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

The following assisted in the compilation of this review: Alexander Abuladze, Yosef Ali Alzaby, Vasil Ananian, Ian Andrews, Parviz Bakhtiari, Gerry Bilbao, Tom Coles, Judy Dawes, Rob Felix, Peter Flint, Ramezanali Ghaemi, Jan Goedelt, Ian Green, Nader Hamidi, Tomas Haraldsson, Peter Hellyer, Volker Hesse, Menno Hornman, Lior Kislev, Abolghasem Khaleghizadeh, Marcus Kohler, Graham Langley, Alexander Lees, Graham Lobley, Martin Lok, Mary Megalli, Peter Meininger, Babak Musavi, Yoav Perlman, Thomas Pettersson, Stefan Pfutzke, Colin Richardson, Nir Sapir, Dave Sargeant, Heiko Schmaljohann, Shellie Senzer, David Stanton, Marius Teeuw, Hannes Uhlig, Magnus Ullman, Harvey van Diek, Colin Walters, David Whaley, Frank Willems and Mark Zekhuis.

A dead Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus was found at Maqta, Abu Dhabi on 4 December. Records of Jouanin’s Petrel Bulweria fallax at Al Ghurfa, Fujairah on 18 October and Pale-footed Shearwater Puffinus carneipes off the Fujairah Hilton beach on 8 October are both the 1st records of long-awaited species, the latter still being subject to acceptance. A Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus was seen off Fujairah 18 July and three were there on 6 August - the first records since June 1996. Single Brown Boobies Sula leucogaster off Fujairah 8 October and 1 December were the 10th and 11th records. A Bittern Botaurus stellaris was at the Dibba dairy farm on 18 November. A Black Stork Ciconia nigra at Al Wathba on 25 October is the 6th record. Single Goshawks Accipiter gentilis at the Dibba dairy farm on 1 November and in the Jebel Ali Hotel gardens on 6 December will be the 6th and 7th records if accepted. Separate Lesser Spotted Eagles Aquila pomarina were at Al Wathba fields 29 October and 1 November. An Amur Falcon Falco amurensis at the Al Wathba camel race track on 28 July–5 August will be the 4th record if accepted, and an Oriental Pratincole Glareola maldivarum there from 21–24 September is the 8th record. Black-winged Pratincoles Glareola nordmanni at the Dubai Pivot fields on 7 July and at the Al Wathba camel track on 16 August will be the 11th and 12th records if accepted. A Black Tern Chlidonias nigra at Al Wathba marsh on 23 August will be the 8th record if accepted. The 4th and 5th records of Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris were at Fujairah breakwater on 18 July and 2 December, while a single Common Noddy Anous stolidus was off Fujairah on 18 July, followed by four at Fujairah breakwater on 1 December, with a fifth there the next day - the 8th to 10th records. A Rufous Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis at Al Wathba camel track fields from 16 September–1 October is the 8th record and one at the Fujairah National Dairy Farm on 19 October is the 9th record. Two Long-eared Owls Asio otus were found in their usual roost (for the third year in a row) at Mushrif Park, Dubai on 5 December.

A Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra was at Al Wathba from 25 November–1 December and is the 6th record. A Brown-throated Martin Riparia paludicola was at Al Wathba fields from 22 October–23 November and one was at the Fujairah dairy farm on 25 November, being the 11th and 12th records. Two Asian House Martins Delichon dasypus at Emirates Hills golf club, Dubai from 16–23 September will be the 3rd record if accepted. An Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni at the Al Wathba fields from 29 October–10 December is a good record of a less than annually-occurring species. A Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus was at Ghantoot on 6 December. A Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum in Mushref Palace gardens from 29 October–2 November is the 10th record. Single Great Grey Shrikes Lanius excubitor in Abu Dhabi on 30 October and at Al Wathba fields from 3–4 December are the 2nd and 3rd records, however a skin collected on Das Island, Abu Dhabi on 29 October 1998 has now been confirmed as the 1st record, being of the race homereyi. A Cretzschmar’s Bunting Emberisa caesia at Al Wathba camel track fields on 8 October will be the 1st record if accepted, while a Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica there on 24 November is the 9th record and the first since 1996.