| NEWS & | INFORMATION compiled by Dawn Balmer and Guy M. Kirwan |
| The aim of this section is to inform readers about events in the OSME region. It relies on members and others supplying relevant news and information. If you have anything concerning birds, conservation or development issues in the OSME area please send it to News and Information, OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, U. K.
This section is not intended as a definitive report or write-up of the projects concerned. Many of the projects are sponsored; such support is appreciated but is not generally given acknowledgment here. |
ARABIA
| Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia | Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia The ABBA project is nearing completion but information on the distribution and breeding birds throughout the Arabian Peninsula is still sought. Information on breeding birds is especially sought for the more remote corners of Arabia and for little known species but data on even the most common birds is still welcome. Notes on habitat, food taken in Arabia are also much needed. The atlas will also have an historical context so old records not yet reported are especially welcome. Those visiting the Arabian Peninsula or are resident there are asked to submit details of their observations to the project. The most interesting reports of the year will be mentioned in the next issue of the project newsletter the Phoenix (ISSN 0268-487X), due out in January 2006 and new breeding species for Arabia will be written up in detail. Information on what details are required and how to submit records, including the relevant forms, can be obtained from the ABBA website (http//dspace.dial.pipex.com/ arabian.birds/). Records can be sent in at any time but preferably by the end of summer, when most species will have completed breeding. After publication of the atlas it is intended that the ABBA database and the Phoenix will continue indefinitely, providing a resource to anyone needing information on Arabian birds and their habitats. (Source: Mike Jennings) |
AZERBAIJAN
| Fieldguide to birds of Azerbaijan | Fieldguide to birds of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Ornithological Society (AOS), BirdLife International affiliate in Azerbaijan, has recently published the first colour fieldguide for birds in Azerbaijan "Birds of Azerbaijan". This book includes more than 150 colour illustrations including some 120 commoner species and the 23 rare and endemic species. Birds are grouped by habitat. This 'easy-to-read field guide gives a short descriptive text for each species, as well as information on the country's Important Bird Areas (IBAs), the BirdLife International programme in Azerbaijan (with a small map and brief description of 52 national IBAs), and a description of the most important habitats in the country. The text is written in Azeri, with bird names also given in Russian alongside their scientific name. Publication of this 76 page (A6 sized) book was made with the generous support of the RSPB (UK), Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, Directorate for Nature Management through the PIN/MATRA Funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, UK), NABU (Germany), BirdLife Switzerland and sponsored by European Division of BirdLife International. AOS is distributing the book free to local birdwatchers, biologist, students and relevant organizations in Azerbaijan. (Source: Nigar Agayeva) |
BAHRAIN
| Website change | Website change The Bahrain Bird Report has now moved to http://www.hawar-islands.com/. The Bird Report has been integrated into a larger site covering the Islands of Hawar |
CYPRUS
| Cyprus Breeding Bird Atlas | Cyprus Breeding Bird Atlas Birdwatchers visiting Cyprus next spring can help with Atlas fieldwork. BirdLife Cyprus members, Judy Dawes and David Whaley, have been collecting breeding bird data for many years and recently published an atlas, complete for the Paphos District and some other areas, but by no means complete for the whole island. The Committee and the Recorder urges birdwatchers to submit breeding records to the Society. For most species the breeding season is taken to be from March to June but there are exceptions such as early and late breeding raptors, and adult birds seen feeding juveniles late in the year. Ideally, birdwatchers are asked to survey one or more 5km squares two or three times during the breeding season recording all the species breeding within it, noting the breeding evidence code (see below). But if this is not possible, all casual breeding records are useful, if the locations and breeding criteria are accurately given. It is a record of the species breeding in each square, not the total populations, that is being sought at present. Breeding records or more details of the survey can be obtained from Colin Richardson (Richar@cytanet.com.cy) or David Whaley (email: whaleydawes@spidernet.com.cy). |
IRAQ
| Lesser White-fronted Goose | Lesser White-fronted Goose moves from Russia to Iraq for winter Birdlife International has recently published interesting news of a tagged Lesser Whitefronted Goose, which has returned to it breeding grounds in the Polar Urals in Russia after wintering near Baghdad, Iraq. For further details visit the website: http://www.birdlife. org/news/news/2005/06/lwfg.html (Source: World Birdwatch June 2005). |
