family not so far away. One particular favourite is still the walk up the Naze at Walton. Another favourite was the Isle of Sheppey in Kent which I could get to from South London.

One of the first times I walked out along the Naze there was a thick fog. Birds would loom out of the mist and I could only see 20 or 30 yards. In that really close almost claustophobic atmosphere it was the calls that stood out. The plaintive contact calls, the alarm calls and the trills. Redshank calls suit Essex or Kent salt marsh in the fog. There is something quite melancholy about that noise. If you know the black and white film version of Great Expectations then its that type of foggy salt marsh that Magwich escapes on or evades capture across in the mist. The in between world between the sea and the inhabited coastal world. I am sure the soundtrack to that film has Redshanks in the background. If not they make a perfect accompianment to anything moody set next to the sea.

So looming out of the mist as I walked out along the Naze glimpses of Redshanks eventually tied into their calls.

There is one call I love which goes on for perhaps 20 or 30 seconds - they make these calls almost as an announcement that you are all lost - "Taloo taloo taloo taloo taloo". Drifting through the mist that can put the hairs up on the back of your neck.

Redshank - Tringa totanus
Photo - Fingringhoe Wick - August 2010

37 : Western Reef Heron

Western Reef Heron - Egretta gularis

A trip up our local park today in Al Barsha. The centrepiece of the park is a concrete sided lake which obviously has a purpose in the water treatment and distribution process in Dubai. I have seen various water plants growing in the lake and small fish and it doesn't take long before the birds will show up.

This is the dark "morph" of Western Reef Heron. This particular race is I think "shistacea" which is local to the Arabian peninsula and India and is slightly larger and more blue in its tone that the normally darker and slater grey Gularis. This is tropical heron and I have seen them all round the region in both this and the white form. I have to say its quite useful when they are in their dark form as it makes identification a lot easier. You get a fair number of colour morphs with birds of prey also. I have to say I am not aware of the reasons or why-fors.

There is a tradition in birding where we each take a "local patch" and watch it quite intensively in order to build up a pattern of birds that appear. Its the place you might walk your dog back home or it might be on the drive to work. Realistically its somewhere you can drop into daily when the peak migration season is on to take advantage. In Bill Oddie's memoirs he laments his adopted patch from his youth which was a concrete sided resevoir (I forget the name) but he got to know his Coots and Dabchicks very well over the years. His local patch is now Hamstead Heath and if you're up early you can sometimes bump into him in London. I used to watch a stretch of the Thames when I lived in South London but it was never somewhere I could pop into daily.

I have been thinking about adopting Barsha park as a local patch on the basis that I should be able to drop in regulary as it is close to my home and also it should prove a case in point that in Dubai you never know what will show up. I know its residents by now which I will introduce you to over time - but also on occcasion you do get some nice suprises. I will try to be there to take advantage for this page. I will put up a page to describe Barsha Park as a habitat and then we can drop in there from time to time to see what's about.

Western Reef Heron - Egretta gularis
Al Barsha 1, Dubai
10 March 2010

36 : Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Grey-headed Fish Eagle - Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus

This is not a bird that I am familiar with at all. I saw them 3 or 4 times in the Yala in Sri Lanka but did not see them anywhere else in Sri Lanka. They are listed as "rare" in Sri Lanka.

I was looking at the birdlife international website just now which lists this eagle as "near threatened". There are somewhere between 1000 and 10,000 wild birds left and their population is thought to be in decline. The main issue is habitat loss. They are widespread but only locally situated in pockets across South and South East Asia. They hunt for fish on rivers, lagoons, lakes and so on. They also need big trees in which to nest near to the water that they depend on for a livlehood. They are regulary persecuted by fisherman in particular who see them as a threat to fish stocks. I think overfishing by man is probably the biggest threat to fish stocks ! I doubt they take more than one or two fish a day. Its not as if they are flying off with children.

Birdlife say that there are currently no programmes running to assist these eagles other than to track their numbers and try and find the causes of the population decline.

Grey-headed Fish Eagle - Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
Yala National Park, Sri lanka
13-15 April 2011

35 : Spice Finch

Spice Finch - Lonchura punctulata

This is Saturday's post done on Sunday morning so I am a post behind. Today another finch with a great name. I have a feeling this may also be called "Scaly Breasted Munia". These birds would feed on the lawn of our hotel in Mauritius. They are another non-native addition to that island.

