James writes:

I’ve been home just a few days from a superb tour to Morocco, and am off to Spain today. In between I’ve started my new survey job and done some local birding; highlights have included two new Dutch ticks, Ring Ouzel (Beflijster) and Gray Partridge (Patrijs), as well as Little Ringed Plovers (Kleine Plevier), Long-eared Owl (Ransuil), and Peregrine (Slechtvalk).

The Morocco tour was one of the best yet. Especially notable were displaying Houbara, Egyptian Nightar, Cream-colored Coursers, Desert Sparrow, Fulvous Babblers, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Western and “Saharan” Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, Western Orphean and African Desert Warblers, Bald Ibis, Audouin’s Gull, Alpine Accentor, Marbled Duck, Lanner and Barbary Falcons, Brown-necked Raven, a brief Maghreb Tawny Owl, Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Levaillant’s Woodpecker, Moussier’s Redstart, Moroccan and Spanish Wagtails, and Brown-throated Martin. We also had Spotted, Crowned, and Black-bellied Sandgrouse; Thick-billed, Hoopoe, Bar-tailed, Desert, and Temminck’s Larks; and  Red-rumped, Seebohm’s, and White-crowned Black Wheatears.

After Spain, I’ll head to Estonia after just five days–just enough time to do some surveying and to enjoy my second Koninginnedag!