Hi all,

could someone help me and send me Guy M. Kirwan's e-mail address please.
Thank you!

Axel Braunlich

Hi Mikko,

Typed report and bird list. Somewhat assumes you have the former trip list
and maps.

If we can rely on the post I will photocopy the relevant stuff at work
tomorrow and post if you can confirm your full address.

Hope this helps. You will have a good time.



Brian
3 Park Gate , Broadstairs, Kent CT10 2YN
Mobile: 0421 452294
Fax: 0870 055 7825

WANTED: YELLOW PAINTED RUFF

During spring migration 1999 we ask birdwatchers In Africa and Europe to
watch for yellow-painted Ruff. The best way to find these Ruff is
observing flying groups, because the yellow-painted underwings are very
striking in flight. Walking or resting Ruff can be recognized by the
yellow-painted breast, belly and tail.
These Ruff were painted in North-Cameroon in January 1999, by a joint
expedition of the Dutch foundation WIWO, the Waza-Logone Project and the
Wildlife School Garoua.
We hope to discover the migration routes and the breeding areas of these
Ruff, who were wintering in the floodplain of the Logone, the
boundary-river of Cameroon and Chaad.
We kindly ask you to control migratory flocks this spring. We are also
interested in negative controls. Please send us your controls with
information about location, date, controlled numbers and numbers of
yellow-painted Ruffs. All observers will be informed personally about
the results. Thanking you in advance.

gerritgerritsen@...
WIWO CAMEROON 1999
Gerrit Gerritsen & Bert Dijkstra
p/a Veerallee 33
8019 AD Zwolle
Nederland
telephone 0031384228122



Message by René Vos
renevos@...
http://www.gironet.nl/home/renevos/konya/konya.htm

Dear Mikko and others,

Larus cirrocephalus is, as you mention, a rare visitor to the WP. Your records
are nearly up-to-date. Within North Africa the species has been recorded in
Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (Snow & Perrins 1998), but subsequent records
from the Middle East have been very rare.

One at least, of the Eilat birds in 1989 also crossed the border into Jordan,
but the only subsequent, unequivocal claim from the Middle East, appears to be
a first- or second-summer recorded off Hodeidah, Yemen, on 16 April 1998. I
have seen some of the photographs of this bird. L. brunnicephalus appears to
have been safely eliminated. This record is currently being prepared for
publication in Sandgrouse and, I would urge Elmberg to appropriately document
this latest record. With the sad disappearance of Courser, I would recommend
submission to either Zoology in the Middle East or Sandgrouse.

Guy Kirwan

This is a forwarded message
From: SSantaAnna@... <SSantaAnna@...>
To: ebn@... <ebn@...>
Subject: egypt info needed
PLEASE SEND RESPONSES TO Sonia DIRECTLY
===8<==============Original message text===============


> ----------
> Ldhettdjd:    SSantaAnna@...[SMTP:SSANTAANNA@...]
> Ldhetetty:    5. maaliskuuta 1999 8:16:01
> Vastaanottaja:        ebn@...
> Aihe:         egypt info needed
> Ldhetetty edelleen kdyttden sddntvd
>
Hi everyone.  Some friends want us to join them in Egypt in April.  They will
be scuba diving in the Red Sea near Sharm el Sheikh, but we will be bird
watching if we can find out some information on 1-  where to go 2- where to
stay (hotel) and most importantly 3- a name/address of a birder residing near
the area, 4- what book to use.  Send responses to me personally, and I will
compile them for the listserve.  Thank you in advance.
Sonia Santa Anna
ssantaanna@...
Vienna, Austria


===8<===========End of original message text===========

Thought some of you might be of help.

Best regards,
  Mikko                            mailto:mikko.seppanen@...

Hello MEBnetters,

Here is a sighting of some interest I believe.
I sent, as a reply to a RFI, a trip report of our trip to Sharm el
Sheikh, Egypt 12/98 to Johan Elmberg, a Swede.

He later sent his trip report and a short e-mail telling that
the birds were scarce during his mostly family trip ( 26.1.-9.2.1999),
but that he actually saw a Grey-headed Gull, Larus cirrhocephalus, in
Sharm! He has sent this to Mindy and Sherif Baha el Din too, if
accepted I believe (?) this is only the 4th (??) Middle Eastern sighting
of this African species.

Lar cir actually is a WP species, resident in Banc d´Arguin,
Mauritania, but outside that area has been seen once in Spain
(Lewington et al, Rare Birds in Britain and Europe) and thrice in
Israel (Shirihai, Birds of Israel, all in 1989) and I remember hearing
of some individuals seen in Morocco? Are my records up to date?


Best regards,
  Mikko                          mailto:mikko.seppanen@...

