Morocco October 2017

Trip report for 4 days in Morocco October 2017

Full PDF report and images can be found here : Morocco

Species on list 75

Barbary Partridge [sp] (Alectoris barbara)
Little Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)
White Stork [sp] (Ciconia ciconia)
Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita)
Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea)
Great Egret [sp] (Ardea alba)
Little Egret [sp] (Egretta garzetta)
Golden Eagle [sp] (Aquila chrysaetos)
Bonelli's Eagle [sp] (Aquila fasciata)
Long-legged Buzzard [sp] (Buteo rufinus)
Eurasian Coot [sp] (Fulica atra)
Common Ringed Plover [sp] (Charadrius hiaticula)
Kentish Plover [sp] (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Common Redshank [sp] (Tringa totanus)
Sanderling [sp] (Calidris alba)
Dunlin [sp] (Calidris alpina)
Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)
Yellow-legged Gull [sp] (Larus michahellis)
Lesser Black-backed Gull [sp] (Larus fuscus)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto)
Laughing Dove [sp] (Spilopelia senegalensis)
Little Owl [sp] (Athene noctua)
Great Spotted Woodpecker [sp] (Dendrocopos major)
Levaillant's Woodpecker (Picus vaillantii)
Common Kestrel [sp] (Falco tinnunculus)
Barbary Falcon [sp] (Falco pelegrinoides)
Black-crowned Tchagra [sp] (Tchagra senegalus)
Southern Grey Shrike [sp] (Lanius meridionalis)
Eurasian Magpie (African) (Pica pica mauritanica)
Red-billed Chough [sp] (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)
Northern Raven [sp] (Corvus corax)
African Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes teneriffae)
Thick-billed Lark (Ramphocoris clotbey)
Desert Lark [sp] (Ammomanes deserti)
Thekla Lark [sp] (Galerida theklae)
Maghreb Lark [sp] (Galerida macrorhyncha)
Horned Lark (Atlas) (Eremophila alpestris atlas)
Temminck's Lark (Eremophila bilopha)
Common Bulbul [sp] (Pycnonotus barbatus)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
Eurasian Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris)
Eurasian Reed Warbler [sp] (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Zitting Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola juncidis)
Eurasian Blackcap [sp] (Sylvia atricapilla)
Common Whitethroat [sp] (Sylvia communis)
Tristram's Warbler [sp] (Sylvia deserticola)
Spectacled Warbler [sp] (Sylvia conspicillata)
Sardinian Warbler [sp] (Sylvia melanocephala)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
European Pied Flycatcher [sp] (Ficedula hypoleuca)
Black Redstart [sp] (Phoenicurus ochruros)
Moussier's Redstart (Phoenicurus moussieri)
Blue Rock Thrush [sp] (Monticola solitarius)
European Stonechat [sp] (Saxicola rubicola)
Northern Wheatear [sp] (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Red-rumped Wheatear (Oenanthe moesta)
Black Wheatear [sp] (Oenanthe leucura)
White-crowned Wheatear [sp] (Oenanthe leucopyga)
Mourning Wheatear (Maghreb) (Oenanthe lugens
halophila)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
Rock Sparrow [sp] (Petronia petronia)
Western Yellow Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla flava)
White Wagtail (Pied) (Motacilla alba yarrellii)
White Wagtail (Moroccan) (Motacilla alba subpersonata)
Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)
Common Chaffinch (Common) [group] (Fringilla coelebs
[coelebs-group])
Common Chaffinch (African) (Fringilla coelebs africana)
African Crimson-winged Finch (Rhodopechys alienus)
European Greenfinch [sp] (Chloris chloris)
Common Linnet [sp] (Linaria cannabina)
European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus)
House Bunting [sp] (Emberiza sahari)

Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of 

Sri Lanka

Very honoured and extremely pleased to be featured with several images in this new publication by Gehan de Silva Wijeyerante

It's a lovely pictorial of the birds of Sri Lanka,  a birding paradise with 34 endemics.   The island itself is a gem,  lovely people beautiful scenery and fabulous food.

Check out some of my images from Sri Lanka here :  Birds of Sri Lanka

I am happy to organise tours for small groups of photographers,  see details on my web page at 

Mike Barth Photography

Storm Aileen

Had a great day at Liverpool Bay yesterday (13.09.17). Storm Aileen assisted in getting me 3 lifers, all seabirds ! Grey Phalarope, Common Scoter and best of all Leach's Storm Petrel. The latter on migration from the northern reaches of the Atlantic to the Southern Oceans. How these little birds have the energy to do that totally amazes me. The Phalarope is also a bird that spends most of it's time at sea but can get blown inshore during storms.  Standing on the sand spits of Liverpool Bay, in 40mph winds and blustery showers watching these little birds head out to sea into the wind was just spectacular.