Mauritius - July 2010

5 : Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Tickel's Blue Flycatcher - Cyornis tickelliae

Originally posted in May 2011 as post 5 the removal of a typo has jumped it up the list. Original photos supplemented by Banagalore picture here -

Apart from the Yala National Park on our last trip we stayed at a number of guesthouses and small hotels around Sri lanka. The first place we stayed at was Ellertons, a bunglaow in the hills outside of Kandy owned by a British couple. We arrived at night with no sense of where we were after a 4 hour drive up from Columbo. In the morning I woke up to the sounds of birds everywhere. I am sure this is familiar to all world birders but the first morning the lifers just came tumbling in one after the other.

We were at Ellerton's for 5 days and there was a very nice walk down the side of the hill to the river in the small valley below. Sri Lanka is friendly, the people are lovely and the birds are to die for. I have decided that given it is a AED 2,000 (GBP 300) 4 hour flight from Dubai it is somewhere I could get to for a long weekend every so often. I have adopted Sri Lanka.

This was the view when we woke up that first morning.

So after a big breakfast I'd set out down a narrow track with no idea of what I was likely to see. I really started taking pictures of birds as I wanted to make sure that I did not miss anything. I was without a field guide for the first couple of days.The idea of taking a picture of every bird I saw for a website had not occured to me at this stage. in the end I did not take a picture of every bird I saw in Sri Lanka - this gives me a perfect excuse to go back. I can see why Arthur C Clarke lived there. Get me onto the food another time.

My jungly track

In new place you are on edge and have no idea what will turn up. I guess that's the story of this post. Birding is an adventure and you can look at all the books and go to the right places but you just cannot guarantee in many cases what you are going to see. So this was I think 10 April 2011. I'd never heard of Mr Tickell or his flycatcher. As with many birds you hear them before you see them. Then you watch for movement and then you start to work the bird. I knew this was a flycatcher immediately. It was perched in the open and doing what flycatchers do - short little flights to catch small gnats and so on. I know now that this is a fairly common Sri Lankan bird of the mid to low wet forests. On that morning to me it was the outer edge of birding - a flycatcher that was blue. It might as well have been from Mars.

After I calmed down I got a better shot - patience is rewarded. I spent half an hour with this bird

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher - Cyonis tickelliae
Hills near Kandy, Sri Lanka, 10 April 2011

4 : Malabar Pied Hornbill

Malabar Pied Hornbill - Anthracoceros coronatus

This post was orginally made as number 4 at the beginning of May - for some reason it has moved up the list when I edited out a typo.

Back to the exotic again today. There are 54 species of Hornbill and I have only seen one of them. Like Bee-eaters they are spread across Africa and Southern Asia. This bird (and several others) was photographed again recently in Yala National Park in Sri Lanka while we were on a mini-safari during a family holiday.

These really are big birds and they need a big nesting hole. The threat across Asia to Hornbills is logging. Without the big old trees to nest in certain species are at risk. I read this morning that after the female lays her eggs they are walled in with mud and then the male brings food and feeds the female through a slit in the plug. Presumably this little fort protects the eggs, female and young from snakes and mongooses and other such predators and scavengers.

Around Yala these birds would gather in large roosts in certain trees - twenty or thirty at a time. I needed to remind myself that this was not the aviary in Regents Park Zoo but the real thing. I am not sure what purpose the nob or casque on the top of the bill has. It looks heavy but I presume it is fairly light like all bills.

- Anthracoceros coronatus
Yala National Park, Sri lanka - 15-18 April 2011

34 : Hume's Wheatear

Hume's Wheatear - Oenanthe monacha

Firstly an apology for the picture quality - I will at some stage "upgrade" or supplement. The new camera is on its way. Roll on payday !

My last post was about a bird that needs a little bit of help to thrive in the UAE. Not so today's star. I can almost guarantee that if I take a drive into the desert and find an outcrop of that shattered rugged stone in the blistering heat a bird call reminiscent of walks in the Peak District will float through the haze.

