Flora and Fauna

House Sparrow


White Cheeked Bulbul








Birdingbabylon.blogspot.com Check out this great blogsite called Birding in Babylon. One of the things that's been lost in the coverage of the War is Iraq's flora and fauna, in particular birds. The fertile margins along the Euphrates River teem with birds and waterfowl from the bullrush beds along its banks, to the village gardens shaded by pear, lime and pomegranate trees. I've watched large white and black Mesopotamian Crows leap-froging from tree to tree following us on patrols through the palm groves of Haditha. Farther out in the desert the Crested Lark, a small brown and cream bird with a distinctive tuft on his head, is often seen resting in the shade under parked HUMVEEs. House Sparrows, and orange bellied White Cheeked Bulbuls frequent the date palms that border a small pond a few feet from my studio. Yesterday, after a brief morning rainshower, I watched a pair of black and white Pied Kingfishers hovering a few feet above the surface of the very same pond. They looked like they were attired in a harlequin's motley. Magpipes can be found foraging for chow in dumpsters throughout Camp Fallujah. One of the most interesting sites for me was observing Grebes swimming underwater in the catch basin at the base of Haditha Dam hunting for small fish.