Lockdown - Day 26

Week 14; 06 April 2020 - Pivot Fields

I had a quick early morning visit to Pivots, arriving just after curfew. My first stop was one of the fields with short grass where by chance I found a pair of Common Quail foraging in one of the Pivot wheel tracks.

Female Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

Male and female Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

In the next field, there was a small flock of Lesser Kestrel that seemed to have roosted overnight.

Male Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

On the same Pivot, a Common Cuckoo sat quietly but watched me intently

Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

On the way to the Camel Pens there was a Pied Wheatear on the side of the road

Male Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka)

At the Camel Pens, there was a female Whinchat

Female Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

In an area with some desert habitat, a few Northern Wheatear males were present, this one with quite peachy underparts

Male Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

I then headed to the marsh, where Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were hawking overhead

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus)

The Black-tailed Godwit was really skittish and took off when I was still a long way off

European Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa l. limosa)

Shortly after, a single Glossy Ibis took off and passed by relatively closely.

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

An unexpected surprise was a pair of Egyptian Geese that walked from the edge into the marsh. They seemed wary and lean and turns out this is the first record (Cat E) of this species. There are some at the zoo and probably on private farms - but this is the first time recorded in the 'wild' in Kuwait

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

A few Bluethroat were still present on the reed edges, getting down low creates a much more pleasing image

Red-spotted Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)

Graceful Prinia love this area and were pretty vocal establishing territory or calling for prospective mates

Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis)

Also vocal were Great Reed Warblers which seemed to have arrived on mass

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

One last drive around one of the fields, I found more Whinchat's, this time male birds

Male Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

And a striking female Black-headed Wagtail

Female Black-headed Wagtail (Motacilla f. feldegg)

A Daurian Shrike perched patiently on a newly planted palm

Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus)

And lastly a Greater Spotted Eagle on the deck, which was unusual, as they mostly use the Pivots or Pylons as a vantage point

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

Then it was back home to start the work day..