Hello Osmegrouse,

maanantai, 8 maaliskuu 1999, you wrote:

Oac> From: Osmegrouse@...

Oac> Anyone have an e-mail for Dick Forsman please?

Oac> Guy Kirwan

Oac> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oac> Ideas on how we can improve ONElist?
Oac> http://www.onelist.com
Oac> Check out the Suggestion Box feature on our new web site
Oac> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oac> This list is maintained by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East.
To unsubscribe by email send an empty email message to:-
MEBirdNet-unsubscribe@onelist.com


Dick has two:
dickfors@...
dick.forsman@...

Best regards,
  Mikko Seppänen                           mailto:mikko.seppanen@...

Anyone have an e-mail for Dick Forsman please?

Guy Kirwan

I am forwarding the following message on in the hope that someone on this
list can help out.  Please reply directly to:

JG Cracknell <calidris@...>

Thanks
..........................


>Return-Path: <ebn-request@...>
>Delivered-To: julianb@...
>Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 12:01:18 +0000
>To: ebn@...
>From: JG Cracknell <calidris@...>
>Subject: RFI: Trip reports Israel and Jordan
>
>Hi,
>
>A friend who doesn't have net access has asked me to post a RFI for
>details of trip reports for Israel and Jordan.
>
>Of particular interest would be the Eliat area & contacts with any bird
>ringing operations taking place in both countries.
>
>cheers
>
>James
>
>(I did do a web search but the results were not brilliant.)
>--
>James Cracknell - Dedham Vale, Nr. Ipswich, Suffolk
>http://www.calidris.demon.co.uk/ ICQ: 13061796 / Fax: 0870 0560469
>* Website hosts UKBN FAQ plus Britain and Ireland Ringers' Internet Directory *
>- Please send personal e-mail to my Demon address -
>
>
Julian Bielewicz
Past President
Queensland Ornithological Society
12 Florence Street
Kippa-Ring Q. 4021 Australia

Tel: +61 7 3283 4921
Fax: +61 7 3889 4272
email: julianb@...

Hello EBNers and MEBnetters,

Those of you who hate RFI´s or have no information/interest on birding in
Tunisia, please delete this.

I will be leaving for one-week trip to Tunisia, Hammamet-area 27th
March (to 5th April) along with a bird photographer friend of mine (he
actually leaves a week earlier). We do not plan to drive that far,
preferably just day trips. Information on birding in Tunisia seems
hard to obtain, especially of that area.

I have the WWBA and WWBE, and have searched the net, and found a few
trip reports (Urs Geiser- site etc). If you have any information on
Tunisia/ birding/ bird photography/safety /logistics/ that season/ Hammamet area
I would
greatly appreciate your time and effort! Please send the information
directly to me:

Best regards,
  Mikko Seppänen, Espoo, Finland                        
mailto:mikko.seppanen@...

                                                        
mailto:mikko.seppanen@...

Forwarded message:-

--------------------------------------------------

At last!!
A new birding website dedicated to Israel.
It’s address:
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cove/8702/index.html
several of the site’s pages are still under construction, so check it again
later.
If you have comment, suggestions or information that you think can help
other birders, send it to:
Arnon Tsairi, nightjar@...
thank you and enjoy, Arnon.

Forwarded message:-

-------------------------------------------------

I'm going on a 2½ week vacation to Egypt next week. Does somebody know of
good bird-watching spots
near Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and Hurghada. I have of course the latest
edition of John Gooders
WWBBAE.
I should very much much appreciate some good tips.
Niels H. Valerius
Valerius@...

All,

In response to the recent posting by Remco Hofland:

> In reaction on some questions received, here are the answers: (1) on our
>  short trip to Turkey we weren't able to find a number of species that we
had
>  expected, as we have seen them in the same places in summer. These were:
>  * Caspian Snowcock, Alpine and Radde's Accentor and Red-fronted Serin in
>  Demirkazik (actually, the only specialties we could find there, were Horned
>  Lark, Golden Eagle, Snow Finch and (only one) Crimson-winged Finch).
>  * Also no Marbled or Ferruginous Ducks were seen in the Cukurova delta
(just
>  one male Ferr. Duck in the marsh formed by the Kizilirmak river, near
>  Karakecili)


It is relatively unsurprising that the observers were unable to find the
passerines they mention at Demirkazik: both Radde's and Alpine Accentors
descend in winter to lower altitudes and / or move south eg to the Levant.
Nonetheless, there is a chronic shortage of winter records of P. collaris from
Turkey in winter (see note by Uhlig et al. in Sandgrouse a couple of years
ago). I would expect both Serinus pusillus and Rhodopechys sanguinea to
undertake similar movements, and limited evidence exists to support this idea.

