Friday 24 September 2010

Mystery bird at Sebkhet near Benghazi

I went out birding today along the coast just north east of Benghazi. There is lots to blog about including many passage birds and wintering birds. In fact I have given myself too much to do!  I want to go birding tomorrow but the blogs need doing too. What to do?


I have some identification issues which makes things even harder.  Here is one which is annoying me the most.


I saw it at very start of my birding day. Its big and looks like a dark morph of a grey heron. Everything but the colour seems to look more like a grey heron than a purple heron. But I know don't they exist, do they?   


I have got plenty of pictures - mostly poor quality! but here I am posting 3 - one of the bird at distance to show the habitat, a close up of the bird with its head stretched and one when it is not. 


Can anybody help me so I can move on.


dark heron at Sebkhet


dark heron showing habitat

There were fifteen or so grey herons near-by but he didn't seem to be interacting with them.

close up of dark heron






.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks to everyone who has expressed a view so far on the Egyptian birding yahoo group where this article has been discussed. I will post a summary of the discussion soon. The identification is still not cut and dried. I'm particularly waiting on the opinion of an expert from sub Saharan Africa but all other views are really welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks like a tricolor heron but i dont know if they live over there

    ReplyDelete