Sandgrouse is published by OSME and contains papers and short notes on the ornithology of the OSME region, provides bird and conservation news from the region and a comprehensive round up of bird sightings in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Sandgrouse Volume 36 (2) Autumn 2014
Cover photo: Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus , Dhahran, Saudi Arabia,30 November 2013. © Phil Roberts
145 Contents. 146 Turkey Bird Report 2007–2011. Guy M Kirwan, Metehan Özen, Mustafa Ertuhan & Ali Atahan (compilers) 176 Some notes on ageing and sexing Watercocks Gallicrex cineria with specific reference to a vagrant bird in Oman. Stephen Menzie 181 Estimating Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus numbers in western Cyprus. Derek Pomeroy 189 The First Record of Pallas’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus in Iran. Seyed Amir Talebi Gol†, Arash Moody & Mohammad Tohidifar 191 First confirmed breeding record of Northern Raven Corvus corax in Lebanon for over four decades and recent records in Lebanon of Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus , Pin-tailed Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and Black-bellied Sandgrouse P. orientalis . Ghassan Ramadan-Jaradi & Assad Serhal 195 Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia : first record for Qatar. Neil G Morris 197 The status, frequency and abundance of passerine passage migrants and seasonal visitors in Cyprus 2003–2013. Colin Richardson 237 Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus in the United Arab Emirates: the first and second national records. Mark Smiles 240 Identification of the best sites around the gulf of Iskenderun, Turkey, for monitoring the autumn migration of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus and other diurnal raptors. Steffen Oppel, Petar Iankov, Saniye Mumun, Georgi Gerdzhikov, Mihail Iliev, Süreyya Isfendiyaroglu, Çan Yeniyurt & Evrim Tabur 250 Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus : first record for Qatar. Neil G Morris 252 From the Rarities Committees. Ian Harrison (compiler) 258 News & Information. Dawn Balmer (compiler) 261 Around the Region. Ian Harrison & Chris Lamsdell (compilers)
Editor: Dr Peter Cowan OSME Editor , Department of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman Editorial Advisors Vasil Ananian, Paul Goriup, Mike Jennings, Dr Fares Khoury, Guy Kirwan, Dr Mike McGrady, Dr Stephen Newton, Arend Wassink Photographic Editor Paul Doherty Identification Consultants Arnoud van den Berg, Chris Bradshaw, Andrew Lassey, Richard Porter