As for Marmaronetta angustirostris and Aythya nyroca: the winter populations
of both species in Turkey have declined dramatically in recent decades (for
the latter species see Kirwan,  Bird Conservation International 7: 345-356,
and for Marbled Teal, see Green, The status and conservation of Marbled Teal.
IWRB special publ. 25). All observations of both species in Turkey are
noteworthy and should be sent to both DHKD and OSME.

Guy Kirwan

Hi there,

I have learned that an unusual high number of swedish birders are going to
Israel, most of them to Eilat, a few also to the north, in late March and
early April this year.
Therefore I am interested in "latest news" from Israel. Has anybody been there
recently? How about the israeli birders?
A lot of the swedish birders who are going have never been to the Middle East
before, so everything (well, almost...) is of interest.

Thanks in advance
Johan Lorentzon, Halmstad, Sweden

Forwarded message

--------------------------------------------------------

Hi again,

In reaction on some questions received, here are the answers: (1) on our
short trip to Turkey we weren't able to find a number of species that we had
expected, as we have seen them in the same places in summer. These were:
* Caspian Snowcock, Alpine and Radde's Accentor and Red-fronted Serin in
Demirkazik (actually, the only specialties we could find there, were Horned
Lark, Golden Eagle, Snow Finch and (only one) Crimson-winged Finch).
* Also no Marbled or Ferruginous Ducks were seen in the Cukurova delta (just
one male Ferr. Duck in the marsh formed by the Kizilirmak river, near
Karakecili)
* No Pygmy Cormorants were seen

(2) The Grey-headed Swamp-Hen is the proposed split of Purple Gallinule -
Porphyrio porphyrio into 6 species:
1.  Western Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
2.  African Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)
3.  Grey-headed Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio poliocephalus)
4.  Black-backed Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio viridis)
5.  Phillippine Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio pulverulentus) and
6.  Australian Swamp-Hen (Porphyrio melanotus)

Of these, (1) occurs in Spain & Morocco, (2) in Egypt and (3) in Turkey and
the Wolga-delta (as far as the WP is concerned). See "Dutch Birding", vol.
20 (1998), no 1, page 13-22 and 25/26.

(3) More details on the observed vultures are as follows:
At 15/2/99, 9 ad Black Vultures were seen crossing the valley between
Kizilcahamam and Soguksu Milli Parki entrance from South to North, at about
16.30 hrs. Weather at that time was clouded, with a lot of snow in the park.
We had the impression that the birds were flying towards a roost. They flew
at about 50 m and were descending. Dusk was at 17.30 hrs.
At 16/2/99, an immature Lammergeier appeared at the Western slope of the
road from Kizilcahamam towards Celtikci (an estimated 8 km from
Kizilcahamam), at 11.00. It flew low over the trees and in front of the
slope and disappeared into a wooded valley but reappeared several times. It
had snowed the previous night, but weather then was sunny with some clouds,
and the snow was melting quikly. When we were driving towards Celtikci, 2 ad
Black Vultures were seen flying towards the West, North of the road. They
were joined by 2 ad Golden Eagles (these were mobbed by a Long-legged
Buzzard) for a minute or so, but the vultures, unlike the eagles, kept on
flying W until they crossed the highway (between Istanbul and Ankara), at
about 11.45 hrs. It seemed to us that these were different birds from the
ones we saw the day before, because it was only about 40 minutes that birds
of prey started to fly that day, but of course we are not sure.

I will try to get my report on this trip (already finished) published on the
Internet (I don't have access to it myself).

Good birding everyone,

Remco Hofland
remcohofland@...

ag@...
Chairman, OSME
http://www.osme.org

Yesterday at Cape Greco an adult male White-crowned Black Wheatear. If
accepted it will be the 4th for Cyprus.
Previous records: An adult male March 1970
                   An adult male? May 1985
                   1993-no details to hand.
Isabelline Wheatear have been in for a few days now; migration is slowly
getting underway!
Jeff Gordon
Cyprus Bird Information Centre
Tel. & Fax. 00357-6-272487
Birdline Cyprus. Paphos [06] 233707
ICQ. 4711257

Hi all,

I hope the following will be of interest to someone.

From 9-16th February Eus vd Burg and myself made a short birdingtrip to
Turkey. We visited various sites, among which Mugari Golu, just S of Ankara;
Kulu Golu, Demirkazik, Cukurova delta, S of Adana; Birecik, Isikli and the
Soguksu Milli Parki, NW of Ankara.

