Records and photographs for Around the Region should be sent as soon as possible after the event to Around the Region, OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, U.K.  You can also email records using the form below.

The following assisted in the compilation of this review: Ahmed Abdallah, Mahmoud Abdallah, Alexander Abuladze, Marc Almecija, Mohammed Alshamlih, Vasil Ananian, lan Andrews, Simon Aspinall, Adib al-Assad, Imad Atrash, Sherif & Mindy Baha El Din, Thierry Bara, Ruud van Beusekom, BirdLife Cyprus Newsletter, Chris Bradshaw, Jamie Buchan, Eray Caglayan, David Callahan, Tom Coles, Judy Dawes, Adrian Drummond-Hill, Hugues Dufourny, E. & S. Durand, Peter Flint, Jeff Gordon, George Gregory, Andrew Grieve, Nader Hamidi, Chris Hewson, David Higgs, Erik Hirschfield, Remco Hofland, Süreyya Isfendiyaroglu, Justin Jansen, Mike Jennings, Abolghasem Khaleghizadeh, Fares Khoury, Guy M. Kirwan, Andrew Lassey, Susannah Lerman, James McCallum, Istvan Moldovan, David Murdoch, Seyed Babak Musavi, North Cyprus Birds website, Bill O'Brien, Rob Palmer, Yoav Perlman, Richard Porter, Alireza Rabiei, Colin Richardson, Magnus Robb, Tobias Roth, Omar Al-Saghier, Dave Sargeant, Derek A. Scott, Dave Sedgeley, Gianluca Serra, Roy Slaterus, James P. Smith, Jens Sogaard Hansen, Lars Svensson, Rene Vos, Colin Wells, David Whaley and Ignacio Yufera.

Two immature Brown Boobies Sula leucogaster were at Eilat from 3 January until at least 12 January, with an immature there until 2 February 2004. One of the most interesting and surprising records of the period was that of a Darter Anhinga rufa, at Lake Kinnaret on 31 May 2004, the first record since 1957. An adult Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus was at Hula on 10-24 February 2004 (the eighth record in Israel). Four Smew Mergus albellus were at Revaya Reservoir, Golan Heights, on 3-18 January, whilst 17 Red-breasted Mergansers M. senator were at Eilat on 4 March and a female was there on 1-2 April, but more significant was the second record of Goosander M. merganser, a male, at Lake Kinnaret on 17-22 January 2004 (the first was in 1925). Eleven Crested Honey Buzzards Pernis ptilorhynchus moved over Eilat in the first half of May, whilst a Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus was at Moaz Hayylm, Bet Shean Valley, on 20 January 2004 (eighth record) and another at Kfar Ruppin remained from 18 November 2003 until late January 2004 (seventh record). Immature Lammergeiers Gypaetus barbatus were at Gamla on 8 and 21 March, and an adult or subadult Black Vulture Aegypius monachus was at Kela Alon (between Gonen and Merom Golan) on 17 February 2004. A Great Bustard Otis tarda west of Katzrin, Golan Heights, on 30 January-17 February 2004 was the sixth country record. A Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor was at Apollonia on 2 April 2004. A large breeding population (c. 70 pairs) of Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola was discovered in the northern valleys during late spring 2004. Two Caspian Plovers Charadrius asiaticus were at Eilat on 13 April, with one at Yotvata on 16 April 2004. A White-tailed Plover Chettusia leucurus stayed at Eilat on 10-12 January and a Grey Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius was there on 29-30 March, with good numbers of skuas offshore in this period including 22 Long-tailed Skuas Stercorarius longicaudus on 31 March 2004. A Swift Tern Sterna bergii was at Eilat on 4 March and Lesser Crested Terns Sterna bengalensis involved one off Jaffa on 23 January and an adult at Eilat on 12 June 2004. An African Collared Dove Streptopelia roseogrisea was reported at Sapir, in the central Arava, and another was trapped at Eilat on 6 April 2004. A total of 16 Striated Scops Owls Otus brucei was found wintering in the southern Arava during field surveys in January 2004. A male Black-crowned Finch Lark Eremopterix nigriceps at Yotvata on 28-29 April was the first since 1989, whilst a Dunn's Lark Eremalauda dunni was at Gamla on 27-29 March, with c. 10 Thick-billed Larks Ramphocoris clotbey reported at four sites on 8-30 March 2004. A Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens was at Samar from 4 January into February, with two at Eilat on 30 March and one at Kfar Ruppin on 4 April 2004. Two Radde's Accentors Prunella ocularis were at Gamla on 16-19 January 2004 and an influx of White-throated Robins Irania gutturalis brought up to 30 on 10-23 April 2004, mostly in the southern Arava, with smaller numbers in the Negev and Judean Hills. A Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka was at Mizpe Ramon on 18 March 2004. Three River Warblers Locustella fluviatilis were trapped at Sede Boker in May, whilst a Menetries's Warbler Sylvia mystacea was in the Arava Valley on 19 March and one was trapped at Eilat on 19 April 2004, and an influx of Desert Warblers Sylvia nana saw up to six at many locations from the Hiyyon Plain south to Eilat. A Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva was at Susia, in the Judean hills, on 11 May, and an unprecedented influx of Semi-collared Flycatchers Ficedula semitorquata occurred on 11-13 April, mainly in southern and central Israel, with 24 ringed at Eilat (11-12 April) and 11 in the north Negev (11 April 2004). An adult Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus phoenicuroides was at Eilat on 22 April and a Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus at Sede Eliyahu, Bet Shean Valley on 20 March 2004.