The Leach's Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) breeds on inaccessible islands in the colder northern areas of the Atlantic and Pacific. It nests in colonies close to the sea in well concealed areas such as rock crevices, shallow burrows or even logs. It lays a single white egg which often has a faint ring of spots at the large end. This storm petrel is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls and skuas, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights. The largest colony of Leach's storm petrels can be found on Baccalieu Island of eastern Canada, an ecological reserve with more than 3 million pairs of the bird. It is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, makes Leach's petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in storms might this species be pushed into headlands which is what happened in the UK this week and with this particular bird. 100s seen in UK waters this week.

Visit my website : Mike Barth Photography

Close encounter with a Bonelli's Eagle !

Had a great experience with a pair of Bonelli's Eagles during my last UAE Bird Watching tour in February this year (2017).  We basically surprised each other as we came through from under a tin roof,  the birds had been hawking very low over the building unbeknown to us.  As we appeared the two birds were flying directly at us,  it took them a few seconds to realise we were there and immediately swerved off and away from us.  It was a great "close encounter" having only ever seen these birds at some distance.

Check out my tours and printing service here :  Mike Barth Photography

Pick on someone your own size !

Whilst on a short Safari recently in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya with Nature's Wonderland Safaris,  we came across a watering pool with White-headed and Rüppell's Vultures along with Steppe Eagles.  There was a mound that was a good vantage point for one of the Steppe Eagles,  however a Rüppell's Vulture had other ideas and thought it would be a great place to dry wings and cool down a little !   You can get the story from the Image series below.

Visit my website : Mike Barth Photography

Rüppell's griffon vulture (Gyps rueppellii)
Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis)

Eagles in Hungary

I recently took a trip to the Hortobágy National Park in Hungary, staying in a small town called Balmazújváros.  I had previously photographed a White-tailed Sea Eagle in Scotland but had not been prepared with the right focal length at the time photographing from a boat.   Therefore I felt the lure of the chance to photograph many birds from the hides of Sakertour, an example of which can be seen below.  The hides use reflective glass which I was a little unsure about but certainly needn't have been, slight loss of light but not significant especially when the sun was shining !  I entered the hides at 5:30am well before sunrise and left late afternoon after all the birds had left.  That way the Eagles never know that there are humans in such a close vicinity.  It's a great chance to spend 10 hours or so observing at close range the behaviour of not only the Eagles but other birds too.  A very stimulating experience indeed !

Visit my website : Mike Barth Photography

The following images show a sequence in which an Immature Eagle takes on a more mature bird and loses !   I didn't see too many squabbles of this nature so feel lucky I was able to capture the action.
Other images from the trip can be seen here Flikr

White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) aggression

Desert Ducks

There are some new man-made lakes that have recently been created to the South East of Dubai. They are still a way from becoming established sites and for some reason the authorities have introduced feral species from around the world leading to strange sights of birds that would normally never co-exist !   It has already become a popular place for Walkers, Picknickers, Quad Bikers etc.... but nevertheless still provides good photo opportunities.  In this blog are pictures of wintering Northern Pintail and Eurasian Wigeon at sunset,  they are regularly flushed by passing 4x4s and so do provide nice images in the fading light of them arriving back at the lake.  I will be visiting on a regular basis over the coming weeks look forward (hopefully) to more opportunities to capture more species as the year goes on.

Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope)

Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope)

Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope)

Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope)

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Forest Wagtail - UAE Record No 10

This Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus) is a recent vistor to Abu Dhabi,  I believe, according to the Emirates Bird Recorder, it is the 10th Record for the UAE, the first being Nov 1989 and the last Dec 2012.   It is only my second sighting,  the last being in 2009, so I enjoyed my hour or two yesterday in the Ghaf woods with this little bird.

It is extremely shy and does not tolerate human company much at all,  so best strategy was to pitch up nearby and wait !   Patience after all is a virtue and often rewarded.   Date Taken 16.01.15

Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus)

Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus)

Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus)

Beautiful Panama !

Back in  May 2014 I attended a conference in Orlando.  Having birded that area of Florida a couple of times already I decided to look further afield.  I had never been to Central America so decided a quick hop to Panama might be fun.  The flight is around 3 hours so not a long stretch by any means.

I was to stay at the Canopy Lodge for 5 days.  It currently is difficult to book a private guide but when I was there the group size for the standard outings was 2 !  It's best to use flash for some of the more dense Jungle areas, I highly recommend the Better Beamer in this environment.

I was very impressed with Panama as a whole,  people were very friendly and I definitely hope to go back one day.

Difficult to pick just a few images but here are a few of my favorites.

Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana)

Yellow-throated Euphonia (Euphonia hirundinacea)

Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus)

Plain Antvireo (Dysithamnus mentalis)

Broad-billed Motmot (Electron platyrhynchum) 

Basilisk Lizard (Basiliscus basiliscus)

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)

Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata)

Blue-diademed Motmot (Momotus lessonii)

Pale-eyed Pygmy-tyrant (Atalotriccus pilaris)

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus)

Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)