Our most interesting observations were:
* 500+ Red-crested Pochards and a Smew at Mugari Golu
* at least 396 White-headed Ducks (in one packed, unmixed group) at Kulu
Golu
* 13 Great Black-headed Gulls, 20,000+ Flamingoes, 1 Grey-headed Swamp-Hen,
several Moustached and Cetti's Warblers, 1 Smyrna Kingfisher, 1,600+ Avocets
and big numbers of various wildfowl at different sites in the Cukurova delta
* a Wallcreeper (and 50 caged Bald Ibises) in Birecik
* Western and Eastern Rock Nuthatches at Isikli
* 11 Black Vultures, 1 imm Lammergeier, 2 Golden Eagles, 1 Black Woodpecker,
10+ Cirl Buntings, several European and 1 Kruper's Nuthatch at Soguksu
Milli Parki
* Ring Ouzels wintering at various sites

And now, for some more serious birdnews.....
Yours sincerely,

Remco Hofland

Dear friends and colleagues,

a friend of mine, Klemens Steiof, asked me to send the following request to
the Middle East Bird Net:

Klemens is collecting records (published and unpublished) of Aquatic
Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) from the Middle East and Turkey (and
further E) as part of an ongoing study on the migration of this species. If
you have any information send it to me please, I will forward it to
Klemens. All contributions will be acknowledged upon receipt.

With best wishes,
Axel Braunlich

*************************************************************
Axel Braunlich
Brusseler Str. 46
13353 Berlin
Germany

tel.: ++49 (0)30 4536692
e-mail: braunlich@...

NATURSCHUTZBUND DEUTSCHLAND e.V. (NABU)
German Society for Nature Conservation
International Affairs / Central Asia
*************************************************************

SAVE SOUTH KOREA’S MOST IMPORTANT WETLAND, infos at

http://www.birdnet.de/korea.htm

http://www.sh-nordsee.de/nationalpark/korea.html (in German)
Korean Wetlands Alliance:

http://kfem.or.kr/wetland

Please reply direct to Peter if you can help.

------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

During our german easter holidays I shall be joining an excursion of
archeologists and botanists in western Turkey (Aegean region). The program
in short is listed below. Because of my ornithological interests I should
be very happy of any advice or suggestions concerning birds and birding in
that places.
It would be fine to receive some e-mail-addresses of birders beforehand, so
that I could ask them some questions.

Thank you,

Peter Finke (Bielefeld/Germany).

The program in short:
27.3. Going by plane Düsseldorf - Izmir; stay at hotel in Didim.
28.3. Didyma.
29.3. Milet.
30.3. Priene and southern Samsun Dagi.
31.3. Bafa Gölü, walking tour near Bucak, Lathmos-mountains, Herakleia.
01.4. Selcuk/Ephesos.
02.4. Samsun Dagi national park, northern side.
03.4. Bodrum/Halikarnassos, from Yoga Yolu to Gündogan
04.4. Pamukkale/Hierapolis; moving to pension Alme in Dikili.
05.4. Atarneus valley, Seytansofrasi, Demirici.
06.4. Kalem island.
07.4. Pergamon. Trip to Kozak and Okcular.
08.4. Troja, Canakkale coast.
09.4. mountain-tour Manisa national park (Sipil Dag).
10.4. Izmir, return flight to Germany.
---------------------------------------
Peter Finke
Bielefeld university (theory of science; biolinguistics)
and Witten-Herdecke private university (evolutionary cultural ecology)
Tel. priv. 0049/5206/1466; eMail priv.: peter.finke@...



ag@...
Chairman, OSME
http://www.osme.org

Hello everybody,

I will take a group of swedish birdwatchers on a trip to Israel later this
spring. We're planning to visit Maagan Mikhael and a lot of other localities.
I used to have the phone number to the kibbutz at MM but it seems like I have
displaced it.

Does anyone have the phone number , fax number or e-mail address to the
kibbutz?

Yours
Johan Lorentzon, Halmstad, Sweden

The following records have been submitted to OSME
from the OSME web site

-------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, February 10, 1999 at 11:49:19 (GMT)

The following record(s) are for:- Israel

Pallas's Warbler, 1, Beer-Sheva, 10th feb. 1999.

Buff-bellied Pipit, 2, Beer-Sheva sewage ponds, Jan-Feb 1999.

Red-fronted Serin, 1ad male, Lehavim (10 k north to Beer-Sheva), 25th Jan
1999.


I hope they are of interest to OSME.

Ido Tsurim
tsurim@...

------- Forwarded message follows -------

From: phellyer@... [mailto:phellyer@...]

Twitchers' Guide for the United Arab Emirates for the week ending
January 27th 1999.  Edited by Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer,  P.O.Box
791, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The threat of rain over the last fortnight finally realised itself with
downpours, albeit short-lived, being enjoyed along the Gulf coast on
Monday 25th January. Winds have returned to being variable and light
after the blustery previous weekend. Certainly the weather is cooler
with a sweater being needed at night for just about the first time this
winter. No obvious cold-weather arrivals were noted, but plenty of
fodder fields were scoured for pipits, larks and other little brown
jobs.

