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 to atr@osme.org

A visit to Socotra in February 2004 produced several significant records: an immature Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo on 6th (first record), two Cotton Teal Nettapus coromandelianus on 6-27th (second record), three Pochard Aythya ferina on 13th (third record), a Black Kite Milvus migrans on 12th (second record), three Terek Sandpipers Xenus cinereus on 13th (second record), single Jack Snipes Lymnocryptes minimus on 18-19th and 21-25th, a Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus on 6-27th (second record) and two male Koels Eudynamys scolopacea on 7th and a female on 8-12th (first records for Yemen). A new site was discovered for Socotra Cisticola Cisticola haesitata with a population of over 1000 birds and two new sites for Socotra Bunting Emberiza socotrana were also discovered. An expedition to eastern Yemen on 1-28 April 2004 mainly focused on the Wadi Hadramaut area and further east. The Bir Ali Islands were also visited. Over 60 breeding species (not including seabirds or coastal species) were recorded, including Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis, Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus, Hume's Tawny Owl Strix butleri (six sites), African Scops Owl Otus senegalensis, Plain Nightjar Caprimulgus inornatus, the first record of Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto in Yemen, African Collared Doves Streptopelia roseogrisea as far as the Oman border, Singing Bush Lark Mirafra cantillans, Bar-tailed Desert Lark Ammomanes cincturus, Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha and Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus. Two records of Amethyst Starling Cinnyricinclus leucogaster (including a pair) suggested that the species is a summer visitor to the region. Efforts to find Malachite Kingfisher Alcedo cristata failed but several local people know the species. The Bir Ali group was almost deserted except for Sooty Gulls Larus hemprichii, but dead Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis chicks were recorded on Baraqah.

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.