It’s been really special to see numerous White-throated Robins during the first of our 2 Türkiye tours. With a break of a few days before the next group arrives, I think I might just go #birding #Turkey #birds #nikon #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026 #tourleading

Nemrut Dagi in SE #Turkey is the best site in the Western Palearctic for Kurdish Wheatear. We’ve seen at least 7 during our stay here. #birds #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026 #mega #zootherabirding #birdingtours

We headed up to Aladaglar Mountain at 5am and fortunately the weather was ok. It had been raining for 4 days before we arrived! And we were so lucky to see Caspian Snowcock quite well. #birds #BirdsSeenIn3026 #nikon #zootherabirding #birding #nature

Great views of Wallcreeper in Demirkazik village, actually first seen on the side of a house to start with!!! #birds #Turkey #BirdsSeenIn2026 #zootherabirding

Another tour…. Another nuthatch. Now I’m in Turkey and this is Kruper’s Nuthatch. What a little beauty! #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #Turkey #birding

We saw several Long-legged Buzzards in the Middle Atlas of #Morocco #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #nikon #tourleading #zootherabirding

Our 2 main targets for the Middle Atlas in #Morocco both proved easy to find- Atlas Flycatcher (left) & Atlas Wheatear (right) and we enjoyed repeated views over a couple of days. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026

Great to get the Western Palearctic #mega Marsh Owl flying around in the late afternoon at Merja Zerga #Morocco #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #westernpalearctic

A little bit of Firecrest action to start the day! Such a cool bird. #birds #birding #Corsica #nikon #BirdsSeenIn2026

Moved on to #Morocco now and it’s taken around 12 hours but we’ve seen the Holy Grail of Western Palearctic birding. Yes Small Buttonquail (formerly Andalusian Hemipode) is on our WP lists!!! Totally crackers!!! #birds #zootherabirding #birding

Really enjoyed seeing a few Moltoni’s Warblers during our tour to #Corsica. A long overdue #lifer for me! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #nikon #westernpalearctic #zootherabirding #birds

Marmora’s Warbler is pretty common on #Corsica but it’s still a stunning bird! #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #nikon #zootherabirding #tourleading

And now I’m in #Corsica watching the superb endemic Corsican Nuthatch. What a great bird! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #zootherabirding #nikon #westernpalearctic

The undoubted highlight from our recent #Egypt tour was seeing Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse. Rediscovered in 2012 in agricultural & semi-desert habitat 4 hours south of Cairo, it’s the only site to see this species in the Western Palearctic. #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds

One of seven Greater Painted Snipe seen at Abassa Fish Ponds during our #Egypt tour. Another Western Palearctic speciality you have to get in this amazing country. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #zootherabirding

A couple more target birds from #Egypt we saw really well were African Green Bee-eater and Indian Silverbill. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #westernpalearctic

Stunning views of several Village Weavers on islands in Lake Nasser, Abu Simbel during our current #Egypt tour. The only site in the Western Palearctic to see this species. Mega! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #zootherabirding

We found a mixed flock of 24+ Crimson-rumped Waxbills and 20+ Indian Silverbills feeding at the edge of a weedy field at Abu Simbel #Egypt The waxbill is one of the rarest birds in the Western Palearctic. Result!!! #birds #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026

Moving further south to Abu Simbel we tracked down several Yellow-billed Storks - a true Western Palearctic rarity from Africa and only found here. #Egypt #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #zootherabirding #birding

Along the Nile River at Aswan #Egypt we encountered many Western (formerly African) Swamphens and Senegal Thick-knees. The latter species is only found in the Western Palearctic in Egypt. #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #birding #nikon #zootherabirding

Currently leading a tour in #Egypt searching for Western Palearctic megas. And we started well with stunning Nile Valley Sunbirds along the Nile River at Aswan. #birds #zootherabirding #nikon #BirdsSeenIn2026

Join me on an Azerbaijan mini-break in June 2026 - Shikra, Caucasian Grouse, Caucasian Snowcock, Caspian Tit, Mountain Chiffchaff, White-winged Redstart, Great Rosefinch. #birds #birdtours #westernpalearctic www.zootherabirding.com/azerbaijan-b...