Song thrushes are all over the place at present and it is a trifle
surprising that no-one has yet found any rare allied species. Surely an
eye-browed or dusky thrush must be lurking out there somewhere? Also
wintering in good numbers this year are citrine wagtails, while white
storks continue to be reported from at least three sites.

A very pale little owl was picked up sick out on Das on the 24th and
constituted a first record for the island, although unfortunately it
died the next day. Earlier in the week (21st), a brace of little
buntings was an unexpected find for an observer on Das just back from
leave that day.

A barn owl, a species rarely recorded here in consecutive weeks, was
observed flying over the Abu Dhabi Hotel Intercontinental tennis courts
on the night of the 20th. Also in the capital were peregrine, marsh
harrier, 19 skylarks, 2 Blyth's pipit, garganey and citrine wagtail at
the Abu Dhabi Golf & Equestrian Club throughout the week. A possible
buff-bellied pipit was seen there on 23rd. Crested and non-crested honey
buzzards are both reliable on or around the mast at Manhal behind the
old Central Post Office on Airport Road in Abu Dhabi. No recent reports
of either species from Dubai, however.

Out at Al Wathba between the 22-25th were Egyptian nightjar (seen in the
observer's headlights by the Ladies Stand), pallid and Montagu's
harriers, 3 lapwings, 9 corn buntings, Namaqua dove and purple heron.
Down in Al Ain, 3 ferruginous ducks were found at a gravel pit tucked
away on the plain just to the south of the Sinaiya cement works near
Jebel Hafit. Two white storks and hundreds of pallid swifts and
hirundines (worth looking through) were feeding at the camel race track
fields.

From Ras al Khaimah, the best report, over and above the usual range of
species, was of a little swift overflying the international airport on
the 24th.

The report from Oman this week contained an update on the situation
regarding their rare visitors: black drongo and Nile Valley sunbird are
still present at Qitbit, with, in the south, the long-staying
intermediate egret (for several months now) as usual at Khor Rouri. Also
at the latter site were 4 jack snipe and a Brahminy mynah. Tawi Attair
produced 10 Yemen serin, this being a regular stake-out for this Arabian
endemic, while in Salalah itself were booted eagle and a rare record of
grasshopper warbler.

A spate of overseas (human) visitors to the Emirates are expected over
the coming weeks - to all concerned, please phone, fax or email your
sightings to Twitchers' Guide. All contributions gratefully received.

Bird of the Week title: Das' little owl came close, little buntings too,
but, in the absence of confirmation of the identification of the buff-
bellied pipit, Ras al Khaimah's little swift takes it.

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is designed as a weekly news feature, not
as an official record of authenticated sightings, and should not be
cited in any publication.

Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of
reports and information.
Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall/Peter Hellyer), P.O. Box 791, Abu
Dhabi. UAE:
Tel: Abu Dhabi (9712)- 451446, Fax: (9712)-453662;
E-mail: phellyer@... OR ginnydf@....
or
Emirates Bird Records Committee (Secretary: Colin Richardson):
Telephone:
Dubai (9714)-472277, Fax: (9714)-472276. P.O.Box 50394, Dubai, UAE.;

Please take the time to respond by writing an e-mail or a
letter and forward this text to as many people as you can
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAEMANKEUM:
Largest ongoing reclamation project will destroy South
Korea's most important shorebird and waterfowl site

The Yellow Sea is a large inlet of the western Pacific Ocean lying
between the Chinese mainland on the west and north and the Korean
Peninsula on the east. This region of great biodiversity and productivity is
one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world.

The tidal-flats along the coasts are particularly severely endangered by
reclamation. Of the current reclamation schemes, one clearly stands out
as the most critical. This is the so-called SAEMANKEUM project
(pronounced "Say-Man-Goom") which, at 40,100 hectares, is the world's
largest ongoing reclamation. Saemankeum, centred at 35 50’N / 126
45’E, in the south-west of South Korea, near the cities of Kunsan and
Cheonju, aims to landfill the estuaries of the Mankyung and Tongjin
Rivers. A 33 km sea-dike is to be constructed, linking the islands off the
coast with each other and with the mainland. The completion of the
project would have disastrous ecological effects (see also
BACKGROUND INFORMATION below).

With international support, the Korean Wetlands Alliance and allied
organisations should be able to convince the South Korean government
to cancel this project. How can the international community in general
and you in particular help Korean people to stop the Saemankeum
project?

PLEASE SEND RESPECTFUL E-MAILS (OR BETTER STILL,
LETTERS) OF CONCERN TO BOTH THE MAIN PROPONENT OF THE
SAEMANKEUM PROJECT, THE REGIONAL GOVERNOR, MR. YOU
JONG-KEUN, AND TO THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND
FORESTRY, MR. KIM SUNG-HOON (Addresses below).

