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 41 (1) Spring 2019

Cover photo: Arabian Spotted Eagle Owl Bubo (africanus) milesi, Salalah, Oman, 18 August 2018. © Gavin Farnell
2 | Summer observations of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus in Armenia. |
Karen Aghababyan | |
5 | Recent counts of White-headed Ducks Oxyura leucocephala in Armash wetlands, Armenia. |
Karen Aghababyan | |
7 | Use of the municipal dump site on Masirah island, Oman by Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus, 2013–2018. |
G Al Farsi, J Al Araimi, J Al Humaidi, A Al Bulushi, M Sarrouf Willson, M McGrady & M K Oli | |
15 | Evidence of breeding of Savi’s Warbler Locustella luscinioides in Iran. |
Abbas Ashoori | |
18 | Notable breeding records from a recently established anthropogenic, agricultural, site in the United Arab Emirates. |
Oscar Campbell & Mark Smiles | |
32 | A Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous off the United Arab Emirates. |
Oscar Campbell & Mark Smiles | |
36 | Long-term changes in the numbers and abundance of regularly breeding land bird species on Cyprus: a review. |
Peter Flint | |
71 | Breeding Brown Boobies Sula leucogaster on Egyptian islands of the Red sea. |
Mohamed Habib | |
78 | First record of White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis for Azerbaijan. |
Christoph Himmel | |
80 | Irruption of Bohemian Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus and Eurasian Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula in Iran in the winter of 2016/2017. |
Abolghasem Khaleghizadeh | |
86 | Avifauna observations May–August 2014 Sarychat-Ertash state reserve, Kyrgyzstan. |
Aline Knoblauch | |
93 | First confirmed record of Whinchat Saxicola rubetra from Afghanistan. |
Ali Madad Rajabi & Stéphane Ostrowski | |
95 | First record of breeding Boreal Owl Aegolius funereus on Bamyan plateau, Afghanistan. |
Sayeed Naqib Mostafawi, Mohammad, Ghulam Hassan, Albert Driescher & Stéphane Ostrowski | |
98 | High elevation records of Sooty Falcon Falco concolor in northern Iran. |
Mohammad R Kashfi, Danial Nayeri & Ali T Qashqaei | |
101 | Photographic evidence of a 2nd calendar-year female European Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus on autumn migration in the Western Palearctic. |
John Wright, Simon Cavaillès & Wouter MG Vansteelant | |
105 | Man-made waterbodies in Kurdistan province, western Iran, as refugia for waterbirds. |
Fatah Zarei, Loghman Maleki, Ali Gholamhosseini, Seyed Naseh Hosseini, Jalal Pezeshk & Hamid Reza Esmaeili | |
115 | Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos in Makadi bay, Hurghada, Egypt, March 2018. |
Olof Jönsson | |
116 | From the Rarities Committees. |
Ian Harrison(compiler) | |
124 | Letter from the Chairman: OSME in 2018. |
128 | Around the Region. |
Ian Harrison(compiler) |
Editor: | Dr Peter Cowan Sandgrouse editor, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman/Chesterfield, UK. |
Editorial Board | AbdulRahman Al-Sirhan (Kuwait), Vasil Ananian (Armenia), Dr Raffael Ayé (Switzerland), Jem Babbington (Saudi Arabia, photo consultant), Arnoud van den Berg (Netherlands), Michael Blair (UK), Chris Bradshaw (UK), Dr Gary Brown (Germany), Oscar Campbell (UAE), Peter Castell (UK), Dr Paul Donald (UK), Peter Flint (UK), Dr Robert Flood (UK), Paul Goriup (UK), Jens Hering (Germany), Mike Jennings (UK), Dr Abolghasem Khaleghizadeh (Iran), Dr Fares Khoury (Jordan), Dr Alan Knox (UK), Andrew Lassey (UK), Dr Mike McGrady (Austria), Dr Stephen Newton (Ireland), Yoav Perlman (Israel), Aasheesh Pittie (India), Richard Porter (UK), Colin Richardson (Cyprus), Dr Manuel Schweizer (Switzerland), Dr Derek Scott (UK), Dr Robert Sheldon (UK), Arend Wassink (Netherlands), Geoff Welch (France). |