ID Problems

This resource is probably the most comprehensive one is likely to find anywhere on the net - the problems of birds seen in Israel are in many ways similar to those of birds seen here - so check out this slide show on the web -

Section one CLICK HERE

Section two CLICK HERE

Saw and managed to photograph at a great distance this bird last weekend - it has been variously suggested that it is probably a buzzard but as yet no conclusion as to the species has been reached - any suggestions would be welcome howardk@batelco.com.bh

sorry for bad photos but in the originals the bird is not much that a dot

During the Eid break (Nov 29th) I spent some time at the chicken farm at Hamalah clicking away at most things that moved I managed to get a few good pics see my obs pages for them ( http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/index.php )- but as I was sorting through what I thought would be left over garbage and destined for the recycle bin I had a closer look at what I had discounted as distant shots of a Skylark - having got some good closeups of one later I gave this sequence no thought until last night. Close scrutiny and comparison with the Skylark pics made me look a bit closer - didn't look QUITE right for Skylark it had what appeared to be a the bold supercilium meeting at the nape typical a little research revealed for Wood Lark - I have never seen a Wood Lark but we do have 3 very old records - the last from 1970(C Griffiths) hence my caution. WOULD BE GRATEFUL therefor if anybody familiar with this species could pass some comments and contact me at howardk@batelco.com.bh It's probably a Sky Lark but still would like to hear some independent comments-have discounted Lesser Short toed dem toes are just toooo long and even Oriental gulgula they have buff fringes to wings and tail not clean white as on this bird.
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Not sure what this one is but there were two or three of them in with the Indian Silverbills, possibly a Chestnut Munia

ID - Confirmed

Seen this last weekend in an acacia tree - pic one the original taken with full zoom on my 500mm lens and pic two cut out from the same of the bird in question. The bird was seen across a wide expanse of cultivated land and in my rent a wreck totally inaccessible unless I wanted to spend a few hours digging it out. Any ideas most appreciated.

Well struck out - this one will remain UNKOWN but its either a Flycatcher or at the outside a Warbler!!

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Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers - this is a compiled photo below

Separating Lesser Sandplover from Greater can be problematic ESPECIALLY when dealing with a single bird- for me I use this simple rule one that provides a BASIC guide to ID for all ssp of both species. This works well on a square on photo

This is not foolproof

It involves working out the distance between the back of the eye to the foremost feathering where it joins the upper mandible compared to the distance on to the end of the bill.

For Greater Sandplover the ratio is almost equal - distance eye to bill same as bill length - bill has a dagger like tip
*plus nail is less prominent but almost half bill length and tip is pointed

For Lesser Sandplover the bill length is always much shorter
*plus bill is more robust and nail is more prominent but it is only around one third bill length - bill has a blunter tip