In April 1978 it was announced that the Ornithological Society of Turkey was enlarging the scope of its activities to cover what is loosely called the Middle East and, in consequence, was changing its name to the...
Edward Gavrilov was born on 8 October 1933 at Veronezsh, Russia. It was here that he graduated from the Department of Zoology in 1956. After graduation his interest in birds began and his first studies were based...
Every now and again someone comes along who touches our lives and makes a difference. Simon Aspinall was one such person. When he died in October 2011, after bravely living with motor neurone disease for four years,...
Conference topics: Study of steppe and semidesert ecosystems and biodiversity Biology of steppe and semidesert animal and plant species Design and establishment of protected areas in open landscapes Best practices and recommendations for sustainable use of bioresources...
Speakers at the 2011 Summer Meeting, left to right: Geoff Welch, Phil Cannings, Guy Kirwan, Sal Cooke, Jeff Gordon and Andrew Lassey (Ian Harrison/OSME) After last year’s Middle Eastern weather, things were ‘back to normal’ for this...
Members Present –. Dawn Balmer, John Bartley, Pat Bartley, Colin Bates, Christine Booth, Phil Cannings, Mick Carroll, Sal Cooke, Elaine Cowan, Peter Cowan, Helen Demopoulos, Jeff Gordon, Andrew Grieve, Ian Harrison, Phil Heath, Mike Jennings, Guy Kirwan, Chris...
The first meeting of the International Working Group was held in Palmyra, Syria between 18 and 20 March, hosted jointly by the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW – BirdLife Affiliate in Syria) and the...
Many Little Owl Athene noctua taxa occur in the OSME Region. However, breeding distributions are poorly known, as are plumage descriptions geographically. The taxonomy of some taxa is uncertain, clouded both by speculation and by the uncertain status (resident,...
Chris Bowden, International Species Recovery Officer & SAVE Programme Manager, RSPB, reports the following good news: We’ve just heard from the team in Syria that all three adults, Odeinat, Salama and Zenobia, returned safely back from migration...
Saturday 16th July 2011, BTO, Thetford, Norfolk, UK The 2011 OSME Summer Meeting and AGM will be held on Saturday 16th July at the British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, UK. Doors will open at 10.00 –...
Azzam Alwash, Chief Executive of Nature Iraq and an OSME Vice-President. The 2010 Summer Meeting and AGM, held at the BTO headquarters in Thetford on Saturday 10 July, was bathed in glorious sunshine and temperatures which created...
The second edition of Birds of the Middle East has just been published. Written by Richard Porter and Simon Aspinall, it will be reviewed more fully in OSME’s journal, Sandgrouse but is obviously absolutely essential for any visitor to the Middle...
While writing the above account of the 2010 Summer Meeting, I realised, with much embarrassment, that this is the first write-up since 2008. The main reason for my embarrassment though is that as a result, OSME has...
One of the popular events at the annual British Birdwatching Fair is the Bird Brain of Britain Quiz that taxes the specialist and general ornithological knowledge of a representative of each of the four regional bird clubs....