Exploring a new protected area

Week 23, 04 June 2013 - Abdulliyah Preserve (Click to enlarge image)

Biodiversity East and I had the opportunity to visit this Preserve south of Kabd in Kuwait and were kindly hosted by KOC on a tour inside the 3-million square meter fenced area.

Since the Preserve has been fenced it is immediately apparent at the difference in habitat on either side of the fence line.

Protected or Unprotected - you decide!

This Preserve is one of KOC environmental initiatives to comply with the KOC 2030 strategy and was established in January 2011. The area was fenced before a clean-up operation was initiated and to allow the indigenous flora to begin it's natural regeneration. In parallel, a few lakes with permanent water were created as water is the life blood for any reserve and additional flora was cultivated and planted to speed up the establishment of the desert habitat.

Lake 1

Lake 2

An interesting pattern in the sand, created by wind and grass

Patterns in the sand

Although Spring migration is past, we did record 14 bird species, the most predominant were Black-crowned Sparrow Larks which do breed in this Preserve.

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix nigriceps)

Male Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix nigriceps)

A Greater Hoopoe Lark was also seen at one of the lakes and may also breed in this Preserve. I was finally able to capture it in flight, showing the dramatic white wings that are not visible while the wings are closed, similar in some respects to seeing a Squacco Heron taking off when suddenly there is all this white.

Greater Hoopoe Lark (Alaemon alaudipes) 

Finally, in flight

2 pairs of Little Ringed Plovers were seen at the respective dams and their behavior certainly suggested that nests were in the vicinity, although I couldn't find them.

A few lingering migrants included Little and Temmincks Stint and a lone Yellow Wagtail. We hope to return during the Autumn migration and it will certainly be an area that could produce some interesting records in the future and I'm sure should host the elusive Dunn's Lark.

Yellow Wagtail, not sure of ssp

Earlier in the week, I was at Jahra East Outfall searching unsuccessfully for the Black Tern and Grey Phalarope rarities, however I did I photograph these 2 Dragonflies as a consolation prize, which I have not yet identified.

Unidentified Dragonfly

Unidentified Dragonfly

I also photographed this diminutive little butterfly, whose id is also unknown

Unidentified Butterfly

Who turned up the heat?

Week 22, 29 May 2013 - Jahra Pools Reserve (Click to enlarge image)

From Spring to Summer in little more than a week as temps now soar above 40 degrees and pretty much signify the end of Spring migration.

I spent a few hours at JPR, but even arriving at 7am the sun is already pretty high in the sky. The rising temps combined with evaporation and heat haze is not conducive to good images with big glass, guess I have to get up earlier to avoid that.

Nevertheless, it was still an interesting morning as a good number of species are either sitting on nests, feeding young or have grown broods due to the favourable conditions at JPR for the past few months. I must say it was a little distressing to see that water supply had been disrupted due to maintenance as a few of the shallower pools were drying up at this critical time, but hopefully it will be restored this week.

There were good numbers of Black-winged Stilts and around 5 birds were seen sitting on eggs

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

One of the many Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) on eggs

I was surprised at the number of Little Grebes with young of various ages, it seems that they have had a very successful season

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) with one of her brood

I also came across the female Ferruginous Duck with 2 of her grown-up ducklings in less than ideal lighting

Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) with one of her grown duckling

Juvenile Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca)

A single juvenile White-tailed Lapwing was seen amongst a few of the remaining waders. This species has bred previously at JPR, not sure where they bred this season.

Juvenile White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

Lastly, I saw a pair of Little Ringed Plovers courting and this bodes well for this species breeding at JPR this summer. They did nest last year during the road upgrade, but the construction probably disrupted their ability to hatch the eggs. Hopefully this year they will be successful.

Male Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) observed courting

Female Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)

A Little Tern hawking over one of the pools was an unexpected surprise

Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

As was a single Terek Sandpiper, certainly the first time I have seen this species in the reserve - they are normally associated with coastal habitat in Kuwait

Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus)

Many Graceful Prinia's were seen around the reed bed edges and should also have a successful breeding year

Singing Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis)

I have seen a pair of Namaqua Doves in the reserve on the last few visits, so hopefully they will make this their 'patch'

Female Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis)

A single Woodchat Shrike was seen, as was a Daurian and Red-backed and these were literally the only migrant stragglers left in the reserve

Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)

This thorny fruiting bush (Nitraria retusa) was a magnet for many migrants a few weeks back, however some of the resident birds are still enjoying the left overs. 

Nitraria retusa - a magnet for fruit eating migrants

Migration fading, but breeding continues

Week 20, 18 May 2013 - Jahra Pools and Farm (Click to enlarge image)

David White and I spent a morning birding the Jahra area. Summer is on it's way and we now need to get up a lot earlier for good early morning light.

