Anatolia

The blog has been quiet recently mainly because I’m busy finishing the compilation and editing of the Ayrshire Bird Report 2007. However Lisa and I did spend a fantastic two weeks in the south and far east of Turkey, travelling around 4000km in search of some of the Western Palaearctic’s rarest birds, and drinking a fair amount of tea (the last three big trips have all been about the tea – ice tea in Arizona, mint tea in Morocco and now some strong black Turkish tea.). Still, its best to keep off the raki when faced with extreme heat, early starts, dodgy stomachs and a lot of driving. I’ll post a detailed trip report on the main website once the ABR is off to the printers, but in the meantime, some of the highlights of the 215 or so species (37 lifers inc. 4 Nuthatch spp!) recorded…. Caspian Snowcocks at 3200m at five in the morning in the Tarsus Mountains; Grey-headed Swamphens and Graceful Warbler in the Göksu Delta; White-breasted Kingfishers in the Tarsus Delta; Birecik – so many great birds along the Euphrates including Pied Kingfisher, Striated Scops Owl, Iraq Babbler, Black Francolin and Dead Sea Sparrow; the stone heads of the tumulus of Antiochus at Nemrut Daği with Red-tailed Wheatear, White-throated Robin, Finsch’s Wheatear, Cinereous Bunting and Trumpeter Finch; driving down into the huge volcanic crater at the other Nemrut Daği with Armenian Gull, Rose-coloured Starling, Crimson-winged Finch and Red-fronted Serin; Lake Van, more like an inland sea with its own microclimate with lightning storms and a nocturnal downpour flooding our tent (should have taken the good one) but cheered later with White-headed Duck, Paddyfield Warbler, Citrine Wagtail and Greater Flamingos; Mongolian Trumpeter Finch on the lava fields at Serpmetas; Saker, Grey-necked Bunting and Golden Eagle around the spectacular Işak Paşa Palace at Doğubayazit near the Iran border and of course the tremendous landscapes, hospitable people and good food - well, good at the time – shouldn’t have cleared those salads every night :-(

Kindrogan Field Centre

Last week I was at the Field Studies Council's Kindrogan field centre in Perthshire with an undergraduate field course studying plants, bats and birds. I've uploaded a short trip report to the main website:

Kindrogan 6-13 June 2008

More sonograms including 'ogg-ing' Woodcock and Cuckoo here

Dean Castle Dawn Chorus

Listening to the dawn chorus in Dean Country Park in Ayrshire on Sunday morning, a Song Thrush took the lead at 0259h with a Chaffinch being the last to join in at 0422h. Two male Tawny Owls heard and Blackbird mobbing some chicks. It was partly cloudy with no wind.

Species/Time of first registration
Song Thrush 0259h
Carrion Crow 0319h
Robin 0323h
Blackbird 0327h
Wren 0348h
Goldcrest 0401h
Dunnock 0410h
Chaffinch 0422h

In the shelter of North Glen App

I checked a few sites on the southern coast today but it was clear that the wind was one factor in the low numbers around. Still, Pinbain Burn had a single Grayling (my earliest record), 10 Large Skipper, 2 Northern Brown Argus, 1 Wall, 6 Common Blue, and 3 Small Heath.

Moving inland to the shelter of North Glen App proved a wise move with some good counts: Dark Green Fritillary (17) Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (13) Large Heath (17) Small Heath (70+) Large Skipper (2) Wall (1) Golden-ringed Dragonfly (min 9) Also Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Green-veined White, Peacock (very worn individual from the 2007 brood), Chimney Sweeper, Large Red Damselfly, Crossbill (4+), Jay and Tawny Owl.

Blackburn Pavilion

I hadn't been to a zoo since I was knee-high to a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler*. A couple of months ago when the new Blackburn Pavillion opened at ZSL London Zoo I was really interested in finally going back. The birds here in the walk-in aviary are worth the entrance fee itself... Sunbitterns and Pittas at your feet and Red Crested Turaco and Montserrat Orioles at eye level! What I really wanted to see were the hummers. They have some Amazilia Hummingbirds from the coast of Peru and Ecuador though understandably these are not flying free around visitors' heads as the advertising on the tube seems to suggest. More details here:
www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/exhibits/blackburn-pavilion/
One of the highlights of the day was a wild Grey Heron stealing fish from the Penguins! The African Bird Safari, another walk-in exhibit, is another must see. In fact its difficult to find the time to observe the other animals if birds are your thing. Here are a few shots... and no, there are no dangerous animals in the African Bird Safari.

* Actually I remembered I visited Lima Zoo in 2004 where the Amazilia Hummingbirds were obviously flying free outsite the cages...

Field Vole

Some shots of urban Field Voles at Cambridge University's Zoology Department...