A report of the 2008 waterbird survey of Oman has now been published (see earlier postings)

In total, 158,154 waterbirds were recorded over the survey. This included 29802 waders, 120287 gulls and terns, 2506 cormorants and 2505 egrets and herons. When the results obtained by the separate expedition to Barr Al Hikman are combined with these figures the numbers are even more impressive, showing that the Sultanate of Oman is of significant regional importance for wintering and migrating waterbirds. A total of 339,502 waders, 146,287 gulls and terns, and 31,711 cormorants egrets and herons were recorded in the Sultanate during this period. In addition, nearly 800 raptors, of 16 species, including over 100 ospreys and 60 marsh harriers were recorded.

The Report can be downloaded here – Waterbird survey of Oman 2008

With apologies for lack of recent postings – We've had technical problems – once these are sorted out we will post new maps. Kim is now on her wintering grounds about 3km from last years site. As of last year once she is on the wintering grounds she seems to stay in dense forest and we have received no signals from the tag since the 28th September.

At 1pm on 20th August Kim had left Wales and was located near Church Stretton in Shropshire on the start of her southward migration. This was the first GPS location we had received for many weeks. We feared the satellite tag has stopped working but in fact the lack of signals was presumably due to a paucity of sunlight and her spending most of her time under the canopy. Kim’s departure is eight days earlier than last year and confirms suspicions that she has been unsuccessful in any nesting attempt she may have made this year. Wider wanderings in late May and early June, when she should have been settled, point to her having difficulties finding a mate. At several sites in Wales this year males failed to return including our other satellite tagged bird Mel who almost certainly perished in his winter quarters (our last confirmed position was on 14th February). Plans to tag two more birds this year were forced to be put on hold.

Kim’s autumn migration so far has been rapid. She left Kent on the morning of 25th August, crossed into Spain on the evening of 29th August and arrived in North Africa on the evening of 1st September. On the night of 3rd September she was on the border of Morocco and Algeria poised for another assault of the vast and inhospitable Sahara Desert.

We will upload a more detailed route-map and migration chart soon.

With apologies for the lack of news. We are getting occasional hits from Kim and she is still around her breeding site but the tag has had no battery power recently. This is either through a malfunction or because she is spending all of her time in shade.

We have visited the site and a pair of birds have been seen but there is no evidence of breeding at this stage.

All very frustrating – we will post updates if we learn anything new.

Ecology Matters Director Mick Green was last week elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management in recognition of “an outstanding contribution to the practice of Ecology and Environmental Management”. Mick was rumoured to have worn a tie at the presentation at the Institute of Directors in London, but no pictures exist!

Our female honey buzzard is still being located regularly around her breeding site. We are waiting for information as to whether she has laid eggs. There are still no signals from the male bird and he has not been seen back at his nest site so we must unfortunately presume he is lost.

Further updates will be posted but will be rather spasmodic as we’re out in the field a lot at the moment.

Kim made use of the good weather at the weekend and is now back at her nest site in North Wales having flown up from Northern France in 3 days.

Still no news of Mel, but we’re monitoring his old nest site to see if he turns up.

New maps will be posted as soon as possible

As of 21st May Kim has only moved a few hundred miles North and appears to be taking it easy through France. If she continues at this rate she should cross back into Britain over the weekend.

Kim crossed into Europe via the Straits of Gibralter on the morning of 16th May having spent a day in the mountains in NE Morocco. She then sped through Spain in two days and by Monday morning – 18th May – she had safely negotiated the Pyrenees and was starting to head up through France.

We are waiting for some updates to software, then hope to be able to post new .kml files for people to download as soon as possible.

Kim has managed to safely cross one of the world’s most hostile environments in a little under a week. Amazingly she has covered just over 2000 km in 6 days and is now over half way back on her return journey to her nest-site in North Wales.

Kim safely crosses the Sahara Desert in 6 days