Oops, forgot to add a title

Spent one of the better hours of the day breakfasting in the charming village of Halfeti not seeing Bonelli's Eagle and having to make do with more Little Swifts. We then explored a couple of tracks off the road back to Birecik. The first produced Cream-coloured Courser; and the second a roadside pool whose avian visitors included: Pale Rock Sparrow, Lesser Short-toed Lark and Desert Finch. We then embarked on the drive to Mardin. This journey was punctuated with: Lesser Kestrel; a drive up (and down) an unopened motorway; an aborted attempt at driving up a motorway slip-road in the wrong direction (during which two non-plussed Turks shot past going the other way); Short-toed Eagle; possibly the most entertaining road in the world ever (the D400 between Sianlurfa and Mardin); and two more Cream-coloured Coursers. I am now sitting in a hotel perched atop an outcrop overlooking the vast Mesopotamian plain. The Lonely Planet, displaying its signature reverse-snobbery, describe the Büyük Mardin Oteli as an eyesore,... what a load of wank.


Pure art, a Pale Rock Sparrow, complete with reflection, throwing-up after a hard night on the Raki.

PS. Just found out there's a Lesser Flamingo up-country, a slight change of plan is in the air.

Birding Jedi-style

Given that the world-renowned 'See-see wadi' at Birecik is one of the more Tattoine-like places on the WP birding circuit, it should have come as no surprise to meet Ben Obi van den Burg halfway up said wadi. Peter and I became instantly star-struck, lost all self-control, and launched straight into a classic cheerleader-esque chant which started "Give me an A" and went right through to "Give me a G" despite the fact no-one had 'given us' any of the intervening letters; there followed a slightly embarrassing moment before we managed to paper over the cracks by exchanging information on various bits and bobs. In comparison to Arnoud the best birds paled into near insignificance although See-see, Pallid Scops Owl, Pied Kingfisher, Menetries' Warbler, Iraq Babbler, Dead Sea Sparrow and Yellow-throated Sparrow did vie with the aforementioned hirsute Dutchman for notebook space.


An ickle baby peering out from the riparian scrub/woodland alongside the, rather large, Euphrates River.

Head east young man

Moving east and hoovering up goodies as we go, today, Upcher's Warbler, Olive Tree Warbler, Sombre Tit, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Desert Finch and Cinereous Bunting were all added to the trip list. Red-tailed Wheatear and Pale Rock Sparrow were not so forthcoming but second bites at these cherries are scheduled, no panic necessary,... yet.

Dirty, dirty birds

Dirt birds today included the little blighter above; birds of a non-dirty persuasion included: Graceful Prinia, Purple Swamphen, Lanner, Marbled Duck, etc. Starting to get a little chicken shished out, must try some fish once I get to Van.

Somewhere in the sprawling palearctic

Today we 'did' Demirkazik, very nice. Caspian Snowcock (6+) and Radde's Accentor rather stole the show but Red-fronted Serin, Crimson-winged Finch and Finsch's Wheatear also did their best to entertain. Slightly further south Bimaculated Lark, White-throated Robin and Golden Jackel kept the interest up; and the drive down to the coast was enlivened with White-spectacled/Yellow-vented Bulbuls.

Slim pickings

A few hours over high tide at Goldcliff produced one Curlew Sandpiper, two Greenshank and six Black-tailed Godwit but, in general, very few waders at all. I couldn't be arsed to walk round to the sea-wall, so the Spoonbills may well still been present. What was definitely present was the first, rather disconcerting, evidence of dude-creep from the RaSPBerry cafe including one middle-aged, sandle-bedecked bloke who preferred standing on the seats and peering over the blinds as opposed to looking through the wee little windows. There are many words for people like him but I'll let you choose your own.

Calidrids over phragmites in the heat haze, the perfect recipe for a fuzzy photo.

PS. Painted Ladies still everywhere in abundance.

SPA = leisure facility?

Popped down to St. Brides for high-tide, just as I approached the lighthouse I realised my mistake, a family of fisher-folk, having driven their lovely big red van along the sea-wall, were settling in for a few hours of disturbing the designated species on an SPA. Looking back towards the pub, another gathering had started a fire (oh so necessary in 20+ degrees) and two parties were setting up tents. Unsurprisingly, except a few local breeders, bugger all waders present. Did see another metric tonne of Painted Lady flutterbies though.

Twa piggles dinna mek’ a thrup

Just thought I'd share the momentous, though long-suspected, news that I am a football genius...

And, just to make the victory even sweeter, the dizzy heights of 1st in the Blundersliga, 11th in the Liverpool fans' league, 55th in the England fans' league and 80th in the overall league were all achieved without recourse to sullying one's team with a single Man Utd plc player.

Busy day

A morning of Cetti's chasing followed by a little birding for birding's sake, then lunch, then back out for urban gull fun and nestbox tickling; got home at around 22:30. A fair bit of effort for very little, just a late Wheatear at Uskmouth, a Hobby over Saltmarsh Lane, a Great Spotted Woodpecker roosting in a tit box and Painted Lady butterflies all over the shop.

[NB. First person to identify the caterpillar gets a Gwentbirding gold star, I've had a quick look through Porter but it wasn't immediately obvious]

Leucism

Leucism - it ain't big and it ain't clever but it is the "absence of dark pigment resulting in a reduction in the intensity of all pigments, which weakens the feather structure, but with normal iris pigmentation".