Kirkuk is in Northern Iraq just below Kurdistan. Now I have seen lots of birds in places I never thought I would see them since I have been here, but one morning when I was driving to the office along the perimeter road of the camp, through the chain link fence flying alongside me was a bright pink flamingo! I was shocked as I have never seen one in the wild before, especially in the desert. I followed the bird which disappeared behind a small hill. I quickly went to the closest guard tower and asked if I could go up for a look, (bearing in mind I was in a war zone and the camp was on high alert) I tried to explain to the guards but they just thought I was stupid I think. Anyway after 5 minutes of trying to explain to the guys from Sierra Leone I wanted to look for a pink flamingo, they eventually gave up and handed me their binoculars. Over the hill was a small watering hole with a heard of Water Buffalo, between them was around 12 pink flamingos. I stayed up in the tower for around 30 minutes watching, unfortunately being British on an American camp I was not allowed to have a camera! I visited the tower for 2 or 3 days after that but by the end of the week they had left never to be seen again. Now this gave me an idea. I printed out A4 size sheets with different birds and a small write up about them, and I went from tower to tower giving them to the guards. This served two purposes, it educated them in birds and it also gave me unlimited access to the towers.
One day a few weeks later a guard approached me in the DFAC (Dining Facility And Canteen) and asked me to come to his tower, I obliged later that afternoon and when I climbed up to the top I was shocked, they had all of the bird information sheets pinned up on the wall and he was pointing to a flock of birds in a field around 50 meters from the tower. I got the binoculars and took a look and WOW there were a flock of Hoopoe’s in the field. Now ever since being a child I have wanted to see one of these birds, but to see a whole flock of them in a field well WOW again
One day a few weeks later a guard approached me in the DFAC (Dining Facility And Canteen) and asked me to come to his tower, I obliged later that afternoon and when I climbed up to the top I was shocked, they had all of the bird information sheets pinned up on the wall and he was pointing to a flock of birds in a field around 50 meters from the tower. I got the binoculars and took a look and WOW there were a flock of Hoopoe’s in the field. Now ever since being a child I have wanted to see one of these birds, but to see a whole flock of them in a field well WOW again
