Given it is the weekend and curfew hours still allow an early departure time, I headed west to the farm at Al Abraq arriving around 6:30am. Other than a few farm workers, it was just me - so no issues at all with social distancing. However the weather wasn't great with desert fog and later blowing wind and dust - but you need to make the most of whatever time is available for birding!
Before the gate, I checked out the trees in the area with the derelict buildings and found a dark form Booted Eagle that had roosted overnight
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| Booted Eagle (Aquila pennata) |
Driving around the perimeter, I had the first of many Great Grey (Steppe) Shrikes
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| Great Grey Shrike (Steppe) (Lanius excubitor lahotra) |
and quite a few Pied Wheatear's that didn't seem to be enjoying the cool wind
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| Male Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
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| Female Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) |
There was a single Northern Wheatear amongst the Pied's
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| Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) |
I then headed into the farm and did a drive around the perimeter to cover all the habitats. It seems there had been an irruption of Great Grey Shrikes and I had around 8 birds
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| Great Grey Shrike (Steppe) (Lanius excubitor lahotra) |
A few Turkestan Shrikes
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| Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides) |
and Woodchat Shrikes were interspersed with the Great Grey's
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| Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) |
In the distance, a female Eurasian Sparrowhawk was keeping low on the top of one of the trees
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| Female Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) |
I saw a large Sylvia warbler fly across the track and it played hide and seek with me for the next 30-minutes, giving fleeting glimpses - but I did nail it down as Eastern Orphean. As I had not seen one for quite some time, I put in the effort to try and get an unobstructed view and image - eventually!
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| Eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris) |
In the same tree, there was also a female Blackcap
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| Female Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) |
and an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
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| Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna pallida) |
Common Redstart were also prevalent during the course of the morning
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| Male Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) |
In the open area a Pallid Harrier passed by quickly on the wind
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| Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) |
Whilst the blowing dust put down a small flock of Pale Rockfinch
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| Pale Rockfinch (Carpospiza brachydactyla) |
The dead Sunflower's provided charismatic perches for Willow Warbler and Common Chiffchaff
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| Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) |
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| Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) |
and Tree Pipits
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| Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) |
Shortly afterwards a stunning male White-throated Robin put on a show and was quite obliging
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| White-throated Robin (Irania gutturalis) |
Driving the fields near the Goose pens, a flash of black and white could only mean a male Semi-collared Fly - he was sort of obliging, but the light was just not in the right position
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| Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) |
On the same track a Grey Wagtail foraged ahead of the car
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| Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) |
And an unexpected surprise was a Black-winged Stilt in one of the small fields, just after the Wagtail
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| Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) |
I then parked the car and had a walk through some habitat, finding many more Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff - love the background colour in these images!
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| Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) |
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| Note emargination on P6 to confirm Chiffchaff |
a second Semi-collared Fly
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| Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) |
A couple of Ménétriés’s Warbler's
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| Female Ménétriés’s Warbler (Sylvia mystacea) |
and a few more Blackcap's
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| Male Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) |
I glimpsed a male Eurasian Sparrowhawk - I think we both surprised each other, but I got a half decent jump shot..
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| Male Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) |
It was while walking that I saw a quick flash of a small fast flying brown butterfly that I knew immediately was a Skipper and for sure a new species for Kuwait. With patience I managed to relocate it, although it wasn't static for long. Although I only had my 600 prime with me, I did manage to get some images to clinch the species ID as Lesser Millet Skipper, so was pretty elated!
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| Lesser Millet Skipper (Pelopidas mathias) |
A last drive along the boundary track and suddenly there were thousands of Desert Locust's - these are swarming short-horned Grasshopper's and are part of the mega swarms that have decimated parts of North Africa, Middle East and South and South-western Asia
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| Desert Locust (Schistocera gregaria) |
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