Please include the following sentences in your letters (you can use the
cut/paste commands of your software):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please suspend the Saemankeum reclamation project to allow further
urgently needed research on the ecological and economic consequences
of completing this project. The Saemankeum area, together with the
estuaries of the Mankyung and the Tongjin Rivers, is now known to be
vitally significant to sustain economically important fish stocks and other
marine resources in the region (for example, by providing spawning and
nursing places), and of immense global importance for migratory
waterfowl.

Unless some solution can be found, whereby existing waterfowl
populations and regional fishery resources can be maintained at existing
levels, I would urge you to cancel the project. Although much money has
already been spent on the project, the loss of the Saemankeum tidal flats
to reclamation will cause much greater expense in the long term - through
loss of fishery resources, increased pollution, and damage to South
Korea's international image.

By cancelling this scheme, the world's largest ongoing reclamation
project, Korea will win respect world-wide.


Yours sincerely,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE DO TAKE THE TIME TO RESPOND ­ OUR EXPERIENCE
HAS SHOWN THAT IT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! THANK YOU
FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Addresses:

Mr. You, Jong-Keun
Governor of Chollabuk-do
#1, 4-ga, Chungang-Dong, Wansan-gu
Cheonju City, Chollabuk-do
Republic of Korea 560-761
e-mail: cbso@...

Minister Kim, Sung-Hoon
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Government Complex
#1, Joongang-dong
Kwacheon-si, Kyounggi-do
Republic of Korea 422-760
e-mail: minister@...

Please forward your responses to the Korean Wetlands Alliance:

Korean Wetlands Alliance, KFEM
Palyongdong 192-6 2F, Changwon 641-465
Republic of Korea
e-mail: jangjy@...

Letters of concern to the South Korean embassy in your country could be
very helpful too. Addresses can be obtained from:

Axel Braunlich, NABU (German Society for Nature Conservation),
Brusseler Str. 46, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: ++49 (30) 453 66 92, e-mail: braunlich@...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Yellow Sea is situated midway on the East Asian-Australasian
Flyway, one of the world's great migratory bird routes, which extends
from Alaska and north-east Siberia through East Asia to Australia and
New Zealand. This sea is bordered by c. one million hectares of tidal-
flats. These are critically important to a significant percentage of the
flyway's shorebirds, and to nesting endemic birds such as Saunders's
Gull, (world population 5,000 ­ 10,000), Chinese Egret (world pop. c.
2,200), and Black-faced Spoonbill (world pop. c. 615), which are all
globally endangered. The Yellow Sea also supports a huge fishing
industry, and many coastal communities are dependent upon seaweed
cultivation, salt production and shellfish harvesting. Research has shown
that no less than two-thirds of all fish species found in Korean waters are
dependent upon tidal-flats during some part of their life-cycle.

Despite this immense value, in the 1980's South Korea adopted a
National Reclamation Master Plan with the objective of reclaiming 85% of
all remaining tidal-flats, whilst in the mid-1990's China stated that it
intended to reclaim almost 100% of its tidal-flats by 2018. A North Korean
plan for 1980 to 1993 indicated that the country aimed to reclaim 300,000
hectares of coastal wetlands. With many projects completed (including a
single reclamation of 50,000 hectares in the south-west of S Korea),
Yellow Sea fish stocks have already been significantly depleted, and
many waterfowl species appear to be in decline.

In South Korea, where approximately 290,000 hectares of tidal-flat still
remain, research by the Korean Wetlands Alliance in 1998 located at
least 13 coastal wetlands that supported more than 5,000 shorebirds at a
time. Furthermore, in each of these sites at least three shorebird species
occurred in internationally important concentrations Of these 13 most
important shorebird sites, one has already been largely reclaimed, two
are in the process of being completely reclaimed, and another already

has a complete seawall along one side. Three sites are being negatively
impacted and, along with Kanghwa Island, are targeted for more
significant reclamation. No tidal wetlands nation-wide are effectively
protected, though five wetlands have been saved from imminent
destruction - at least in the short-term - through the efforts of the Korean
Wetlands Alliance and support groups between July and December 1998.
The data available also shows that many other internationally important
sites have already been reclaimed in part or in full or are facing imminent
reclamation.

The justification given for these reclamations is that they will increase the
area of national territory, whilst creating land for agricultural uses and
reservoirs to provide freshwater for industry and farming. Korean experts
argue against the projects, pointing out that tidal-flats are already
"national territory", that much farmland is already under-used regionally
and nationally (largely due to rural exodus triggered by industrialisation)
and that tidal-flats and sea shallows are critical to fisheries and
aquaculture. In addition they also recall that the projects are clearly in
breach of the "wise use of wetlands" concept enshrined in the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, to which South
Korea acceded in 1997.

