I made a quick trip down to the International (Green) Zone yesterday. On my flight down there were flocks of thousands of rooks moving around in the fields. The farmland is getting greener with the recent rains.

Our helicopter was dodging birds all the way to Baghdad. Flying over the Date Palm groves big flocks of wood pigeons and collared doves flew up from the trees into our path.

In the flooded fields there were some cattle egrets and small shorebirds.

Driving around the base today, I found that hundreds of gulls had returned to our burn pit/dump. I didn't have a chance to see what species they were but I'll have plenty of chances since they'll be here all winter. Last winter I regularly saw 500+ Black-headed gulls and the ocassional lesser black backed. The white wagtails are also all over the place poking around in the dirt.