Passage Shorebirds are here

Week 30, 25 July 2014 - Sulaibikhat to Jahra East Outfall

The start of autumn passage migration is imminent and already shorebirds have started to arrive along Kuwait's Arabian Gulf coastline. You have to get an early start to avoid the heat later in the day, but heat haze is still a challenge with a long lens.

I detoured along the Sulaibikhat coastline finding a 1st year Greater Hoopoe Lark foraging in the sabkha

1st year Greater Hoopoe Lark (Alaemon alaudipes)

An my first Isabelline Wheatear for this autumn

Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)

I then headed East to a small site near Entertainment City in Doha and only found a couple of juvenile Namaqua Doves

1st year Namaqua Doves (Oena capensis )

Whilst photographing the Doves, some movement on a sand bank behind me alerted me to a small flock of Pale Rockfinch - a bird I haven't seen for some time. Unfortunately they were sitting in the shade, so that wasn't ideal 

Pale Rockfinch (Carpospiza brachydactyla)

At the outfall, there were again adult and juvenile Caspian/European Reed Warblers

Adult and juvenile Caspian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus s. fuscus)

I had to wait some time for the medium high tide which kept the shorebirds further away than I had hoped - it is risky trying to get closer as the sabkha can be quite treacherous. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the large flock of Crab-plovers - both adult and 1st year birds

1st year and adult Crab-plover (Dromas ardeola)

Other migrant shorebirds included; Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea )

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)

a few Broad-billed Sandpipers that took some time to locate are really smart waders

Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus)

Little Stints

Little Stint (Calidris minuta)

Common Redshanks

Common Redshank (Tringa totanus )

Large flocks of Bar-tailed Godwits with the odd Eurasian Curlew and Oystercatcher in the mix

Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica)

Of course there are many resident Kentish Plovers amongst the new arrivals

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus )

It is pretty early in the year to get Great Cormorants, but there were already 3 here together with a few large white-headed Gulls

Early Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

I found this fast moving wasp like insect on the sabkha and have no idea what it is - any advice would be appreciated.

Wasp sp?