Hi Tweets:
Birder friend Nancy Martin forwarded this series of very-interesting
msgs from Iraq. This birder "J" was in the Audubon Society in the
states and was missing his annual CBC. So he did one in Iraq.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines, WA
mailto:linusq at att.net


http://birdingbabylon.blogspot.com/
BlogThis!Birding Babylon
Links
a.. Virtual Birder
b.. Ornithological Society of the Middle East
c.. Checklist of the Birds of Iraq
Archives
a.. 03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
b.. 04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
c.. 05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
d.. 06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
e.. 07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
f.. 08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004
g.. 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
h.. 10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
i.. 11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
j.. 12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
k.. 01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
Nature Notes from Iraq

Thursday, January 20, 2005Yesterday, I had the use of a vehicle for
the first time in almost a month. Most of our vehicles got shipped
south, leaving me to hoof it.

I spent some time driving around to the good birding spots on base,
including a few I hadn't visited in a while that are too far to walk
to.

The laundry pond was filled with hundreds of birds, most of the ducks
were Northern Shovelers. There were also a good number of Common Teal
and Coots and a few Mallards. No Ferruginous ducks, however I saw a
small flock the day before at the same location. Two female Marsh
Harriers were cruising the edge of the pond. A huge transport plane
flew over taking off and put all the Shovelers to flight. They wheeled
around the pond a few times and then came back for a landing on the
water.

Out over the pond I saw the first Barn Swallow of the year, flying
back and forth. Spring must be around the bend here. In the second
week of February last year, in the middle of the desert in Kuwait,
migrating Barn Swallows were some of the first birds I saw in the
Middle East.

Among the scrubby dead Syrian Mesquite bushes near the pond about 25
red-wattled plovers were congregated. They were there the day before
also, just standing around, some of them sleeping.

As I walked along the fence two Magpies flew in and landed near the
water, flushing up some type of snipe which flew away too fast for me
to ID.

At another drainage pond I found several Black-winged Stilts and a
Common Redshank feeding in the shallow water.

Later in the day I took along another Sergeant who was interested in
birding. We spent time at a third drainage pond and found more
Shovelers, some Coot and a couple Moorhens. We also found a Purple
Swamphen preening itself at the end of the reeds.

I made an abortive attempt to go down to the bushes near the pond to
examine some large round nests. I think they might be from Dead Sea
Sparrows, which are common in the summer. Instead of getting to the
nests I sunk in the mud and got myself filthy. Each boot probably
weighed 5 pounds with all the mud.

Down near the waters edge we saw a little chestnut bird with a dark
cap and eyeline skulking around like a wren. It actually reminded me a
little of a Marsh Wren back home. It turned out to be a Moustached
Warbler, a lifer for me.

19 January 2005

Little Egret - 1
Common Teal - 20
Mallard - 8
Northern Shoveler - 200
Marsh Harrier - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 3
Moorhen - 3
Purple Swamphen - 1
Coot - 35
Black-winged Stilt - 4
Red-wattled Plover - 25
Snipe sp. - 1
Common Redshank - 1
Black-headed Gull - 100
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4
Rock Dove - 15
Wood Pigeon - 10
Collared Dove - 35
Barn Swallow - 1
White Wagtail - 6
White-cheeked Bulbul - 3
Black Redstart - 2
Stonechat - 1
Moustached Warbler - 1
Magpie - 2
Rook - 150
Hooded Crow - 3



Posted by: J / 11:05 AM
| Tuesday, January 18, 2005Here's a few pictures from a few days ago
on base.



Hooded Crow, a distinct subspecies in the hooded/carrion crow complex
sometimes known as the Mesopotamian Crow.



A hoverfly (Syrphidae) on a mustard flower.



Leaves of a thistle. This species has interesting variegated leaves.
They come up in December and flower around the end of March. I've
observed Eurasian Goldfinch feeding on the seeds in April as they are
migrating north.

Posted by: J / 1:18 AM
| Sunday, January 16, 2005Since the new unit has taken over, I've had
a chance to get out of our unit area.

Two days ago I saw an Indian Roller flying over our building. I saw
quite a few of these large colorful birds in the spring and summer
last year, usually on the perimeter fence or sitting on telephone
lines.

At the laundry pond a marsh harrier was harrassing the ducks and
coots, flying low over them and flushing them out of the reeds and
into open water. There were about 50 coots, 25 shovelers, and a
handful each of mallards and ferruginous ducks. A little grebe was
diving in the middle of the pond.

I ran into a small group of 7 chaffinches feeding by the side of the
road. As I approached, they flew up into the Eucalyptus trees, then
decided I was not a threat and came back to the roadside.

The weather during the day has been in the 60's. Other than Cabbage
Whites I haven't seen any other species of butterfly lately. The
dragonflies seem to have disappeared for the winter.

This evening a gigantic flock of rooks was flying back and forth over
the base, I'd say 10,000 birds.

Posted by: J / 10:21 AM
| Monday, January 10, 2005All over the post, in ditches and in patches
of dirt next to the road or sidewalk, plants are coming up, encouraged
by the rain. They will sprout, flower, produce seeds and die all
before the end of May. Its funny seeing patches of bright green where
there has only been brown 7 months. By May the sun kills all but the
hardiest plants. The plants sprouting now include grasses, clovers,
dandelions, several types of thistle, mustards, and small composites.
Its amazing the seeds survived the summer. The ground temperature can
be over 150 degrees and everything turns to a dessicated dust. Also
the first of the Eucalyptus trees have started flowering with their
little white puffballs.

