visiting birdwatchers during the often 
sunny months of November and 
December, when these attractive and 
otherwise elusive birds are best seen 
there. 
Iran 
Bird-strike 
A Tristar airliner taking off from Shiraz 
in February 1991 suffered a double 
engine failure after hitting a large flock 
of crows which rose from the runway 
to meet the aeroplane at 50 feet. Flying 
on their one good engine, the crew 
dumped eight tons of fuel before calmly 
landing their 168 passengers back at 
Shiraz after a flight of six minutes. The 
repair bill for this major bird-strike 
came to over 2.5 million US Dollars. 
(Source: Bahrain Natural History 
Society Newsletter) 
Slender-billed Curlew 
Last autumn, we reported that the 
Italian Government was helping to 
fund a road that would destroy the 
important wintering area for Slender- 
billed Curlews Numenius tenuirostris at 
Merja Zerga in Morocco. We 
understand that funds for the road are 
also promised from Kuwait. 
Conservationists are pressing for an 
environmental impact assessment and 
for the road to be re-routed. 
Kuwait/Gulf 
Oil pollution 
Bulletin 27 in Autumn 1991 contained 
an initial report on the impact of the 
Gulf War on birds. Now there are 
reports in the British Sunday Times (21 
February 1 993) of White-cheeked Terns 
Sterna repressa in particular failing to 
breed owing to lack of fish food. Many 
White-cheeked Tern eggs have been 
abandoned, and any chicks that did 
hatch were eaten by Swift Terns Sterna 
bergii. Estimates now put the volume of 
oil spilled into the sea at 10.8 million 
barrels, with the pollution made worse 
by the fallout from the smoke from the 
500 million barrels burnt at the 
sabotaged oil wells. It seems that the 
effects of the oil pollution have taken 
time to work through the food chain 
with a delay on the failure of the terns' 
food supply. We hope to report further 
on this in Bulletin 31. 
Israel 
Transmitter plans revived 
The Israeli government is apparently 
keen to press ahead with building a 
huge Voice of America radio 
transmitter in the Ara va Valley in Israel, 
even though the Environmental Impact 
Assessment (EIA) ordered by the Israeli 
court in 1990 is incomplete. 
The EIA was ordered after considerable 
opposition from environmentalists. The 
transmitter, which would be one of the 
largest and most powerful in the world, 
would cover a 8 km 2 site in the central 
Arava Valley. The site is one of the 
main migration routes for millions of 
birds, and large numbers would be 
likely to collide with the structures. 
There are also concerns about the 
disorientating effect of radiation from 
such a hugh transmitter. 
We hope that the government of Israel 
will give further consideration to the 
environmental consequences of 
building the transmitter, and will at 
least wait for the EIA report before 
making a decision. 
White-tailed Eagles released to the mid 
A pair of White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus 
albicilla, raised in captivity, were 
released to the wild in mid-June 1992 in 
the hope that they will set up home in 
the Hula Valley. Electronic homing 
devices were fitted to the young birds 
to help keep track of them. 
The White-tailed Eagle, classified as an 
endangered species, bred in Israel until 
the mid 1950s, when the remaining 
