Skulkers and posers

Week 46, 15 November 2014 - Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City

Here we are in the New Year and I'm still trying to post my backlog from 2014, but I will persist until I'm up to date.

For this post, I was back down in the south of the country at the Sea City project in Khiran. A stop in the pre-dawn light at some suitable reed habitat produced a skulking Water Rail, my first record in the south of Kuwait.

Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)

A single winter plumaged Common Redshank was seen on the edge of some standing water

Winter plumage Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Later on in the morning, a single winter plumage Dunlin was also seen in the same open water

Winter plumage Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

On the banks of the lagoons a few large white-headed Gulls were seen, this was Heuglin's

Heuglin's Gull (Larus f. heuglini)

In and around the project, I had Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus)

and this stunning male Pied Wheatear (thanks Yoav)

Stunning male Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka)

and a very similar looking male Desert Wheatear on the same fence

A young Great Reed Warbler played hide and seek with me in one of the larger trees in the project

1st year Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

I found a small flock of Western Cattle Egrets foraging in some of the ground cover - hey Dad!

Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Exploring the desert area, there were unusually large numbers of Asian Desert Warbler passing through.

Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana) with stunning yellow eyes

As well as a few more Desert Wheatears, this one a female

Female Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)

Under the bush with the Desert Warbler, a Libyan Jird popped out of it's burrow.

Libyan Jird (Meriones libycus)

On the invertebrate side, I found a few Western Pygmy Blue butterflies

Western Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)

as well as a few Mediterranean Pierrot butterflies

Mediterranean Pierrot (Tarucus rosacea)

Although not many birds today, there were some good sightings to be enjoyed.