Birding the VBC

I think the future "Where to find birds in Iraq" will have to include the cluster of bases near Baghdad International Airport (Victory Base Complex). These include Victory, Liberty and Slayer. I would guess that the aggregate list could be approaching 200 species between all the folks who have been watching birds there in the last 5 years. Some of these include White-headed Duck, Great White Pelican and Darter. The ponds, reedbeds and trees make it a nice migrant trap for waterfowl, shorebirds and passerines. For a while, there were even articles in the local base paper on the common birds seen around the area.

Matt Pike took some great pictures of many species while there. He has a gallery of around 120 species with fantastic photos. He saw species such as Darter and Basra Reed Warbler.

Many of the messages and photos on the Operation Iraqi Birds forum started by John Duresky relate to observations at VBC.

There are also recent photos and posting from LTC Bob from his second tour at VBC. His entire archive can be found here.