Iraq: Birding

A friend has offered to set up a trip to see the birds of the Garden of Eden. Since the offer is contingent on my translating from Arabic the new Field Guide to the Birds of Iraq we may be too old to actually make the trip. Ever. It is rather stunning that in the midst of what we are hearing and seeing that anyone has time or concentration for field guides, birding or even looking at the sky….

The release of the ‘Birds of Iraq’ field-guide adds weight to the conservation movement that has started to emerge in the country. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003, the Mesopotamian Marshes – thought to be the site of the biblical Garden of Eden and home to 28 of Iraq’s Important Bird Areas – have been the focus of a major international programme to help restore their ecological and social-cultural heritage.

Birding Iraq

[thx Bob Whitson]