This is a bird limited in its range to the North-West Arabian peninsula and what my Grandad called the "cockpit of Asia" - Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan - That general area. I will endeavour to get a better picture but this was snapped I think near Hatta pools on one of our "Agh lets get out of Dubai and the malls and go climb a hill" roadtrips. They are part of the suite of birds that you will find in that arid hilly country where the sandunes give way to mountains and outcrops. There is a large range of mountains running up this thumb part of the Arabian peninsula dividing Oman from Saudi and the UAE. The hills are bigger than anything in Scotland in many places. On a recent trip to the Sharjah Natural history museum I learnt that if you follow these mountains South you will run into 40,000 baboons. Yemen and Saudi might not be a tourists dream but away from disturbance there is some real wilderness. This bird was photographed an hour's drive from Dubai - a little further to get into the really rough stuff.

A Hume's wheatear will stand out perfectly in their black and white plumage and sit up on stones and sing their heart out. Below a picture of typical Hume's wheatear territory - and typical picnic country for my family !

I just found this handsome chap who my wife managed to get a perfect picture of hiding in a stone bank. I have as yet to identify this lizard who was perhaps 30 cm long if you included his tail.

Its worth double clicking on this Lizard to blow him up and admire the camouflage that works down to a scale by scale level. You start to admire lizards and skinks and gekkos when you live out here - makes up for the lack of squirrels !

I wasn't sure what the desert would bring in terms of wildlife. You have to perhaps work a bit harder but it is all out there - perhaps in smaller numbers and tucked away. The apex predator in these hills is the leopard. There are certainly leopard still in Oman and perhaps one or two in the UAE. If in its natural state (without guns in particular !) an area can support leopard then clearly there is going to be a rich and diverse fauna sitting underneath - and that means birds. To see a picture of a leopard click on my Yala link above. Imagine these big cats living in caves in these mountains. If the locals would stop shooting all the gazelles and mountain goats the leopards wouldn't take local livestock. That puts them on a collision course with your hill farmer. There were cheetah in this part of the world until just 40 years ago. How sad is that.

I have seen plenty of birds locally but I do really want to get my walking boots on and dig out some more of the specialists up in these mountains. Also the sand desert itself has some wonderful specialists like the Hoopoe Lark for example which are as exotic in their own way as anything from the rain forest.

When I whine about needing to fly to India or Africa to photograph a hundred different bird species in a day (entirely possible) I am probably best to remind myself that there are plenty of birds on my 'doorstep' - a roadtrip and a Hume's Wheatear is an day well spent.

Hume's Wheatear - Oenanthe monacha
Mountains above Hatta, Oman
March 2010

33 : Indian Silverbill

Indian Silverbill - Eudice malabarica

I am sorry for posting a day late - I was struck down by a chicken pesto sandwich. I managed to travel around Sri Lanka unscathed and then get felled by an executive panini by the caterer of choice to most of the bankers, accountants and lawyers in Emaar Square.

I took this picture when I was supposed to be looking at captive animals at Al Ain zoo. As zoos go Al Ain is pretty good. Perhaps too many big cats and white lions etc. to cater to local tastes but you do get the sense that the animals have space and so on. As I understand it the zoo is being converted to focus on programmes for arabian mammals etc which can only be good news. If you want a lesson in Arabian forna a trip to Sharjah's natural history museum is an eye opener. Baboons, leopards, foxes, wildcats, mountain goats, deer and all manner of snakes and reptiles

Back to the post - a flock of Silverbills was feeding on grass seeds in a flowerbed and "tinkling" and flitting around a chain mesh fence. We always see these birds feeding in plantings of this fluffy grass. We planted a couple of rows at home and very quickly we were getting visits from small flocks of these birds. A typical finch and seed specialist they of course remind me of goldfinches back home. My father tried his hand at creating a wildflower meadow at home but the thing got away from him and he went back to lawn. For a period though I would walk down the garden and flush flocks of goldfinch 50-100 strong. The numbers of butterflys was astounding as well.

I think when I retire I am going to buy up a few fields and just plant grasses, dig a pond and bung in a small copse and then just let the thing run riot. Unfortunately in Dubai it takes water to keep grasses growing - I am not sure how well Indian Silverbills do out in the desert but for the sake of quick spray every day they are lovely to have around.

Indian silverbill - Eudice malabarica
Al Ain Zoo, UAE - 10 January 2010

32 : Baya Weaver

Baya Weaver - Ploceus philipinas

Today's picture is of a scavenging weaver on my terrace at the Sugar club in Mauritius. Just a few bread crumbs scattered at a hotel and life ticks will appear !

