BirdingInSpain

I’m glad February is gone,

it usually gets me in a foul mood

And then when I go out to do a spot of birding,

just to calm down a little bit,

I start seeing and hearing some strange things…

Am I the only one who’s glad February is behind us?

Birds of the Middle East – Second Edition

Authors: Richard Porter and Simon Aspinall
Illustrated by John Gale, Mike Langman and Brian Small

Princeton Field Guides – Princeton University Press

Dimensions – 215 x 140mm

384pp

The ancestor of this field guide was first published in 1988 as “Birds of the Middle East and North Africa” (Hollom et al.). Later, in 1996, the first edition of “Birds of the Middle East” was published, reducing the area covered while increasing the information on each species described. Now the area covered spans from Western Turkey to Eastern Iran, and south to Yemen

There has been a clear progression with this new publication. “Birds of the Middle East” has successfully evolved into the format that most of us have come to expect from our field guides: quality colour plates depicting all of the species described and most of their distinctive plumages, reasonably detailed distribution maps and species descriptions all on the same page; all this opposite the plate illustrating the corresponding bird species. Over 130 additional species and subspecies have been incorporated, giving a total of over 850 species and subspecies depicted and described.

The order, taxonomy and nomenclature follows the OSME region list, ORL. Most of us who have lagged behind in the face of the taxonomic upheavals of the last two decades may take a little longer to locate some of the species we are looking for. A tip: Anyone looking for Caspian Snowcock, for example, should turn straight to the first plate rather than waste time flicking around the middle pages of the book.

This re-ordering required to accommodate taxonomic and structural changes means that some of the plates appear either cramped, with birds like the bustards being too scaled down in order to fit on the page, or under-exploited – the drawings on the crests and vultures pages, for example, could have been scaled up to fill the empty spaces. 

The back cover blurb asserts that the guide is “stunningly illustrated”. Bearing in mind that today’s birder has come to expect very high standards of graphic content I think that is overstretching things a bit, although the general standard of illustration is high. In my opinion some of the drawings are just a little too small for the “stun” effect to really sink in. 

One thing I often find lacking in this kind of guide is national bird recorder’s addresses. Where does one send what one considers to be useful or interesting observations? Admittedly there is the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, but wouldn’t it be appropriate to include national bird recording institutions or persons country by country, where they exist?

Quite rightly, the authors state the importance of recognising bird vocalizations, greatly aided by the interpretation of sonograms. Consequently, it could have been useful and even educational if they had included a sample or two for us to have a go at interpreting ourselves.

In terms of usability the book has the right size, weight and general feel to it although I have my doubts about the durability of the binding: would it survive the rough and tumble of a two-week birding trip?

Don’t let these minor points fool you though, they are born of the need for a certain originality in the appraisal. This is one guide that is certainly worth it’s weight in the suitcase when travelling to do some birding in the Middle East. I have no doubts that I’ll be taking it to Turkey with me when I go.

Dani Valverde and Joan Morales are the bird and nature photographers who have generously shared their work and love of nature with the international birding community.

Just click on this link and then follow through to download their 2011 calendar, illustrated with birds like the Yelkouan Shearwater, the Snow Finch, the Pectoral Sandpiper, and more. There’s more than just birds however, as the exuberant Apollo butterfly also manages to collar a month, as does a Red Fox. 

The calendar is written in Catalan and English.

Our Facebook group “Friends of the Lammergeier” is fast approaching 1,000 members. Many are the bird and wildlife photographers who are sharing their photographs, comments and references about this splendid bird with a growing Facebook community.

For example, Jari Peltomaki left this little appetizer for us all:

Magnificent work, Jari!

Although he’s not the only one….

Very often I find myself birding the “Let’s see” style: let’s see what’s along this path, let’s see if any dotterels have arrived on the plains, let’s see if there’s something breeding inside this old building, etc.

I’m sure I’m not the only birder who does this. Sometimes though, it’s easy to lose sight if this explorative element of birding, especially when we go chasing round after “other people’s” birds.

Here’s a “let’s see” birding experience I had only last week. I was out on the drylands of Lleida, I had a bit of time on my hands and I saw this building.

So I said to myself “Let’s see if there’s an owl or some choughs inside that building”. There were some white dropping marks on the outside window ledge, but the first really encouraging sign was this:

A barn owl pellet (judging from its size and shape). A closer search of the surroundings also revealed this:

A barn owl feather. The signs were promising! I poked my head inside the mas and sure enough there were plenty of pellets at different stages of decay strewn around the floor. In one corner there were also lots of dropping marks too.

Then I looked in the other corner, and my search came to an end:

The remains of a barn owl dangling between a rafter and the wall. What had been the cause of the birds death? How long had it been there like that? A case for the CSI? 

The Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor could be down to just one pair in Catalonia, in other words it is soon to be extinct in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. The truth is nobody was betting on the species to hold out much longer. For several years now the known population was reduced to a single site, where despite close monitoring and trapping of Magpies (the main predator of nestlings) the numbers of Lesser Grey Shrikes has gone slowly but steadily downhill. From just over 10 pairs at the turn of the millenium, to 4 pairs in 2008, and now the last one. Will the species have any reason to turn up here next year?  

I was embarked on a survey for the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Catalunya 1999-2002 when I chanced upon this as-then unknown breeding population of Lesser Grey Shrikes, on the very edge of the city of Lleida. At the time the discovery seemed to breathe some new life into the hopes for the future of the species in Spain. By then this attractive shrike had disappeared from the Aiguamolls of Empordà in Girona and from the last few pockets remaining to it in Aragón. 

In the face of the continued decline of the species it was closely monitored at this site. In fact, the presence of the Lesser Grey Shrike went a long way towards the declaration of the area as a “ZEPA” (SPA), a fact welcomed by a one-in-a-thousand enlightened landowner. Local biologists and conservationists even started working on a reintroduction scheme. 

None of this has been enough. Surely, now is the time for all involved to ask themselves if they really thought it was ever going to be enough. If the (public) money spent on the Lesser Grey Shrike, on counting, monitoring, studying and paperwork, had any significance for the conservation of the species? And if anyone so employed believed that getting results was what really mattered the most?  

That brings me to an issue which has come to me time and again in my contact with conservation initiatives in this country. Does anybody seriously propound that counting (surveying, censusing) is conservation?

Yes? Then please explain to me how it works, and why the Dupont’s Lark went extinct in Catalonia despite regular censuses, and why the Lesser Grey Shrike is now close to the end of the same path.

No? Then why do so many conservation efforts in Spain (Iberian Peninsula, Catalonia…) focus almost exclusively on solely counting the birds? Where’s the conservation in knowing that a rare species is getting rarer year by year, if you don’t use that information immediately to draw up some plan of remedial action?

That’s my point. Counting is not conservation. It might be many things, most of them good: birding, collaborating, training, group-bonding, identity-forming, whatever. But if no-one has bothered to work out what to do with the results before the count has been done, then it is not going to be of any service at all to the bird in question, ie. it is not conservation.

My proposal is that public funding for counting birds or other beasts should always be conditioned towards action based on the results. In other words, if a species is declining and the cause is known (lack of habitat, disturbance, predation by magpies, etc), then the lion’s share of the available funds should be allocated to action to ameliorate the situation. In other words, action, not numbers.

 Artist José’s impression of Steve West during the “Marine Birds of Catalunya” course held at Vila-seca

Many thanks for your drawings José! You’re an artist. I don’t know how you got my knees right without ever seeing them!

Els agents rurals (“forestals”) de les 4 provincies de Catalunya van assistir a un curset a Salou els dies 12, 13 i 14 d’abril. “Identificació d’aus del litoral català”.

En total vam passar unes 20 hores junts, incloent-hi un dia sencer en el camp, tot posant en pràctica els coneixements adquirits a l’aula. La reserva de Remolar-Filipines (Delta del Llobregat) va donar molt de si (a més d’una sorpresa molt agradable en forma d’un Rascletó Porzana parva). Hi havia també un gran nombre d’ànecs i de limicoles, el Xarrasclet, un Territ de Temminck, Tètols, Becplaners, …

Desprès del nostre picnic a la platja vam pujar al massís de Garraf, on l’única cosa que es movia era una parella d’Aguila Cuabarrada. Al poble del mateix nom vam caminar al peu dels penya-segats. Aquí vam veure Merla Blava, Còlit Negre, Falcó Pelegrí, Tallareta Vulgar, Cotxa Cua-roja entre altres.

Participants en el curset. Tots contents perque ningú va suspendre l’evaluació final!

We’ve really splashed out here at BirdinginSpain and have just had 100 unique T-shirts printed with the BirdingInSpain.com logo. The logo is on a white background and the size range includes S, M, L, XL and XXL.

These T-shirts will not be available to the general public I’m afraid. Only to BirdingInSpain.com clients, and on request.

By the way, I must admit I got a bit of a shock when Florinda politely observed that my size was more of an XL than an L or even an M!

We can’t thank you enough for such a great trip! It was wonderful, and made us hungry for more.

Ann

I’ve finally gotten my lists more or less in order and find I have more than thirty life birds, but finding new birds didn’t mean as much as the wonder of the days—clouds of swifts above and carpets of poppies below.

John

The two days I spent with you both, showing you the birds and the landscapes around my home in Lleida were a pleasure for me too. Thank you John and Ann, and may you have many more marvellous birding experiences!