Speaking of LTC Bob, he sent me more bird pics during our recent hiatus.
Weather continues beautiful here in Baghdad with lows in the upper 40s and highs in the low 70s. No rain since the one storm we had a week or so back.
More migratory birds continue to arrive - I am not sure if there are more here than last time, because I don’t think I was paying attention this time of year in 2004. There were a couple hundred coots (Fulica atra), maybe a hundred pochards (Aythya ferina), a dozen or so gadwalls (Anas strepera), probably 8-10 little grebes(Tachybaptus ruficollis) and a two lone mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) drakes on Walleye Lake today here at Camp Victory. Also a load of Brown-headed Gulls and what I think are Armenian Gulls, but I haven’t decided yet…
The pochards and coots are divers, as are the grebes; the mallards and gadwalls are dabblers. This is the best picture I have gotten so far of the grebes, for some reason they came fairly close to me on the bank today.
More birds - not sure where these coromorants spend the summer, but they recently showed up here. This is actually over at Camp Slayer, the next adjacent camp to ours on Victory Base Complex. The ones with the white breast are immature ones most likely born last spring. They are fish eaters, you have seen the American version at the beach.
The Grey Herons are around almost all year, I think. They’ve been here all summer, but recently maybe a few extra.
Leave a Reply