There are 111 species in the Weaver family and 14 are endangered. The bulk of the species are found in Africa but some like the Baya extend across South East Asia. I believe that Baya Weaver was introduced to Mauritius but has a stable breeding population in the wild. Weavers are named after their fantastic nests which are woven from grass and hang from trees. A snake hanging down from a branch is unable to curve back up through the entrance in order to rob the nest of eggs or young.

This is the weaver himself - a handsome male bird. The females are brown and look much more like a sparrow. He really stood out amongst the pigeons, bulbuls and other small birds that turned up to take advantage of my free food.

Baya Weaver - Ploceus philipinas
Sugar Beach, Mauritius
July 2010

31 : Asian Open-bill Stork

Asian Open-bill Stork - Anastomus osciatans

Another stork today - the Asian open bill is a lot smaller than some of the featured storks so far. It is named after its curious bill which seems to have a adaptation like a nutcracker. The photo shows the advantage of the gap between the mandibles. This bird is about to crack a water snail as if it was a wlanut at Christmas.

These birds have a large range across India, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. They are tree nesting waterbirds and I expect Yala is a favourite spot.

I have not dared to count how many pictures of birds I have left but I have a plan afoot for a long weekend trip to Ethiopia which is about a 4 hour flight away from Dubai. The Bale mountains are a day's drive from Addis Adaba. If I sort out my camera equipment I reckon I could scoop up a couple of month's worth of birds in two or three days. Its not a place I ever thought about until I bought a book by Dominic Cousins called 100 Best Birdwatching sites to try and prompt some thoughts about quick getaways to get some ammunition for this site. Drawing concentric rings around Dubai you can get to some interesting places for a couple of hundred pounds and I have never been birding in Africa.

It will be quite a trip - thats for sure. For now I leave you the Yala.

A large Egret roost. I am sure that this is prime breeding territory for Open-bills as well.

Asian Open-bill Stork
Anastomus oscitans
15-17 April 2011

30 : Southern Coucal

Greater Coucal - Centropus (sinensis) parotti

Coucals are members of the Cuckoo family - there are 122 species of Cuculiformes. Less than half of all cuckoo species are "brood parasites" - laying their eggs in another bird's nest for a free ride. The Coucals of which there are 28 species are not brood parasites. In other words they get a bad wrap and have the decency to raise their own families.

I saw this species all over Sri Lanka whereever there were plenty of trees. They a big bird, almost pheasant sized and crash through the leaves of trees when they are off the ground. I think they forage on the ground for a living. They certainly do not look at home perching.

As ever when its Yala I leave you with some action from the world outside of birds. Here a mongoose - Ricki Ticki Tavi.

Southern Coucal - Centropus (sinensis) parotti
Yala, Sri Lanka
14 April 2011

29 : Lesser Adjutant

Lesser Adjutant - Leptotilos javanicus

More Sri Lankan magic today. This photo was taken on our first mornings game drive at the Yala national park. The Lesser Adjutant (in the foreground) has just grabbed a fairly large snake from a rushy pond. The next couple of minutes were grim viewing. If you click on the picture it should enlarge and you can see a loop of the snake in the plant matter that the bird had snapped up at the same time.

These are birds of Southern Asia from the Indian sub-continent right across to China and South-East Asia. They are one of the largest storks standing a good 120 cm tall with a wingspan of 210 cm. That's close to 7 feet fully outstretched. As well as snakes they eat frogs, all manner of reptiles, small birds, insects and carrion. Like a vulture they have a bare neck and head that allows them to reach into rotting carcases.

I promised some other Yala shots while I am spending quiet a bit of time in the park. Below Mugger crocodile. They would sunbathe on the track at the beginning of the day.

Probably off the menu for a Lesser Adjutant.

Leptotilus javanicus
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
14 June 2011

28 : Slender-billed Gull

Slender-billed Gull - Larus genei

I snapped this local gull today at Rhas Al-Khor. Rhas Al-Khor means the head of the creek in arabic. The Dubai creek ends in a brackish wetland with mangroves and lots of standing water and saltflats. Its an important site for migrant and breeding birds with a large flock of flamingos most of the year round, herons, raptors and waders. During the migration season and the Winter the place can teem with birds. The municipality has provided two hides with leica scopes and binoculars. It is a pleasant place to sit for a hour or two to see what's about.

