Pelagic Trip 25th June 2010

Rented a boat to take us out to sea off the east coast of the UAE.  The aim was to photograph Persian Shearwater, Bridled Tern and Brown Noddy.  The water was fairly choppy but not too bad ,  unfortunately the weather was very dusty and affected the lighting conditions somewhat.  Anyways it was a great few hours and will definitely be doing it again.  More images at Mike Barth's Pics

Persian Shearwater
Puffinus (Iherminieri) persicus

Brown Noddy
Anous stolidus

Bridled Tern
Sterna anaethetus

Osprey
Pandion haliaetus

Sandwich Tern
Sterna sandvicensis

Bay-Backed Shrike article in the National Newspaper

Attached is the article publised in the UAE on the 2nd only reported breeding Bay-Backed Shrikes in the Arabian Peninsula.

First Breeding record for Bay-Backed Shrikes in the UAE !

I was advised of the first Bay-Backed shrikes to be recorded breeding in the UAE.  Theye were seen over in Masafi Wadi.  So last Saturday I got up early , 4:30am (Yawn) and set off for the Wadi.  I arrived around 6:00am and finally found the birds around 7:00am. The birds were very active and very mobile and I found it difficult to pin them down.  It was also very hot and getting hotter by the minute,  by 9:00am they had pretty much disappeared.  Here is what I managed.

Juvenile Bay-Back-Shrikes

Bay-Backed Shrike

Bay-Backed Shrike