Here’s a few more birds from southern #Algeria Was really pleased to see Eastern Subalpine Warbler - a rare bird but likely underreported in the area. Other pics: Pale Crag Martin, White-crowned Wheatear & Brown-necked Raven. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #nikon #birding

Both Vitelline Masked Weaver & White-rumped Seedeater are doing well in southern #Algeria but neither is a countable Western Palearctic species yet. The weaver is spreading quite a long way out into surrounding wadis and I think more research is needed on it. #birds #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026

Around Tamanrasset in southern #Algeria there’s a bunch of species more than likely escaped from captivity but now thriving in the wild. One of them is the superb Senegal Parrot… #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #WesternPalearctic

The final major target species from southern #Algeria was the stunning Sudan Golden Sparrow. Only present in a few areas of the southern border with the Western Palearctic it is truly a #mega #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding

One of the Big 3 targets for Southern #Algeria was Red-billed Firefinch. And it’s another #mega Western Palearctic tick, which proved to be pretty common. #birds #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026 #nikon

We flew to Tamanrasset in southern #Algeria for a few more Western Palearctic megas. Next up was African Silverbill & this is its only reliable (and countable) site in the whole WP. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #mega #nikon

I’d always wanted to see Maghreb Owl, but these days it’s lumped with Tawny Owl. Oh well, it’s still a great bird! #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding

Algerian Nuthatch is the primary reason to visit #Algeria and is one of the most localised & rarest species that breeds in the Western Palearctic. And we had cracking views of a pair in a remote forest. #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #mega #birding

I’ve never seen so many Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse as I did when we visited southern #Algeria recently. What fantastic birds! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #westernpalearctic #birds

1st Slaty-breasted Rail for #Oman and the Greater Western Palearctic found on 3rd February in a hotel garden near Salalah! Hopefully it will remain for more birders to see! #omanbirding #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birds #mega #birding

So we found this little chap all alone, abandoned & neglected at Petra. Naturally we decided to adopt & have started the process of bringing him back to the UK to live with us. It’s going to take over 4 months but will be totally worth the wait! #Jordan #puppy

Fishing Pied Kingfisher from #Jordan Quite a common bird around the Dead Sea #birds #BirdsSeenIn2026

1st day in #Jordan and I found a mega rare Kurdish Wheatear! Only 8 previously accepted records! Visited a reservoir near Amman & had 15+ Pied Kingfishers, 2 White-throated Kingfishers, 96 Little & 79 Great White Egrets and others. Not to shabby! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #birding #birds

I’ve just completed 2 back-to-back trips to The Netherlands & we managed to see some awesome #birds The long-staying 10th Black-faced Bunting for this great country on #Texel was the star bird. #zootherabirding #birding #Netherlands #winterbirding

We’ve had a superb time in The Netherlands seeing Falcated Duck, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Goose, 9 WT Eagles, Goshawk, Black Woodpecker, 50+ Shore Larks, 100+ Twite, Black-faced Bunting & more! #birds #zootherabirding #Netherlands #BirdsSeenIn2026

Pygmy Nuthatch and American Three-toed Woodpecker were both much-wanted species on our crazy #Minnesota & #NewMexico trip. #USA #birds #birding #zootherabirding #nature

A couple more pics from our #NewMexico roadtrip…. Crissal Thrasher and American Dipper, both of which showed quite well. #birds #birding #nature #zootherabirding #USA

Portal #Arizona was also good for Acorn Woodpecker & Mexican Jay. Just wish I could have got a photo of Elegant Trogon but he stayed a little too distant. #birds #USA #birding #nature #wildlife #nikon #naturephotography #zootherabirding

Our Minnesota, New Mexico & Arizona trip was a blast. I was particularly pleased to see Western Screech Owl in Albuquerque & Great Grey Owl at Sax-Zim Bog. #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #zootherabirding

A request to all birders wherever you are in the world. Please join in with the #BirdsSeenIn2026 challenge run by @tonyrinaud.bsky.social All you need to do is add the hashtag to photos taken in 2026, adding species name and country taken. Here Common Teal at Sandbach Flashes in Cheshire yesterday.

We even tracked down a Superb Lewis’s Woodpecker in #NewMexico and it’s definitely one of my favourite birds of the trip. #birds #nature

Black-throated Sparrow is such a great bird and showed really well near Bosque del Apache #NewMexico #USA #birds #birding #zootherabirding

Heading back up to Albuquerque we managed to find Sagebrush Sparrow, which despite the photo, spent most of the time running on the ground! #birds #NewMexico #USA #birding #zootherabirding

Really enjoyed this stunning Ferruginous Hawk as we headed back into #NewMexico #birds #birding #USA #nature #nikon #zootherabirding #birdwatching

We also caught up with Arizona Woodpecker at Portal. A nice bonus! #Arizona #USA #birds #birding #usabirding #nature

Abert’s Towhee showed very well at Portal #Arizona #birds #USA #nature #arizonabirding #nikon #zootherabirding

Next up was a feeding station with the superb Blue-throated Mountain-Gem posing nicely right next to us! #Arizona #USA #birds #birding #nikon #nature #natgeo #zootherabirding #birdwatching #winterbirding

A last-minute change of plan saw us continue south over the border into #Arizona. We headed to Portal in the Chiricahua Mountains where this stunning Painted Whitestart was one of the first birds we saw! #birds #nature #USA #zootherabirding #birding