Slender-billed gull breeds in the Persian gulf. This bird was feeding near a treated water out-flow into the creek next to one of the hides. A popular spot for herons who run about in the shallows catching small fish. I think slender-billed gulls are proper fish eating gulls as well. I never get excited by gulls - its a combination of their identification difficulties and habits. I am so ambivalent about gulls I could barely be bothered to sort out the new gulls on arrival in the Middle-East. They are at least fairly easy to photograph ! Perhaps that will change.

Slender-billed Gull - Larus genei
Rhas Al-Khor, Dubai
4 June 2011

27 : White-tailed Plover

White-tailed Plover - Vanellus leucurus

I thought I'd post a local bird tonight. I snapped this today at the Pivot fields just outside of Dubai. These are a smart member of the lapwing family which breeds in warm lattitudes across the Middle East and further East. They feed on large insects and beetles and like all lapwings and plovers are a ground nesting bird. I could not see a partner for this bird but it did mob me and make a circular alarm flight so I am sure there was breeding activity nearby. Red-wattled Lapwing breed at the site so White-tailed Plover could as well.

Below hopefully a slighly better more recent picture -

White-tailed Plover - Vanellus leucurus
Pivot Fields, Dubai
4 June 2011

26 : Hoopoe

Hoopoe - Upupa epops

I am day behind so apologies - 2 posts today to make up for a missing 2nd of June. We keep the blistering pace of a bird a day to make sure we finish in time. It really would be drag if I am still doing this in my 70's.

This photo of a Hoopoe was taken on my lawn out of the window - I am not sure when it was taken. I was so pleased when we moved to Dubai to realise that Hoopoes would be part of the scenery. This is a bird with large range in the "old world" but not the UK where it is a vagrant. These are birds that grub about for insects and larvae in the grass - the bill is designed for probing. The crest is used for display and as we have mirror windows they will sometimes raise their crest to see off their own reflection. In flight they have quite flappy bouncy flight - almost like a butterly or moth. The black and white markings on the wing and peachy pink plumage is absilutely distinctive. They are real characters and swapping them for starlings on our lawn has not been a chore.

Below - latest Hoopoe portrait with the new Canon and big Bertha the lense.

Hoopoe - Upupa epops
Dubai

25 : Ceylon Small Barbet

Ceylon Small Barbet - Megalaima rubricapilla (?)

June and I am still here ! Believe you me I am the most suprised. Perhaps I should declare on facebook or this site that I will lose weight and that might happen.

I had the humility to attach a question-mark to the citation on this bird when it first went up as in all honestly I wqas not sure if this is correct or if it is Crimson Headed Barbet (Meglalaima haemacephala indica) which is the Ceylon sub-species I think of Coppersmith Barbet (the main indian race I think). As no passing Barbet expert from the Ceylon bird club has yet put me right I have removed the question-mark. I will amend my post after some more research but for now thats my call and I am not going to beat myself up if I am wrong. The lady at Ellertons in Kandy Sri Lanka had never seen a Barbet in her garden so there you go. I put a few ticks in that lodges' bird book (visitors would tick new birds form the garden against the picture - that was a red-rag to a bull !).

When I first downloaded a list of the birds of the world, probably a good 10 years ago, I would sit at work and get quite bemused flicking through and planting ticks next to names of "British Birds" only to find that they sat alone on a whole sheet of the list. I used to take delight in reading the names to my wife at home - imagine if I could see a Scaly Breasted Munia or a White-rumped Shama ? - those would be the sort of names I would pour over imagining that everything was flitting somewhere in the sunshine waiting to be discovered by Adventure Neil - my imagined alter ego. I have discovered it is more pottering Neil when my bins are on but there you go - I like a nice 'Potter' around a bird reserve followed by a something to eat and a nosy around the shop. Walking around a concrete resevoir in the desert in fourty degree heat here in Dubai I quite miss a cup of tea and a piece of cake and a purchase of the London Wildlife Trust annual bird report. Better still fish and chips. You have to suffer for your birds out here - but I still Potter. I stopped at Whitards in Festival City recently for a pot of earl grey after I had been thrashing around some scrub in the back of beyond. No restaurant and gift shop you see. I need to speak to Sheikh Mohammed about mass birding culture - give us tea and cake and we will be out in droves. We potter !!

