I had an early start to get to Mutla'a Ranch north of the Jal Al Zour escarpment. This time, I parked and walked as the early morning temps were quite pleasant and bearable. Still a little early for the numbers of spring migrants to arrive, so a first Woodchat Shrike was encouraging.
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| Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) |
In the same area, Hypocolius have been roosting in the dead trees that were cut down in the farm and I managed to get onto a small flock before they went vertical - I'm pretty happy with these two images
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| Male Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus) |
There was very little else, but the early spring desert flowers
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| Desert flower |
had attracted some resident butterflies; mostly Mediterranean Pierrot's
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| Male and Female Mediterranean Pierrot (Tarucus rosaceus) |
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| Male Mediterranean Pierrot (Tarucus rosaceus) |
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| Female Mediterranean Pierrot (Tarucus rosaceus) |
Walking to the car a Eurasian Sparrowhawk blitzed by in front of me - it was only testament to the Canon's AI server that I managed to fire off a quick shot
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| Female Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) |
I then headed down to Jahra Farm where a few Pallid Swift were feeding above the farm
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| Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) |
Common Myna's are quite common in this area
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| Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) |
But a recent introduction is Jungle Myna - we will have to see what is the longevity of this species in the coming years (as White-vented are also still present in small numbers)
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| Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus) |
A White-throated Kingfisher came by at speed across the farm
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| White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) |
Whilst Small Cabbage Whites were numerous in the fields
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| Small Cabbage White (Artogeia rapae iranica) |
A Brown Playboy was seen briefly
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| Brown Playboy (Deudorix antalus) |
Across the freeway in Jahra Pools, the resident Graceful Prinia's were displaying and quite vocal around the reserve
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| Displaying Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis) |
A Greater Spotted Eagle was seen overhead, but soon they should all be gone until late autumn
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| Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) |
On the way to the beach, I had a female Siberian Stonechat lurking in the reeds
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| Female Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola m. hemprichii) |
Whilst on the beach, numbers of Great Black-headed Gulls were roosting on the beach amongst the Slender-billed
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| Great Black-headed Gull (Leucophaeus ichthyaetus) |
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