SANDGROUSE 42-2

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 (2) Autumn 2020

Cover photo: Arabian Lark Eremalauda eremodites, recently split from the African Dunn’s Lark E. dunni, is high on the wish-lists of most birders visiting Arabia. The larks were a favourite family of the late Peter Cowan, former Editor of Sandgrouse, to whom a photographic tribute appears in this issue of Sandgrouse. © Gary Brown

186Updated checklist of the birds of Lebanon, with notes on four new breeding species in spring 2020.
Ghassan Ramadan-Jaradi, Fouad Itani, James Hogg, Assad Serhal & Mona Ramadan-Jaradi
239The illegal trapping of large falcons in Jordan.
Fares Khoury, Cheryl Makarevicz, Abdel-Razzaq Al-Hmoud & Steve Mithen
248Congregations and threats of migratory Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus along the southwest coast of Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed Shobrak, Saheem Alasmari, Abdulaziz Alqthami, Fahad Alqthami, Abdoulrahman Al-Otaibi, Mohammad Al Zoubi, Laith El Moghrabi, Sharif Jbour, Volen Arkumarev, Steffen Oppel, Nabegh Ghazal Asswad & Stoyan C. Nikolov
259Long-term decline in the number of Sociable Lapwings Vanellus gregarius at the key migration stopover site of the Manych depression in south-western Russia.
Viktor Fedosov, Lyubov Malovichko, Maxim Koshkin & Rob D Sheldon
270An updated status assessment of ‘Baltic’ Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus in Saudi Arabia.
Jem Babbington & Phil Roberts
276First efforts to address bird collisions with power lines in Iran.
Mahmood Kolnegari, Etezad Moghimi, Mohammad Allahdad, Mandana Hazrati, Ali Akbar Basiri, Reza Jafari, Mohammadali Yektanik, Mohammad Jalalpour, Ali Sajjad Jalali, Mohsen Mojaradiafra, Hassan Abbasi Kohan, Hamid Reza Izadi, Nick P Williams, Miguel Ferrer & Greg J Conway
282White-faced Whistling Ducks Dendrocygna viduata and breeding Red-knobbed Coots Fulica cristata on Socotra – the first records for Yemen.
Ahmed Saeed Suleiman
286The first records of Indian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi from the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian peninsula, with notes on their identification.
Simon Lloyd, Oscar Campbell & Graham Talbot
291First records of Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor in Iran for over a century.
Ali Sajjad Jalali, Habib Alvani, Keramat Hafezi & Ali T. Qashqaei
294Summer observations of Goldcrest Regulus regulus and European Serin Serinus serinus in Armenia.
Marko Raković, Sargis Aghayan, Sergei V. Drovetski, Ivan Medenica & Karen Aghababyan
298First documented breeding of Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus in Kuwait.
Laila Ashour, Mohammed Alzayer & Mohammed Alshamlih
302Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus, a new species for Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Hüseyn S Resulzade
305Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides, new to Uzbekistan.
Nigel J Collar & Paul M Dolman
308PhotoSpot: Desert larks in Arabia – in memory of Peter J Cowan.
Gary Brown
320From the Rarities Committees.
Ian Harrison (Compiler)
331Letter from the Chairman.
Rob Sheldon
333Notice of OSME 42nd Annual General Meeting
334The OSME Conservation Fund, 2019-2020.
Maxim Koshkin On Behalf Of The Osme Conservation Fund Sub-Committee
345Book review: Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide.
Nina O’hanlon
347Around the Region.
Ian Harrison (Compiler)

EditorDr 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).