After Pivot Fields, I headed for a McDonald's breakfast and then to Sulaibikhat Bay for the outgoing tide.
Noon was far from the ideal time day with scorching temperatures and serious heat haze, but I don't control the tides and the outgoing tide is generally the best time for shorebirds as the very shallow inter-tidal zone is freshly exposed and ideal for foraging.
I tried a few images of birds foraging, but that was a waste - as they were all soft and blurred from the heat haze. So I focused on BIF, as the birds were above the receding water - still not ideal, but this at least gives you a glimpse as to what was around. Of course, you cant swing and pan a big prime lens from inside your car, so I had to stand outside and next to my car which was testing!
In flight, it was interesting to see that many of the waders were in similar stages of moult with their flight feathers
In terms of the large waders, Bar-tailed Godwit's were present in good numbers
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| Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) |
As were Eurasian Curlews
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| Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) |
It was great to see Crab-plover's again now that they have dispersed post breeding from Boubyan Island
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| Crab-plover (Dromas ardeola) |
Medium sized waders were represented by; Common Redshank
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| Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) |
Curlew Sandpiper
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| Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) |
Terek Sandpiper
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| Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) |
and many Greater Sand Plovers
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| Greater Sand Plover (Anarhynchus leschenaultii) |
The small waders were mostly Little Stint and fair numbers of Broad-billed Sandpiper's which are always great to see
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| Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus) |
There were a couple of Slender-billed Gull's around, also dispersing post breeding on Boubyan Island
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| Slender-billed Gull (Chroicocephalus genei) |
Of course, there is one in every 4-ball - this dark form Western Reef Heron was the only bird I saw flying up the coast
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| Western Reef Heron (Egretta g. schistacea) |
By now, I was soaked, over-heating and even my camera was getting to hot to hold, so called it a day!
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