Wilting at the Pivots

Week 21; 25 May 2019 - Pivot Fields

As we head toward summer, an early start is important, so by 6am Paul Scott and I were going through the gate at the Pivot Fields.

We did a quick circuit of the farm and realised that the best spot were the two large pools; one which is quite open and the other which has expanding reed beds and more cover. This is where we spent the 2-hours before the heat had us wilting.

Black-winged Stilt's were the most abundant species.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Suddenly there was some commotion and many of the birds flushed and we discovered a pack of stray dog's coming through the shallow pan - trying to catch some food. This was a 'bonus' for us, as they flushed around 5-7 Little Bittern's that were hiding in the reeds. We suspect that since conditions are ideal at this pool, this species will probably breed or is already breeding here

Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)

Overhead, numbers of Pallid Swift were feeding and these are always a challenge to photograph in flight

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

Sadly, Common Myna numbers seem to be increasing when a small flock of 5 flew by

Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)

There were still quite a few Sedge Warbler's present, but certainly not as many as 2-weeks back

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)

We did also have a few Great Reed Warblers

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

A distant bird flying quickly above the reeds turned out to be a female Common Cuckoo

Female Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Another surprise was a single Little Tern that suddenly appeared and hunted for 10-15 minutes on the bigger pool before continuing on it's way

Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

There were several 1st year White-tailed Lapwing's, so it seems there was breeding success in Kuwait this year for this species

White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

Most Yellow Wags have long since departed, but we saw a single and late Black-headed Wagtail feeding along the water's edge

Black-headed Wagtail (Motacilla f. feldegg)

Again, we found one of the Cat E Yellow-crowned Bishops, but now transitioning to non-breeding plumage.

Yellow-crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer)

Squacco Heron's are starting to show their breeding plumage

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

By now, we were starting to melt ourselves, so a last drive around one of the fields produced a Spiny-tailed Lizard in the same area we had previously seen them

Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis)