Cold blood on hot sand

Week 33, 14 August 2015 - Al Abraq

As a few migrants have been arriving in Kuwait, we (Neil, Markus and I) thought it a good idea to head out west and see what the Al Abraq farm had on offer.

This time of year, an early start is best to get to the farm at first light and as always we wander how many shooters will be around. This time only one car, but after a few words with them, they did finally move off (as they were also trespassing!). Unfortunately, the birds had been spooked by these shooters, so we had a tough time getting close to birds.

There were a few migrants about, but getting photographs was a challenge - it was just one of those days, so I used my bins more than my camera, so I guess I was birding! There were a number of Warblers in the Alfalfa fields which flushed occasionally into the adjacent tree's. I was able to get an image of one, but from the angle, not straight forward to ID - but probably a Marsh Warbler 

Probable Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris)

There was also a Yellow-throated Sparrow and it was always behind some cover - this is a poor record shot, just to confirm it's presence - but also showing the two wing bars.

Yellow-throated Sparrow (Gymnoris xanthocollis)

We did find a few Lizards earlier in the morning that were more cooperative than the birds; a small and then a much larger Schmidt's Fringed-toed Lizard

A small Schmidt's Fringe-toed Lizard (Acanthodactylus schmidti)

A much larger Schmidt's Fringe-toed Lizard (Acanthodactylus schmidti)

and later I also found a Snake-like Lizard which I hadn't seen before. Thanks to Abdulrahman for verifying it's ID

Snake-like Lizard (Acanthodactylus opheodurus)

It wasn't too long after this we called it a morning, as we weren't going to see much more