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 42 (1) Spring 2020
Cover photo: Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis, Ushaiqer dump site, Ushaiqer, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia, November 2019. These birds were part of the largest ever recorded aggregation of this globally threatened species, the discovery of which is described in this issue of Sandgrouse. © Jem Babbington
| 2 | The distribution and numbers of Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus on the Central Asian flyway between 1990 and 2015. |
| Aikaterini Christopoulou, Aris Manolopoulos & Giorgos Catsadorakis | |
| 29 | The development of the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count in Azerbaijan and its importance for the monitoring of Eurasian migrant birds. |
| Michael Heiss, Kai Gauger, Christoph Himmel, Pia Fetting, Toma s Axén Haraldsson, Gabriel Cauca l, Zülfü Ferecli & Elchin Sultanov | |
| 46 | A corridor of soaring bird migration in Lebanon on the Eastern Mediterranean flyway. |
| Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg, Ivaylo Angelov & Samer Azar | |
| 59 | The world’s largest gathering of Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis discovered in central Saudi Arabia. |
| Mischa Keijmel, Jem Babbington, Phil Roberts, Mike Mcgrady & Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg | |
| 69 | Assessing long-term changes in the raptor fauna of the Fertile Crescent by reference to the nineteenth century works of Canon HB Tristram. |
| Reena Saeed & Maz in B. Qumsiyeh | |
| 78 | Status of breeding seabirds on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 2012 to 2018. |
| Mohamed Ibrahim Habib | |
| 84 | An unprecedented influx of Black-throated Thrushes Turdus atrogularis to the United Arab Emirates in winter 2016/17. |
| Oscar Campbell & Mark Smiles | |
| 92 | Additional data on African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus eximius in Saudi Arabia. |
| Jem Babbington & Phil Roberts | |
| 100 | The first records of Paddyfield Pipit Anthus rufulus for the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian peninsula with notes on their identification. |
| Oscar Campbell, Mark Smiles & Simon Lloyd | |
| 111 | First successful breeding of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus and first attempted breeding of Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor in Saudi Arabia. |
| Philip Roberts & Jem Babbington | |
| 115 | Observations of White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata in Iraq. |
| Mudhafar A Salim, Wameedh S Yassir, Salwan Ali Abed, Richard Porter, Mohammed T Jabbar, Laith Ali Al-Obeidi, Haidar A Hadi & Zaman S Harbi | |
| 118 | Breeding of Saker Falcon Falco cherrug in Armenia. |
| Mikhail Korepov & Karen Aghababayn | |
| 122 | New nest sites of Black Stork Ciconia nigra in Khuzestan Province, Iran. |
| Mostafa Yusefi, Seifolah Hashemi, Keramat Hafezi & Ali T Qashqaei | |
| 125 | Kleptoparasitism by Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus of an unusual prey item of Sooty Falcons Falco concolor. |
| Meidad Goren & Shlomi Segall | |
| 128 | ESSAY: Historical bird identification – reflections from a Cyprus perspective. |
| Peter Flint | |
| 139 | Obituary: Peter Cowan (1947-2019). |
| Rob Sheldon | |
| 140 | Obituary: Chris Naylor (1961-2019) and Susanna Naylor (1965-2019). |
| Barbara Mearns | |
| 143 | From the Rarities Committees. |
| Ian Harrison (Compiler) | |
| 155 | Letter from the Chairman. |
| Rob Sheldon | |
| 159 | Book review: Birds of Cyprus. |
| Mike Blair | |
| 162 | Around the Region. |
| Ian Harrison (Compiler) |
| Editor: | Dr Paul Donald Sandgrouse editor. |
| 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). |