Iran 
All records: DA Scott 
Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena 
Three, Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge, 
Mazandaran, 26 January 1992. 
Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus 
Three, Miankaleh wildlife Refuge, 
Mazandaran, 25 January 1992. 
Comioranl Phalacrocorax carbo A sin- 
gle flock of 15,000 coming off a roost on 
Gorgan Bay, Miankaleh Wildlife Ref- 
uge, Mazandaran, at dawn, 26 January 
1992. 
Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax 
pygmaeiis A total of at least 237, Anzali 
Mordab, 23 January 1992. This count is 
comparable with counts in the same 
area in the 1970s, when the total win- 
tering population of this threatened 
species in the southwest Caspian was 
estimated at 700-1,000 birds. 
Daknatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus 
Flocks totalling 355 in Miankaleh Wild- 
life Refuge, Mazandaran, 25 January 
1992. 
Glossy Ibis Plegadisfalcinellus An unu- 
sually large concentration of 445 in 
Kamjan Marshes west of Lake 
Bakhtegan/Lake Tashk, Pars, 29 Janu- 
ary 1992. Also 190, Lake Parishan, 
Pars, 31 January 1992. 
Whooper Swan Cygnus cygniis Two 
adults at the west end of Lake Tashk, 
Pars, 29 January 1992. A rare straggler 
to the wetlands of Pars. (Numbers in 
the South Caspian were exceptionally 
high in January 1992; eg 345 at Selke 
Wildlife Refuge, Gilan, on 23 January) . 
Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser 
erythropus A party of 11 at Pereydun 
Kenar, Mazandara, 24 January 1992. 
The flock of 4,000-6,000 which win- 
tered in the southeast Caspian in the 
early 1970s had disappeared by the 
end of the 1970, and the species is now 
rare in Iran. 
While-headed Duck Oxyura 
leucocephala Three, Gorgan Bay, 
Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge, 
Mazandaran, on 25 January 1992. 
There have been very few records of 
this species in the southeast Caspian 
since the 1970s. 
White-tailed Eagle Haliaetus albicilla 
At least 23, Miankaleh wildlife Refuge, 
Mazandaran, 25 January 1993, and 15 
at Lake Bakhtegan/Lake Tashk, Pars, 
29 January 1992. These counts are 
scarcely any lower than comparable 
counts in tiie early 1970s, when an 
estimated 200-250 White-tailed Eagles 
wintered in Iran. 
Merlin Falco columbarius Male and 
female at Lake Bakhtegan/Lake Tashk, 
29 January 1992. Scarce this far south 
in Iran. 
Purple Gallinule Porphyria porphyria 
At least 90 in the extensive reed-beds 
at Lake Parishan near Kazerun, Pars, 
30/31 January 1992. This species had 
not been recorded in the wetlands of 
Pars prior to 1980. According to orni- 
thologists at the Iran Department of 
Environment, the species colonized the 
area in the 1 980s, presumably from the 
wetlands of Khuzestan near the Iraqi 
border to the west. 
SibenanCTsaxe Grusleucogeranns Two 
adults were located during a very brief 
evening visit to the regular wintering 
area near Pereydun Kenar, 24 January 
1992. According to B. Behrouzi Rad 
and colleagues of the Department of 
Environment, 11 individuals were 
present, including two immatures. 
Thus the alarming rumours that four 
or five cranes had been shot or cap- 
tured for zoos in early 1991 are clearly 
erroneous, as nine of the 10 birds 
present in the winter of 1990/ 91 could 
still be accounted for in the winter of 
1991/92. 
Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria 52, 
Miankaleh Peninsula, Mazandaran, 
25 January 1992. A scarce but regular 
winter visitor to the southeast Cas- 
pian. 
Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus 
Dasht-eArjan near shiraz. Pars, 30 Janu- 
ary 1992, and one at Lake Parishan, 
Pars, 31 January 1992. A scarce winter 
visitor this far south in Iran. 