I took a short walk yesterday to the pond. On my way down I saw half a
dozen cabbage butterflies feeding on the small white flowers in a
patch of some type of mustard plants. Also at the flowers I found a
honeybee and a few small hoverflies. On some of the thistle plants
large orange ladybugs with black spots were crawling around, probably
feeding on aphids.

I saw white wagtails and crested larks feeding in a patch of newly
sprouted grass near the side of the road.

The reeds around the pond are now dead and brown. Out on the water
were about 30 coots, some shovelers, a few mallards and a pair of
ferruginous ducks. A Marsh Harrier was cruising around the perimeter
of the pond and would sometimes drop down into the reeds. None of the
waterfowl seemed to pay attention.

Walking back to my tent I came across a big nest of harvester ants.
The mound was spread out over a radius of maybe 5 feet with multiple
holes. The mound was made up of excavated dirt and pieces of seeds and
plants they had collected.

Near a chow hall I found a large tree I hadn't noticed before. It was
covered with little yellow fruit that looked like tiny apples. A group
of white-cheeked bulbuls and some collared doves were busy eating the
fruit.

This afternoon I took a walk in another direction and checked out the
dump. Lots of gulls, hundreds of house sparrows, a few hooded crows
and thousands of rooks. I saw a little egret standing near the
perimeter fence, which seemed a bit out of place.

On my way back to the tent I had a male siskin fly down to a puddle
just in front of me and later a flock of 8 Eurasian goldfinch landed
in a Eucalyptus tree. I had great looks at these very pretty birds.

We had a warm night a few days ago and I saw my first bat of the year.
Down near Nasiriyah a few weeks ago there were quite a few bats of a
slightly larger variety.

Posted by: J / 5:47 AM
| Saturday, January 01, 2005I came back from a mission down south near
Nasiriyah a few days ago. The land around the base was rocky desert,
much different from the fertile river valley around my home base. I
was able to visit the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. I have
some photos on my other blog.

The base has a running track around a couple acre pond. I spent some
time walking the perimeter of the track looking for birds. Several
large desert bushes had started to flower with pretty small pink
flowers. There were also some fine tamarisk trees growing near the
pond.


Flowering Bush


Tamarisk Tree

I saw a nice male Black Redstart of the semirufus race.

I spent ten minutes watching a trio of Pied Kingfishers hunting for
fish. One caught a fat six inch fish and spent a couple minutes
beating the fish against a no-swimming sign trying to get it to stop
struggling. It then gingerly flipped the fish around and swallowed it
head first.

The White Wagtails and Crested Larks were everywhere on base the
Crested Larks running around in the parking lots and the wagtails
preferring the edge of the pond.

At the pond I found a male Snowy (Kentish) Plover. I've seen this
species in the US and this bird looked much different with a rufous
cap. It has to be a distinct subspecies.

Around the Ziggurat of Ur I saw a large Eagle (Aquila species) and a
Pied Wheatear . The pied wheatear perched on a telephone line and
would fly down to the ground to catch something then go back to its
perch.

28/29 December - Near the Ruins of Ur, Iraq
Grey Heron - 1
Eagle (Aquila) sp. - 1
Black-winged Stilt - 3
Snowy (Kentish) Plover - 1
Red-wattled Plover - 1
Rock Dove - 25
Wood Pigeon - 1
Collared Dove - 40
Laughing Dove - 4
Pied Kingfisher - 3
Crested Lark - 20
White Wagtail - 35
White-cheeked Bulbul - 1
Black Redstart - 1 male semirufus
Pied Wheatear - 1
House Sparrow - 75

Posted by: J / 2:50 PM
| Monday, December 27, 2004My CBC was somewhat abreviated because
several projects were sprung on some in the last few days. I only hit
two spots, our laundry pond and the dump. I'm traveling again this
week and I'll post after I get back. I'm hoping to do some birding
while I'm away.

Here's my list:

Little Grebe - 2
Cattle Egret - 4
Grey Heron - 1
Mallard - 7
Shoveler - 4
Ferruginous Duck - 1
Marsh Harrier - 1
Moorhen - 3
Coot - 11
Black-headed Gull - 1500
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2
Yellow-legged Gull - 3
Armenian Gull - 8
Rock Dove - 200
Collared Dove - 18
Crested Lark - 7
White Wagtail - 12
White-cheeked Bulbul - 3
Graceful Prinia - 6
Common Babbler - 1
Jackdaw - 12
Rook - 65
Hooded Crow - 9
House Sparrow - 35

Posted by: J / 6:03 PM
| Wednesday, December 22, 2004I haven't been for a good long walk for
a few weeks. Tomorrow morning I'll have an opportunity. I'll consider
it a Christmas Bird Count. Because of this deployment I've missed the
last two counts with the local Audubon society that I have
participated in since I was 14. The first CBC I went on I remember
seeing a flock of Pine Grosbeaks in the snow. We also take our annual
trip to the dump. At least I can replicate the dump trip here. At home
I usually get to count the birds at a huge American Crow roost. Here I
have my Rooks.

Posted by: J / 1:56 PM
|