Surf and Turf

Week 16, 18 and 19 April 2013 - Sea City and Yarmouk Sports Club (Click to enlarge image)

I had a morning at Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City in less than ideal weather - blustery wind made conditions in the boat a challenge.

Surprisingly I only had a a Marsh Warbler hiding in a fence near the boat jetty.

Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris)

After the time on the water, I explored the desert finding a good number of Whinchat, mostly males

Male Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

A pretty dark female Northern Wheatear

Female Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

and two juvenile Kentish Plovers which had bred away from the lagoons in a quieter area of the project. We had always known they were breeding, but this was our first confirmation.

Juvenile Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

The next day, whilst my son had his tennis lesson I went to check what was feeding on the adjacent soccer fields at the Yarmouk Club in Mishref. Still many migrants about on the ground and passing by overhead

There were numbers of Yellow Wagtails, interspersed with a few Red-throated Pipits in varying stages of breeding plumage

Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus)

Of interest was a single Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

A Red-backed Shrike sat unobtrusively on the goal post

Male Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)

and a low fly by from a European Bee-eater as it tried to ambush a few insects on the field...

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Then it was back to the tennis courts to take some action shots