I digress as ever - Barbets were certainly one of those names that conjured up something magical and judging by this fine fellow they did not disapoint. This was my first Barbet and I have 82 species to go. These are forest birds mostly eating fruit like figs up in the canopy. They are related to woodpeckers - I can see they have a short stiff tail which I am sure they can use for propping themselves when hanging of a tree. I can see why they are in a family - Capitonidae - with woodpeckers e.g. who also have that stiff tail. They also nest in a hole in a tree (a few in holes in banks) - again like woodpeckers and Hornbills (another member of that larger bird family).

One Barbet is endangered - please hang on in there Colombia's White-mantled Barbet ! The ranches and farming are taking away its habitat and it is hanging on in fragmented populations. Another 9 are near threatened.

A lot of money from the big organisations like the WWT and RSPB makes its way overseas into research and work to help endangered species. You've done your bit by being a member. Also - when you are pottering about on a Sunday morning and you end up in a reserve gift shop look out for books endorsed by Birdlife International or signs of money going overseas as well for habitat protection - birdfood for example - you can do it whereever you go - rainforest coffee for example which they grow sympathetically. I can't see it hurts and birders are a force for good in this world. Birds are a good bell weather of a places' health. See how many species you get in a monoculture. I am from East Anglia and saw my first Corn Bunting in Spain ! I get irritated at the thought that the size of this task might get smaller over the next 27 years.

With that thought I leave you with a random picture of my last British post bird-potter lunch. I played hooky from work on a business trip and dipped into Barn Elms for an hour (Faringdon to Hammersmith on the Circle and 10 minutes on a taxi or a bus - sorted - at least I worked it out on the way back). Pottering is good - get out and potter - buy a book to read with your lunch rather than the Telegraph and help that Colombian Barbet.

Ceylon Small Barbet - Megalaima rubricapilla
Ellertons Lodge, Kandy, Sri Lanka
12 April 2011

24 : Asian Magpie Robin

Asian Magpie Robin - Copsychus saularis

This is my last post for May and I seem to have got into a decent habit with this. It is established as part of my daily routine (with the odd catch up some days). Its amazing how many photographs you can find tucked away - I'd actually forgotten I did some birding in Iceland for example - I will still need to make an "adventure dash" soon and the funds are being allocated for the camera purchase. Onwards and upwards.

I know we are in a bit of Sri Lankan phase at the moment but if you are following day to day (some people are amzingly) I hope its giving an indication of what a wonderful place it is for birds. Now that the troubles are over I think many more people will start going to the island. All I can say is get away from the Western coast South of Columbo and head for those hills. We did a big loop from Columbo to Kandy (in the very centre) then down in a South East direction through Nuwara to Bundarewella (spelling) - the tea country - then on down to Yala in the very South East then back around the South coast to Galle and Bentota and back to Columbo for a night before flying back home to Dubai. We took 12 days for what looks like a small loop on a map - the roads are single lane mostly, pot-holed and the average speed was really 30-50 km all the way round. Allow plenty of time and build in extra stops. It is an island that needs 3 trips of 2 weeks if you are going to really see everything it has to offer in terms of heritage and spend a fair amount of time in the national parks.

Today an Asian Magpie Robin snapped on the manicured lawn of the Nuwara Elliya country club. They even had snap dragons in the garden and a half timbered frontage to the hotel. A place lost in time in the high tea country.I have feeling that my better half snapped this while we were sat waiting for the restaurant to open.

I mentioned when talking about Robins how it was a common name attributed to many species around the world by western travellers. A bit of colonial bird naming. Its no exception with this species which is actually a flycatcher rather than a thrush or chat (the same family as our European Robin). A specimen skin of this asian bird was sent back from a physician gentleman collector in India to an ornithologist in England and it was described to science in the mid nineteenth century. I expect it was known to the locals for thousands of years and had a perfectly goood name ! The european common name attributed to it was Magpie Robin - it was coloured like a Magpie (black and white) and looked about the same size as a robin and foraged on the ground. This before clever DNA sampling would have shown that it was closer to a Pied Flycatcher !