The outstanding importance of the Saemankeum area for waterfowl is
clearly shown by bird census data. For example, in 1998 its tidal-flats
supported peak counts of 22,200 Dunlin (representing 10% of the known
flyway population of the Dunlins eastern race), 180 Spoon-billed
Sandpiper (largest count ever world wide; world population 4,000 ­
5,000), 61 Nordmann's Greenshank (world population 1,000 only) and of
38,500 Great Knot (representing more than 10% of the world population).
On the basis of current data, the Saemankeum area is believed to be the
second most important site for Great Knot in all of Asia. In the past three
years, at least 25 species of waterfowl have been recorded in
internationally important concentrations, including up to 500 Saunder's
Gulls and 1 - 2% of the world's Black-faced Spoonbills. Research to date
indicates that Saemankeum supports the highest number of shorebirds
and waterfowl species in internationally important concentrations within
Korea.

What will happen to these birds if the Saemankeum dike is completed?
All shorebird feeding areas will be lost, as all of the tidal flats in the
estuaries will be cut off from the sea by the dike, and analyses indicate
that no new tidal flats will form outside it. All available evidence
indicates
that the destruction of the vital waterbird feeding areas at Seamankeum
will inevitably reduce survival rates of many birds, and most probably
cause the overall populations of these species to decline. Regional
fisheries will also be devastated. It is very likely that reservoirs created
would be too polluted to use, if they were anything like those developed
elsewhere with similar reclamation technology. Furthermore, much of the
newly generated land will doubtless lay idle, as has been seen with other

reclamations completed.

As of November 1998, 56% of the 33 km sea-dike is already complete,
and the scheme is likely to be completed within two or three years. There
is little time left to oppose this project. But there is still much hope.
Support for the Saemankeum project is fading, while opposition to it
grows ever stronger, as the financial and environmental costs of the
project become clearer. Several ministries and government agencies
(e.g. the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries, and the Forestry Administration) have recently voiced their
opposition to reclamation in general. A similar shift in policy direction can
be detected in the July 1998 by the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry
responsible for the Saemankeum project, to cancel the 55,000 hectare
reclamation proposed for the Yongsan River region. Moreover, even the
leading proponent of the Saemankeum project, the regional governor, Mr.
You Jong-Keun, stated in January 1999 that the project would need to be
reviewed - or even stopped, if it were shown to negatively impact the
marine ecosystem.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Korean Wetlands Alliance is a South Korean umbrella organisation
of individuals and environmental groups committed to wetland
conservation, through research, education and action. Initiated in 1996,
the Alliance now encompasses 13 enlisted organisations, and enjoys an
increasing level of co-operation and respect from academics, government
and citizen movement groups. Please visit us at our homepage
<http://kfem.or.kr/wetland>.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The text of this e-mail can be found on the Internet at

http://www.birdnet.de/korea.htm

Dear Sir, Madame,
I am a veterinary parasitologist and the main objects of my study are
parasites of birds of prey, especially protozoan. I cooperate with many
rehabilitation centers and raptor breeding facilities in Europe and I am
looking for any similar facilities with the high concentration of birds of
prey in the Middle East. I would greatly appreciate your assistance. Do you
have any list of addresses or e-mails of people and organizations engaged
with raptors? That would be very helpful.
Thank you for your help and understanding.
Yours sincerely  Jiri Volf
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Parasitology
University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Palackeho 1-3, 612 42 Brno
Czech Republic

tel: +420 5 41562979
fax: +420 5 41562266
e-mail: volf@...

Forwarded message.

Hello,

I am putting this request on behalf of a German birder
who wants to go to Israel. Literature in German on this subject
is very scarce. So he is looking for Field Guides in English
concerning birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians and
plants.
Please answer to him personally. His e-mail is:
<Ralf-Schwab@...>

Any suggestion is welcome!
Thanks in advance!

Kind regards!

Ingrid Balzer
sissicat@...

ag@...
Chairman, OSME
http://www.osme.org

I am interested in visiting Israel and perhaps staying in Eilat area, but I
like to wander on my own and wonder if it would be safe. I fancy staying at
a kibbutz and also wonder about cost since I am on a very limited budget.
Another concern is what guide books to beg borrow or buy.

Please reply to my email address.

Ms Frances Gatens
frances.gatens@...

Hello Andrew,

The International Med Gull project has successfully colour ringed 350 Med
gulls in central Anitolia in 1998 and another 350 in the Black Sea. Many of
these winter in the Levant and along the North African coast. more will be
ringed in '99.

We've organised 3 expeditions to Tunisia this winter between Christmas and
the end of February and have managed to read several rings there.

