News from the AOS Extreme Birding Rep

[Lesser Spot Finder]

This week was marred by the deaths of WO1(RSM) Daz Chant, Sgt Telford and Gdsm Major who all died in such terrible circumstances. I had known Daz since he was a young Guardsman in The Queen's Company in the late 80s so his loss was extremely poignant.

We have finally moved to Bastion 2 and the final bird seen in Bastion 1 was a single Hoopoe flying over the education centre as we left. I must admit that I had not expected to see this species as the presumption was that they were all in the south. Some birds still appear to be on the tail end of migration.

The IRG to Blue 22 and PB Silab on Tuesday provided me with the chance to bird when not looking over the top of a GPMG. The journey down was uneventful with the usual Crested Larks but good views of Hoopoe Lark feeding in flooded fields. On arrival at Blue 22 we waited for various trucks to be unloaded and a JCB obligingly flushed 5 White-tailed Plover from a field whilst a Kestrel hawked above.

The return journey was especially eventful with a command wire IED exploding luckily in between a DROPS vehicle and the aforementioned JCB, no-one was injured and the insurgents probably heard the Mancunian profanities coming from the dust covered CQMS. As we left Blue 22 and headed back into the desert I was encouraged to see another pristine Long-legged Buzzard flying low towards the ever expanding compounds. A brief stop to change from the Company to the Battlegroup Net gave me the opportunity to look at a Hulme’s Short-toed Lark. This species was a lifer and although the same size as its Greater Short-toed cousin it was a distinctly greyer bird with less heavily streaked upperparts. I knew getting out into the desert would be worth it.

Since the return I have been stuck in and around the evirons of the JOC and have as such have only seen Masked Wagtail, Crested Lark, Tree Sparrow, one Collared Dove and a single Mourning Dove.

Not a bad birding week, lifers are always welcome, but it has highlighted the fact that I will have to go out to see anything this side of the return spring migration.