4th March. Al Howl scores a half century.

Bir Said, Eiwa, Al Almair and Al Ruweira presented a gloomy procession of sites as we worked our way checking from Ar-Raqqa across to Hassakah. No SPs were seen and precious litle else; a few migrating Cranes and 5 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, even the huge numbers of Skylarks seen last week had moved on.
We reached Al Howl by 4.00pm for the final checks of the day. At last we hit lucky, with our biggest flock of Sociables so far; 50 birds. Contrary to current wisdom, these birds were feeding in floodplain pools rather than steppe. We paddled around in ankle deep mud trying to check for colour rings. A close Bimaculated Lark added to the occasion.
We attracted the usual crowd, who helpfully also called the security men we had managed to avoid all day. All ended well with the usual invitation to tea, this time sat out on plastic chairs in front of a car workshop. We sat supping tea as the sun went down.