Yesterday afternoon Paul Scott and I agreed that we had to come back to this site in the morning to see the birds depart once it was warm enough to generate some thermals.
I managed to enjoy the sunrise over the Gulf on the way to the site - I'm a sucker for sunrises and sunsets
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| Khuwaisat Sunrise |
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| Sunrise over the Arabian Gulf |
We waited patiently at the site, but there were a few wanker shooters who disturbed some of the raptors and they were forced to leave their roost.
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| Aaaagh! |
Most flew a short distance and landed in the desert, as there was no updraft for them to make any progress.
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| Steppe Buzzard (Buteo b. vulpinus) |
Whilst waiting we did enjoy watching an Arabian Red Fox start his morning hunt, but something disturbed him and it was an impressive sprint back to his den.
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| Arabian Red Fox (Vulpesnv. arabica) |
Finally around 8:45 it had warmed sufficiently for the birds to leave and we enjoyed the spectacle of around 200 Steppe Buzzards leaving their roost site in small kettles. Most got high quite quickly, so no eyeball level images this year. It was good to see a few different plumage variations - enjoy!
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| Steppe Buzzard (Buteo b. vulpinus) |
Unfortunately, not many other species amongst them other than Black Kite. I'm still not clear on the status of these Black-eared types - some kind of integrade, but perhaps best referred to as Eastern Black Kite?
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| Eastern Black Kite? |
Montagu's Harrier
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| Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) |
and a cracking adult Pallid Harrier
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| Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) |
Will leave this post with what I consider the best image of the morning..
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| Steppe Buzzard (Buteo b. vulpinus) and moon |
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