JORDAN
| Khaled Irani | Khaled Irani Khaled Irani, CEO of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) in Jordan has just been made Minister of State for the Environment. Khaled has been CEO of RSCN for some 8 years and is the Middle East member on BirdLife's World Council. He helped to establish BirdLife's Middle East conservation programme and office in Jordan.(Source: Richard Porter). |
OMAN
| Qatbit Resthouse improvements | Qatbit Resthouse improvements
Qatbit resthouse in southern Oman has long been known as a useful stopover
site on the desert road south to Salalah. Over the years the lush gardens
have attracted birds and birdwatchers alike in an otherwise treeless area
of desert. The management at the resthouse have been keen to make the
area as attractive to birds as possible. A glance of the recent check
list for Oman (No. 6) illustrates how this is truly an oasis for birds
with second sightings for the country of White-throated Bee-eater Merops
albicollis and Cretzschmar's Bunting Emberiza caesia and
third records of Dusky Thrush Turdus naumanni and Black Drongo
Dicrurus macrocercus among the highlights in recent years. The latest development has been the provision of a small pool close at the back of the motel that is proving to be very attractive to visiting birds. Recent sightings have included Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus, Upcher's Warbler Hippolais languida, Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus, Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana, White-breasted White-eye Zosterops abyssinica and Yellow-throated Sparrow Petronia xanthocollis, many seen using the new pond. There are plans to provide a larger pool in due course and perhaps a screened site for close up views of drinking and bathing birds. It is not necessary to book rooms except in July and August; otherwise you can drop in any time and stay for a night to fully appreciate this haven for birds in the middle of the vast desert of southern Oman. The manager, Islam, welcomes birders and it helps with his work if birders can show appreciation for what is being done there. Qatbit Resthouse is on the Salalah-Muscat Highway Tel: (00) 986 99085686 (Source: Andrew Grieve). |
SYRIA
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Iraqi biologists trained in Syria |
Iraqi biologists trained in Syria
In January 2005, BirdLife's Middle East office organised a one-week training
course in Syria for ten Iraqi wetland biologists. The focus of the training
was on wetland survey methods, with special emphasis on the identification
and censusing of waterbirds. Two major wetlands were visited during the
week: Bahrat Homs, a large freshwater lake near the city of Homs; and Sabkhat
Al-Jabbul, a Ramsar site near Aleppo. Overall almost 87,000 waterbirds of
52 species were recorded: 67,000 birds of 29 species at Bahrat Homs, 18,000
birds of 45 species at Sabkhat Al-Jabbul, and 1,000 birds of 17 species
at three other sites. A total of 725 White-headed Ducks Oxyura leucocephala
were found at Sabkhat Al-Jabbul; such numbers were previously unknown at
this site. Eight of the Iraqi biologists are now carrying out surveys of wetlands in the south of Iraq, particularly in the area of Basra marshes. The course was part of an Environmental Training Programme provided by the University of Waterloo (Ontario) and Environment Canada under the Canada-Iraq Marshlands Initiative. (Source: World Birdwatch June 2005). |
TURKEY
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KusBank: An Internet Based Citizen Science Project |
KusBank: An Internet Based Citizen Science Project for Bird Conservation KusBank is an internet based databank where the bird watchers can store their bird observation data. KusBank Project is executed by Doga Dernegi and Erciyes University with the support of RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). KusBank is a part of the Kagu - World Birds Project which is carried on by BirdLife and RSPB. Previously it was a very difficult and time consuming process to enter data that was in notebooks and to share it with other observers and it was almost impossible to collect data in a usable format and to share them with others. With KusBank, records can be instantly stored and shared with all other users.
Birds are one of the important indicator species, which show the changes in the environment and their habitats. KusBank will allow negative trends or improvements in the number and distribution of the bird species in Turkey to be monitored. KusBank is a national bird data bank that is based on the internet. Entering data into KusBank is done through a series of screens: observation time, observation date, names and surnames of the bird watchers, the number of bird watchers, place of observation, species which are seen (number of species and their reproduction behaviour), habitat and notes. The first product of this Project will be the report 'Turkey Birds 2004', which will be prepared based on the data entered into KusBank in 2004. The data from the 'Turkish Breeding Bird Atlas' will be gathered and entered into the KusBank database as well. To find out more visit the website www.kusbank.org. (Source: Esra Per). |
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