As with previous weeks, I was out birding after the weekly tennis and it lends itself to a pleasant drive up Gulf Road with a few options along the way. Today, I made a quick stop at Souk Sharq, where I had this Continental Great Cormorant fly by
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| Continental Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sinensis) |
Whilst a local fisherman relaxed on the corniche
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| Fisherman |
I then headed to Jahra Farm, where it is always enjoyable to walk around in the cooler weather. A Laughing Dove was seen descending from a display flight
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| Laughing Dove (Spilopelia senegalensis) |
Whilst overhead Pallid Swifts were seen
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| Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) |
and at one of the other Farms, around 5 Red-rumped Swallows were foraging low over the fields and provided a challenge to get some decent BIF images
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| Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) |
Two Small Cabbage Whites having a dispute as the ascended higher and higher and were lucky enough not to become lunch for some of the Hirundines
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| Small Cabbage White (Artogeia rapae iranica) |
Later, a Steppe Eagle passed by very high overhead
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| Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) |
From the Farm, over the freeway to JPR where a Mauryan Grey Shrike was seen in the desert area
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| Mauryan Grey Shrike (Lanius lahtora pallidirostris) |
Black-winged Stilts have arrived and were on some of the larger pools.
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| Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) |
The pools on the way to the beach had a few Eastern White Wagtails
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| 'Eastern' White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) |
On the coast, I found the Pacific Golden Plover huddled between the Grey Plover flock a long way away
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| Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva) |
Down at the beach I enjoyed the interaction and piracy between two Great Black-headed Gulls fighting over a fish in flight. These are huge Gulls so it was like watching two commercial jets in a aerial display - deliberate and relatively slow, but in the end no winner as the fish was lost and snatched by a Common Black-headed Gull - enjoy the series!
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| Great Black-headed Gull (Leucophaeus ichthyaetus) |
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| Great Black-headed Gull (Leucophaeus ichthyaetus) - gotcha! |
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