Basra Reed Warbler update
As readers of this blog will know there has been much concern over the scientific claims made in a paper published in the journal Zoology in the Middle East. The manuscript and follow up publications can be...
Category: OSME Blogs
OSME 37th AGM, 4th July 2015
On the 4th July, as part of the OSME Summer Meeting, we also held our Annual General Meeting. OSME is a UK registered charity governed by a constitution (see here) that stipulates we hold an AGM every...
Illegal Bird Killing in the OSME region – Horror and hope, the OSME Summer Meeting
OSME held its annual Summer Meeting on 4 July at the BTO Headquarters in Thetford. The theme of the day was illegal bird killing in the OSME region. Five excellent speakers gave a range of talks, and...
The OSME Region: birds of the deep-ocean
The OSME region has its fair share of thinly-inhabited areas where knowledge of breeding distribution and how birds use such areas is poor to non-existent, primarily because of low observer density and lack of regular observation and...
Illegal Bird Killing in the OSME region – Horror and hope, a review of the OSME Summer Meeting (Part 1)
OSME held its annual Summer Meeting on 4 July at the BTO Headquarters in Thetford. The theme of the day was illegal bird killing in the OSME region. Five excellent speakers gave a range of talks covering...
Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre
Simon Aspinall was a great friend of the Middle East – and OSME, making an important contribution to the ornithology and conservation of the region, especially in the United Arab Emirates. When in the UK he lived...
Acacia clearance on Cape Pyla combats illegal bird trapping
Like a number of areas in Cyprus, particularly in the south and southeast, Dhekelia or the Eastern Sovereign Base Area (ESBA) has a very serious problem with illegal bird trapping. In their autumn 2014 report on trapping activity, BirdLife...
Illegal bird killing in the OSME region – OSME Summer Meeting update
It is now less than three weeks until the annual OSME Summer Meeting, which this year is focused on illegal bird killing in the OSME region. The meeting, which incorporates the OSME 37th AGM, will be held at...
Globally Threatened Birds of the OSME region need your help
BirdLife International has just released the European Red List for birds having collated the latest data from right across Europe and reassessed the regional status of all regularly occurring native species. This publication has implications for the GLOBAL Red List status...
Massive declines of the Yellow-breasted Bunting compared to the Passenger Pigeon
It is not often you hear buntings compared to pigeons, but last week an excellent, yet worrying, scientific paper was published that shows massive declines in the once common and relatively widespread Yellow-breasted Bunting. The scale and...
OSME and OBC jointly fund White-headed Duck surveys in Kazakhstan
OSME and OBC are delighted to announce we are joining forces to provide £2000 of funding for the further monitoring of White-headed Duck in Kazakhstan. ACBK, the BirdLife International partner in Kazakhstan is also collaborating with the Universities of Munster and Bielefeld,...
The OSME Summer Meeting and 37th AGM
The OSME Summer Meeting and 37th AGM will be held at BTO Headquarters, Thetford, Norfolk on Saturday 4 July. Doors open 10.00 and talks start at 11.00. Come for coffee and meet old and new friends! Non-members...
Basra Reed Warbler – some concluding remarks
The Basra Reed Warbler Acrocephalus griseldis is listed as Endangered by the IUCN, and its breeding range is largely restricted to the Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq. In many ways it is a typical Acrocephalus warbler inhabiting reedbeds and marshy habitats,...
OSME library finds a new home at the BTO
For a long time, the OSME library has been something of a mobile affair, housed by willing volunteers from OSME Council. In recent years, former Council member Guy Kirwan had the rather thankless task of looking after...