These birds were an integral part of the dawn chorus when we were travelling around - much like my own robins from home. I spent a fair amount of time looking for the owner of this "voice" when I started our Sri Lanka trip - I was expecting to see a brightly coloured bird sat in a mango tree. Eventually I worked out that it was an "robin" sat on the tv arial of our lodge. Not a disapointment though. A very smart bird.

Asian Magpie Robin - Copsychus saularis
Nuwara Elliya Country Club, Sri Lanka
13 April 2011

23 : Streak-throated Woodpecker

Streak-throated Woodpecker - Picus Xanthopygaeus

Woodpeckers are everybody's favourite. They are nornally colourful and they are interesting to watch in terms of behaviour. They are usually have loud calls and also drum on tree trunks which is quite a physical feat. Can you imagine knocking on a tree with a hammer in order to get the same kind of sound to carry. This is another big family of birds that over time I will need to get through.

This Streak-throated Woodpecker was on the lawn at Kirchayne lodge in the high tea country near Bunderwele in Sri Lanka. The lawn itself with the rose beds looked all the world as if it could have been in Surrey. This was the last big tea plantation owned by an "English" family before nationalisation by the Sri Lankan government. With a green looking woodpecker on the lawn it really could be mistaken for a little part of England. It was raining when this was taken for starters and croquet and tennis were off !

Streak-throated woodpeckers are obviously in the same sub-set of woodpeckers as "greens". They are common on the Indian sub-continent and South Asia generally. This bird was probably grubbing for ants or leatherjackets under the lawn. Its a male given the bright crimson cap. I expect the scene has been repeated up and down the Indian sub-continent during the colonial era - A guy sat there with a gin and tonic remembering his lawn and the birds back home as he worries about the price of tea.

Steak-throated Woodpecker - Picus xanthopygaeus
Kirchayne lodge, Bunderwele, Sri Lanka
14 April 2011

22 : Painted Stork

Painted Stork - Myteria leucocepheria

Another Indian/Asian bird and again photographed at Yala. Painted really is an apt name. The flight feathers remind of something from a chinese silk screen.

These seemed to be fairly abundant birds in Sri Lanka inhabiting any flooded area including paddy fields, tanks and ponds. They feed by walking with their bill immersed and so I assume they snap up small fish and frogs etc. It was certainly more of a feed by touch method than a wait and stab egret/heron type strategy.

They are fairly tall - a metre or so and impressive in flight soaring with outstretched necks.

Here a bird added to the site after a trip to Bangalore a year after this original post.

I promised pictures of other Yala wildlife as we seem to be spending a lot of time this month in the Yala. Below a Sambhur Deer stag - the biggest deer we saw in the park. Very shy and secretive so this was a lucky shot on our way out after 48 fabulous hours. Before this individual we had only seen one or two animals and they bolted as soon as we appeared. These were big animals - think red deer if your from Europe and you have got the size

I now am being encouraged to invest in a new camera on the grounds that I am going to run out of quality photographs at some point and the blow ups I am doing from quite a humble panasonic are often a touch clunky ! The plan is to get a Canon 450 D with a 400m f 5/6 lens. That was the recomendation from quite a good site on bird photography and a fast lense is the way to go. I have to say some of the pictures I have seen on the net put my efforts to shame. I am sure I won't look back and we are fast approaching a point when the cupboard of images will have run out (a couple more months perhaps). In the Summer in Dubai a lot of the families clear out (including mine) so I will have plenty of time to wander lonely as a cloud (dust cloud that is) playing with my new toy. So thats the plan. I may manage a quick weekend somewhere that the wife and kids might not fancy for a family break (Iraq ?!? - seriously would love to see the Marshes but would not want to end up in a boiler suit on CNN - pehaps leave that to sort itself out for a few years. The marshaes have been reflooded though in part and *thousands* of marbled teal have return. You only have to give nature half a chance.)

I will need a hide clamp and a tripod and a bit more patience probably. I think maybe Ethiopia might be good or up into Asia for a bit of vast steppe action. When you fly from Dubai to London there are some mighty big mountains out of the plane window. Its time to get the maps out and time to get kitted up - the Task in on !

Painted Stork - Mycteria Leucocephia
Yala, Sri Lanka, 15-18 April 2011