Should you be contacted by birders going to this area or have contact with
local observers please push the project and promote colour ring reading.

Thanks and good luck with the new list

Lyndon

Lyndon Kearsley
kearsley@...
European co-listowner Birdband

please register me onto your mailinglist:

cursorius@...

My husband and I will visit Turkey in March.  What field guide or guides
do you recommend?  We will land in Ankara and travel southwest,
eventually completing the trip in Istanbul.  Thanks very much for your
help.
                             Dillon Rankin - Rockville, Maryland, USA

Forwarded by Andrew Grieve ag@...

---------------------------------------------------

From: phellyer@... [mailto:phellyer@...]

Twitchers' Guide for the United Arab Emirates for the week ending January
20th 1999.  Edited by Simon Aspinall & Peter Hellyer,  P.O.Box 791, Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Plenty to report this week, with visitors to the country providing most
of the sightings of rarer species, while the few resident birders got stuck
into counting for the annual mid-winter Asian Waterfowl Census.

A trio of Swedish birders came up with rarities as well as some unseasonal
reports: shikra at Al Ain compost plant (on 15th); long-tailed skua at
Sha'am, Ras Al Khaimah (17th); Egyptian nightjar at Al Wathba (still
present on 20th); pied kingfisher at Dhayah; wryneck and a greylag goose at
the Emirates Golf Club (19th); tree pipits at Ramtha (on 7th) and at the
Fujairah National Dairy Farm (NDF) on the 13th along with a reed warbler!
They also reported a "probable" blackbird at the EGC on 19th. Some 300 or
so Persian shearwaters were noted off Kalba on the 12th, with c20
white-cheeked terns also there then. These records are also attributable to
the same group, as are some others that follow.

Down in Al Ain, other than the shikra already mentioned, were pintail
snipes at Ayn Al Faydah and the Al Ain pumping station (3 more were at the
Fujairah NDF). Other interesting waders reported were 8 great knot at Khor
Al Beidah, 3 lapwings at Al Wathba, 150 broad-billed sandpipers at Khor
Dubai and 5 cream-coloured coursers still at the EGC.

The best raptors this week were the overwintering steppe buzzard at Al
Wathba, Barbary falcon and Bonelli's eagle at Wadi Sumayni (several
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse here too) and the honey buzzards and crested
honey buzzard together in Abu Dhabi. A hen harrier at the Abu Dhabi Golf &
Equestrian Club on the 19th needs to be refound for those that missed it. A
barn owl was on Dhabbiyah on 20th with short-eared owl at Khor Dubai early
last week, both being good records.

Al Wathba and the Fujairah NDF were both good for Oriental skylarks and
Blyth's pipits, with the latter also being seen at the Al Ain camel trace
track. Bimaculated lark flocks are present at both of these sites, with a
single bird also being seen in Fujairah. Al Wathba was scoured thoroughly
on the 20th and produced (selected species only) a Namaqua dove, 2 white
storks, 90 short-toed larks, Montagu's harrier, pallid harriers, 3 steppe
grey shrikes, 6 Siberian stonechats and 9 corn buntings. Interestingly,
water pipit numbers have dropped to a mere 38. Meadow pipits remain
strangely scarce.

The cattle egret roost in Abu Dhabi now has 92 individuals. Counts of other
waterfowl, obtained during the AWC, will appear next week and the week after.

Other expected species that were reported included glossy ibis,
rose-coloured starling, skylarks, Eastern pied wheatear, citrine wagtails,
hypocolius (but only 2 - these at Ghantut), 2 male striated scops owls
performing well at Mushref Park, Dubai and pomarine skuas at Mussafah and
Kalba. A little bunting at Wamm Farm (the Fujairah NDF) late last week
still deserves reporting here .

Bird of the Week: Long-tailed skua in Ras Al Khaimah, at least the 5th UAE
record.

Strong northerly winds forecast for Thursday and Friday (21/22nd) should
bring in something of interest, perhaps a siskin or two or some more
thrushes, apart from plenty of mystifying gulls to go through.

A REMINDER: Twitchers' Guide is designed as a weekly news feature, not as
an official record of authenticated sightings, and should not be cited in
any publication.

Contact details for visitors to the Emirates, and for submission of reports
and information.
Twitchers' Guide (Simon Aspinall/Peter Hellyer), P.O. Box 791, Abu Dhabi. UAE:
Tel: Abu Dhabi (9712)- 451446, Fax: (9712)-453963; E-mail:
phellyer@... OR ginnydf@....
or
Emirates Bird Records Committee (Secretary: Colin Richardson):
Telephone:
Dubai (9714)-472277, Fax: (9714)-472276. P.O.Box 50394, Dubai, UAE.