Week 11, 14 March 2015 - Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City
One week on, I was back down in the south of the country on what remained and overcast and cloudy day all day. This time I left earlier than usual, as I wanted to get to the reed habitat at first light. I grabbed my usual Egg McMuffin breakfast and cappuccino on the way and still the same staff who now seem to recognise me, still ask what I will be having - when I say the usual, it goes straight over their heads!
When I arrived I heard Eurasian Stone-curlew calling, only to discover it was a boom box in the desert to attract this species for the falconers. Shortly afterwards they arrived in their Landcruiser and proceeded to drive all over and flatten the fragile desert flora, trying to flush an unsuspecting Stone-curlew.
They finally did find one and fortunately this time, the Falcon was hardly interested and didn't have much aggression in chasing after the bird after they flushed it with the car (modern day falconry!) - so the Stone-curlew lived to tell another tale and the falconer had a challenge trying to get his reluctant bird back on the hand.
These images taken in the pre-dawn light and from quite a distance - but they tell the story!
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| Falconers quarry; Eurasian Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) |
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| Strike 1 |
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| Strike 2 |
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| Strike 3 and the Stone-curlew thankfully escapes and disappears into the distance |
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| You're out and coming home now! I'm not ready |
Little Crakes were still present, but this time only 2 male birds
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| Male Little Crake (Porzana parva) |
A stunning male Central Asian Black Redstart took some patience getting close, before it relaxed enough for me to get a few images
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| Male Central Asian Black Redstart (Phoenicurus o. phoenicuroides) |
A solitary Water Pipit, now resplendent in breeding plumage was foraging in a small pool of water
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| Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta ) in breeding plumage |
In the reeds there was a mix of Common Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler
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| Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) |
and a single Great Reed Warbler that didn't stay in the open for too long
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| Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) |
Western Yellow Wagtail numbers continue to increase. I have noted a few variations with the supercilium and thanks to Yoav, this one is not a classic supercilius as I had also thought, but couldn't peg it to any other form.
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| Black-headed Wagtail (Motacilla f. supercilius) |
Shrikes were represented by Turkestan
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| Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroide) |
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| The Darkling Beetles get hammered by the Shrikes |
and Mauryan Grey
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| Mauryan Grey Shrike (Lanius lahtora pallidirostris) |
Away from the reeds in the desert scrub, some of which was now flattened, I found Tawny Pipit
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| Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) |
A few male Northern Wheatears
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| Male Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) |
as well as a few Pied Wheatear
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| Female Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
By now it was time to head to the boat, but there wasn't much to be seen other than a single Sandwich Tern
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| Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis) |
a Great Black-headed Gull on the breakwater,
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| Great Black-headed Gull (Leucophaeus ichthyaetus) |
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| Down the runway |
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| Lift-off |
followed by a Caspian Gull
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| Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans) |
and a Eurasian Curlew fly by.
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| Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) |
Road 278 itself was pretty productive with many passerine migrants now on the move; a single male Ehrenberg's Redstart was seen in the acacia's
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| Male Ehrenberg's Redstart (Phoenicurus p. sammamisicus) |
along with Lesser Whitethroat
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| Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) |
More Stonechat's - mostly female North Caspian (the males have the Wheatear type tale)
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| Female North Caspian Stonechat (Saxicola m. hemprichii) |
and my first male South Caspian Stonechat of the spring (pure white rump)
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| Male South Caspian Stonechat (Saxicola m. variegatus) |
I found a roost of Spanish Sparrows, that probably wont be around much longer
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| Female Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) |
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| Male Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) |
A Common Kestrel was seen roosting in the shade of a building
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| Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) |
In an area with some contours and height, I added Common Rock Thrush
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| Male Common Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis) |
Blue Rock Thrush
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| Female Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) |
Eurasian Hoopoe
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| Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) |
and a Ménétriés’s Warbler
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| Male Ménétriés’s Warbler (Sylvia mystacea) |
Exploring an open desert area, more Mauryan Grey Shrikes were seen
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| Mauryan Grey Shrike (Lanius lahtora pallidirostris) |
as well as a few Woodchat
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| Male Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) |
some late Daurian Shrikes
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| Male Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) |
and more Turkestan
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| Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides) |
and as the day had warmed up, Wheatears were everywhere - this was the prelude to their peak a few days later when we counted over 900 Wheatear in various locations around Kuwait.
Pied Wheatear made up the bulk of the numbers
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| Female Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
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| Male Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
followed by Northern Wheatear
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| Male Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) |
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
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| Male Eastern Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe h. melanoleuca) |
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| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe h. melanoleuca) |
And a late Red-tailed Wheatear was still present
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| Late Red-tailed Wheatear (Oenanthe chrysopygia) |
All in all, a great day for passerine migrants which seem to prefer to remain grounded during inclement weather - so I guess mild fall out was enjoyed today..
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