The Birds

Quick stop-off on way to work at the Back-o-the-Hill. Like a scene from the birds - Rooks, Jackdaws and Starlings feeding in the icy fields. Managed to add a Reed Bunting to the Hill year list (44, 63%). Not much else about - Linnet, Yellowhammers, commuting Herring Gulls. Not exactly the place where you expect diversity but the Whoopers have probably packed up and shipped out. Haven't seen them for a while now.

Disastrous Turkish Dam Project Held Up

... at least for the moment

Turkish Court Stops Dam Construction

A Turkish court has ordered an immediate halt to the construction of the controversial Ilisu dam noting that it is not in line with Turkish environmental law.
The Ilisu dam is an embankment dam under construction on the Tigris River in South-eastern Turkey. The dam is meant to produce hydroelectric power, to control floods and to store water. When completed, the dam will form a 10.4 billion m3 reservoir inundating an area over 310 sq. kms in ancient Mesopotamia.
The project, which was presented for the first time in the 1980s, immediately received strong reactions from local communities and from NGOs representing the environment, including Doga Dernegi (BirdLife in Turkey), cultural heritage and human rights. The reason is that the completion of the dam would lead to relocation of the people living in the region and cause the flooding of the 12,000 year old city of Hasenkeyf, which meets nine out of the ten UNESCO criteria for World Heritage status.
After a first Court ruling in 2011 the project was stopped when the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was bypassed. EIAs are compulsory under Turkish law for the realisation of such projects. The Turkish government responded by introducing a new legislation exonerating the project works, including roads, power lines and other heavy infrastructure from an EIA.
But the court stood firm and condemned the project a second time on January 7, ordering an immediate halt to its construction, thus highlighting that proceeding with the works without the legally required EIA, goes against Turkish Environment Law and EIA regulations.
BirdLife Europe and BirdLife in Turkey warmly welcome the court decision as encouraging for the local communities and NGOs that have been actively denunciating the project since the beginning. The battle is still not won since the government can still object to the court’s ruling within seven days or alternatively chose to pass new legislation to override the court’s ruling.
“This time the world is watching. The ruling must stand in the interest of protecting our common natural and cultural heritage.” said Engin Yilmaz, Executive Director of Doga Dernegi (BirdLife Turkey).
Created: 16th Jan 2013
 
Original Fat Birder Article

Inverkeithing Goldcrest and Collared Dove

45 mins at Inverkeithing with "the usual suspects" then in 60 seconds walking back to the car Goldcrest and Collared Dove. I'm sure I could have found one if push came to shove., but I've only had one or two Goldcrest records in the last two years so it's a good one to nail. 23 Mallard was a pretty decent number. Half expected some Wigeon with the freezing weather, but not to be.

Welcome back!

Mallard

#56 for the year, handsome devil

Inverkeithing, 56 species, 46%

LBBs at last

Finally Inverkeithing was graced by the presence of a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, lifting the total to 54 species. A slight snowfall put me off taking the scope out but in the end there wasn't anything that had a hint of otherness about it anyway.

Since I'm on my way to Turkey shortly, here's one of the rarest birds I've found there, and one of the most beautiful duck species into the bargain:

<<
Common Eider Somateria mollissima
Vagrant. Fifth to ninth records in Turkey. All records have been since 1975, when the
species first bred on the Ukrainian Black Sea coast; the population reached over 1000 pairs
in the mid-1990s and was still increasing and expanding in 2000 (Dutch Birding 23: 354).
Black Sea Coastlands: Riva, north- east mouth of the Bosphorus: eclipse male and two
immatures, 8–14 Sep 02 (KA Boyla, B Demirci; Sandgrouse 25: 158, where listed solely for 8
Sep); 2, 3 Jan 04 with one until 22 Mar 04 at least (S İsfendiyaroğlu et al; Sandgrouse 26: 167);
nearby, 25–26 Sep 05 (E Yoğurtçuoğlu, B Bilgen; Sandgrouse 28: 95). 3, Kızılırmak Delta,
16–17 Dec 2005 (S Bekir, N Yavuz; Sandgrouse 28: 191, where listed only for 17 Dec).
Thrace: Terkos Gölü, 8 Dec 02 (M Bozdoğan, S İsfendiyaroğlu; Sandgrouse 25: 158).
>>

From OSME, "Turkey Bird Report 2002–06", Kirwan et al

Mine was a female on the Black Sea coast at Karaburun 19/12/2011. There seem to be multiple records annually now

First blank

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. First trip to any patch without a new species added. Surprised it took this long, really. Inverkeithing, lunchtime.Took a jaunt through town and no sign of even a Collared Dove. Still, my January total for the site is already higher than last year's so no complaints here.

Splish splash, I was takin' a bath ...

+Brambling => 126!

Just found a Brambling record on trektellen that didn't make it to Birdtrack for 2012. Puts my species total up to 126 for 2012 and 165 points. Should I now confess that my target is too low? :-/

Patch tally so far

So after another weekend passes what are "the scores on the doors"?

Cullaloe - 34 species, 34% of target, 35 pts

Inverkeithing - 55 species, 44% of target, 59 pts

Hill of Beath - 43 species, 61% of target, 45 pts

Seems like Cullaloe is way behind, but it already has two bonus birds. It will pick up the regulars along the way. Inverkeithing is about in line with last year, with absolutely no bonus birds whatsoever, while Hill of Beath probably needs a new target having already done rather well and having scooped Waxwing at the weekend along with the more expected Woodcock. I'm now hoping for more like 80-something species realistically, but with any sort of vismig at all it could even make 100.

It was nice to get those Waxwings, but who could argue that these fine chaps aren't just as dashing:

Back garden exotica