Jahra Pools Reserve has been closed for quite a few months for maintenance and we have all been itching for it to re-open again.
Well, it finally opened earlier this week, but since it was a week-day, I had to wait until the weekend before I could visit again. I managed a late afternoon visit and it was like seeing an old friend. The roads have been upgraded and new observation platforms have been built along with a visitor center that is still in progress. Reed growth is still a problem and is impacting the water flow, but these will be cut in the coming weeks.
I had forgotten how quickly the sun drops now that winter is upon us - I mean we are almost dark by 5:15pm! Driving slowly around, it was a struggle to find views of open water, but in the reeds, I had Indian Reed Warbler
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| Indian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus s. brunnescens) |
and good numbers of Red-spotted Bluethroat around the bases of the the reeds and associated cover. I think this bird may qualify as White-throated..
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| White-throated Bluethroat (Luscinia s. cyanecula) |
Whilst enjoying the Bluethroat, a Grey-headed Swamphen slowly crept out of the undergrowth to feed on some reed roots
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| Grey-headed Swamphen (Porphyrio p. poliocephalus) |
I had a drive to the beach, finding Mauryan Grey Shrike
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| Mauryan Grey Shrike (Lanius lahtora pallidirostris) |
and a couple of Greater Spotted Eagles that were going to roost on the beach overnight
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| Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) |
JPR is one of the best reserves to see numbers of Greater Spotted Eagle in the winter
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| Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) |
By now the sun was setting, so I checked the 'forest' finding a Western Osprey that had come in to roost
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| Western Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) |
I patiently waited from quite a distance to get an image of the setting sun directly behind this Greater Spotted, but unfortunately it flew off before that could happen - there went my end of day creative shot!
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| JPR Sunset |
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