Passerine migrants were very thin on the ground today, with the majority now having passed through. There are still small numbers of waders present like; Little Stint, Curlew and Wood Sandpiper, Common Ringed Plover and the odd Ruff.

There are still signs of breeding with an adult Black-winged Stilt still sitting on her nest, but also with this juvenile Black-winged Stilt seen.

Juvenile Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

However, the most exciting find was that of another batch of Ferruginous Duck ducklings when we discovered this female with 9 ducklings in close company which constitutes the 2nd breeding record of this species this year at JPR. It suggests that there are either 2 pairs present or the female of the first batch laid a second batch of eggs. The first batch of 4 ducklings are still present, but are bigger and pretty independent. These are record images as they were taken against strong backlight

2nd breeding record of Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) for this Spring

The reed beds have numbers of Graceful Prinia's - so this population seems to be doing very well. 5-years back their numbers had dwindled after a particularly cold winter, so encouraging to see so many again.

Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis)

I have now seen Namaqua Dove on a few occasions in the reserve the past few weeks, but this is the first male

Male Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis)

Exploring the area with Caserina trees there were also some bushes with red berries that many species were feeding on, including a cracking adult Rosy Starling earlier in the week. We found 3 Eurasian Golden Orioles - although they were skittish and did not allow close approach (for us anyway)

Female Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus)

We were very excited to find 2 Hypocolius, one was very brown suggesting a juvenile. Only later did I discover that a raid was conducted at the Friday Bird Market last week and many birds (Bank Myna's, White-eared Bulbuls and Hypocolius amongst others) were confiscated (which is great news). After the birds were assessed, most were released back into the wild at JPR and these 2 Hypocolius were amongst the freed birds.

Recently released male Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus)

There were also numbers of White-eared Bulbuls in and around the reeds slowly adapting to their freedom.

Recently released White-eared Bulbuls (Pycnonotus l. leucotis)

We moved on to Jahra Farm, but it was already very warm but did have a few European Bee-eaters

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

and this male Common Stonechat with 3 rather large ticks on it's head - which must be very uncomfortable and irritating.

Male Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) with a few ticks

With most migrants now departed, we will continue to check for breeding birds that are still in their breeding cycle.

Mission accomplished

Week 20, 13 May 2013 - Entertainment City and JPR (Click to enlarge image)

I was on a mission today to find and photograph two species. The first eluded me last week, yes I know it is only a Cat E species, but I still needed it for my Kuwait list (after 7-years).

We awoke to a morning of haze/dust so I didnt expect to have a productive morning, nevertheless I headed off to the new area near Entertainment City in search of Indian Silverbill. No luck with the first sweep of the area, so I was content to photograph of few of the remaining passerine migrants, as most have already moved on. Sitting quietly at a small pool of water I had Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus)

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

A few Skyke's Wagtails

Sykes Wagtail (Motacilla f. beema)

and Whinchat

Female Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

I had just started my 2nd loop when a flash of movement caught my eye under an Acacia type tree; sitting very still was this agamid. Thanks to all who provided a consistent opinion on the ID of this Agama.

Blue-throated Agama (Agama blandfordi)

Carrying on with the drive, I spotted a small bird sitting on a fence and from the profile knew it was the Silverbill. Unfortunately it disappeared soon after I got my bins on it. So, they were somewhere in the vicinity; time to get out the car and explore more slowly and carefully. I was alerted by their call and found a small flock of 10 feeding on a patch of grass with seed-heads and managed to get relatively close to them whilst they were feeding.The habitat is more than favourable for breeding, so now that we know where they are we can monitor to see if the flock slowly grows in size. They really do have quite large bills for their diminutive size

Indian Silverbills (Lonchura malabarica)

Massive bill on this diminutive seed-eater

First objective achieved, time to move to Jahra Pools where Eurasian Coot had been seen with young a few days back. According to Gregory 'Birds of the State of Kuwait' there is only 1 confirmed breeding record from JPR in 1996, so this is the second record for JPR and the birds and young were first seen and photographed on 09 May 2013.

The first loop of the reserve showed that wader numbers are reducing, although the Red-necked Phalarope flock seems to be growing with 81 birds seen today. A few Red-backed Shrikes still remain, but only a handful were seen compared to the big numbers over a week ago

Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)

The Black-winged Stilt is still sitting tight on eggs

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) on eggs

and another batch of 2 Kentish Plovers chicks were seen on the edge of one pool

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) chick

Finally I got distant views of a Eurasian Coot pair with 4 chicks, but in a different pool to the parents seen earlier this week. Checking another pool, I finally found the original pair with their 4 chicks - so two pairs with 4 chicks each (so far!) I must say, the chicks have a face that only a mother could love - but still an exciting record for Jahra Pools Reserve

Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) with chicks, 2nd confirmed breeding record for JPR

Mission accomplished!