BirdingInSpain

I don’t know how far people in the know go these days to define art, but here’s a minor contribution to the debate.

And another one:

And another:

This one’s not art, it’s about Choughs…

You could hang this one upside-down and it would be the right way up. Now isn’t that cool?

This one invites comment… I said “This one invites comment”….No?

The cold spells we have been through here in Catalonia have ensured that the Almond Trees didn’t start flowering until close to the end of February. In more settled, warmer winters flowering may advance a couple of weeks or even more, which puts the entire almond harvest at great risk from a late frost.

It’s a time worth waiting for. The days are drawing out, and one can easily be fooled into thinking that spring is already here. Especially when the strident tones of the marvellous Great Spotted Cuckoo ring out from a nearby tree on the plains, and I realize that it is not someone calling me on my mobile phone (the dial tone is a Great Spotted Cuckoo as chance would have it!) but rather the real thing.

Almond tree blossom with Great Spotted Cuckoos, bliss! 

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….

“Then I pass over a rise in the terrain and something unexpected happens. A field of grass and flowers lies before me, bursting with the song of calandra larks and crickets. In this scented field, which has somehow been overlooked by the ploughman, I see the unmistakeable bulks of several great bustards, necks stretched and eyes fixed in my direction. I am too close for their liking, so they take to a nonchalant but purposeful gait to move away from me, stopping now and then to raise their heads and check that I am not following hard on thier heels. I watch from the path as, slowly, the last of their heads sinks below the grassy horizon like a setting sun. Tipping an imaginary cap, I wish them the best of luck. ”

Excerpt from the chapter “Little Tales and Great Bustards” from the book “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains“

Irene from Paris got in touch after the summer and explained that she was set on coming to film vultures. Vultures feeding seen from the hide? No. Vultures perched on the rocks? No. Irene was explicit: she wanted to film vultures circling in thermals.

Irene and friends Dorothy, Jean and Gilles

It became clear to me that her best option would be Mas de Bunyol. The patron of Mas de Bunyol, Jose Ramón Moragrega has been feeding the vultures of els Ports on his land near Valderroures every day for more than 20 years now. In the eyes of the public he’s on the way to becoming a local legend; for the hundreds of vultures that turn up every morning waiting for him to serve their food he already is.  

From the comfort of the newly-completed vulture observatory, with benches and all-round vision, vulture displays and the attentions of Loly, José Ramón’s partner, one can watch as he enters the compound with a wheelbarrow loaded with dead rabbits. The vultures sail down from the nearby trees, the bravest of them actually going up to José Ramón’s wheelbarrow to try and grab a rabbit for themselves even before he can unload them!

Everything unfolds as usual, although José Ramón is a little upset that today we have only seen 150 Griffon Vultures, instead of the more usual four or five hundred. Only! The vultures feed, and then rest, some in the trees, some in the compound itself next to a pool where they often bathe. Irene, however, is far from relaxed. When will the vultures start circling Steve? I consult with Loly, and she tells us not to worry – the vultures are just hanging around waiting for the first thermals to form.

Griffon vultures just hanging out after a feed at Mas de Bunyol. But Irene was looking for something more…

They make us wait in a nervous state before they eventually comply by finding a thermal that brings some 70 of them circling closer and closer until they are just over our heads! Phew! Mission accomplished, and that after spending a lovely night dining on Loly’s roast chicken, drinking local wine and sleeping in one of Mas de Bunyol’s tastefully furbished rooms.

José Ramón told us about the Eagle Owls and Peregrines that inhabit the nearby rock faces, and after the vultures had all but left two adult Bonelli’s Eagles sailed leisurely over the observatory! However, Irene and her crew were already thinking about a fish lunch on the Mediterranean coast…

If you’re curious about the title of this article take a look at Irene’s website. 

White light?

 ¡Ojo!

Un exótico viaje fotográfico y ornitológico de 10 días al sur de Turquía.

Con guía nativo y guía de BirdingInSpain, vehículo privado, las mejores aves y los más bellos paisajes del sur de Turquía.

¡No lo pierdas!

Fechas: del 27 de mayo al 5 de junio 2011

Precio: 1.395 euros

Algunas de las aves que esperamos ver: Perdigallo del Caspio, Camachuelo Desertícola, Ibis Eremita, Alondra Cornuda, Gorrión del Mar Muerto, Trepador de Krüper, Autillo Persa, Martín Pescador de Esmirna, Verdecillo Carinegro, Petirrojo Gorgiblanco…

¿O mejor, quizás, que te lo decimos con imágenes?

¿Has visto el vídeo?

Por cierto, muchas gracias a Murat Bozdogan por el uso de sus fotografías.

Cliquea aqui para bajar:

Hombres de hielo y quebrantahuesos

Hace tiempo que hice traducir este capítulo de mi libro “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains” al castellano. Y desde entonces ha estado todo solito en mi ordenador.

Pues, ahora a ver si sirve de algo, y que a lo mejor guste a algún lector que se encuentre más a gusto leyendo en castellano que en el idioma de Su Majestad la Reina de Inglaterra.

¡Disfrutadlo!