The Masked Bandit returns

Week 27, 05 July 2013 - Sulaibikhat and Jahra Area (Click to enlarge image)

The 4th record of Masked Wagtail had been seen at Jahra Pools on the 3rd July by Khaled Al-Ghanem, so I was up early in blustery and hot conditions to see if it had stayed a little longer.

I didnt want to wake the guards at the gate too early, so detoured past the outfall at Sulaibikhat to discover that many of the birds that had bred on Boubiyan Island this summer were now back on the coast along with many young 1st-year birds. Gull-billed Terns were foraging off the outfall in the early morning light, with the youngster still begging for food whilst in flight with the adult.

Adult Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

1st-year Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

A very young Crab-plover was seen on the banks of the outfall together with a Caspian Tern

1st-year Crab-Plover (Dromas ardeola) with Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

A White-winged Tern was also seen roosting on the bank

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

This bleached Heuglin's Gull was completely out of place as it should have departed to it's northern breeding grounds at the end of winter with the rest of the flock...

A very bleach Heuglin's Gull in the summer

At a more civil hour I arrived at the Jahra Pools gate. Water is still present but at lower levels, obviously at this time of year evaporation is a huge challenge. I was surprised to see some very early Autumn migrants, but also pleased to see some birds with colour in the form of a small flock of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters

Early Autumn arrivals, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus)

Other species that have had a successful breeding season at JPR were Little Ringed Plovers and the few pairs of Black-winged Stilts

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and recently fledged young

The Little Grebe off-spring are all pretty independent now

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) adult and almost grown young

As are the Mallard goslings which all appear to have survived till adulthood

The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) brood

There were Whiskered Terns wheeling and foraging over one of the larger pools.

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

I photographed this Dragonfly that I thought may be a Vagrant Emperor, but there are some differences to the one below that I photographed in the South of Kuwait which was identified as a Vagrant Emperor

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) Dragonfly

Vagrant Emperor Dragonfly

I found a single Black-tailed Godwit and it took some time to get into a position where the light was favourable.

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)

Just after it took flight, I heard the familiar call of a White Wagtail, but could not locate the bird or where it came from. Finally I saw a movement and discovered it was below the bank, very close to where I had parked and finally I got onto the Masked Wagtail and had some almost full frame moments as it foraged along the waters edge - certainly my best photographic moment for this species.

As mentioned, this is the 4th record for Kuwait and of interest 3 of the 4 records are from Jahra Pools with the 3rd record found on 2nd March of this year.

4th record of Masked Wagtail (Motacilla a. personata)

Driving around the desert area with the Casarina Trees, I found a pair of Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins which was surprising and I am now wandering if they may have bred this summer? A short time later, I found 2 Upchers Warblers even more surprising and sat with them for quite some time to see if they were showing any signs of breeding activity - but none that I could ascertain

One of 2 Upcher's Warbler (Hippolais languida) seen together

A few Blue Pansy butterflies were seen and these are certainly not common in Kuwait

Blue Pansy butterfly

I decided to head to Jahra East and on the way out, a Purple Heron flushed out of the reeds

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

And a juvenile White-tailed Lapwing flew by

Juvenile White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

It was pretty hot by the time I arrived at Jahra East and discovered that it was already occupied by a large herd of camels and goats, so no chance of much bird activity. I resigned myself to photographing Dragonflies using my big glass, which is actually quite effective.

The first has impressive colouring and flew up and down the channel, but I'm not sure of it's id as I don't have any reference books for Dragonflies

Unidentified Dragonfly

The second appeared a lot more dainty and stayed away from the water, preferring to land on short grass

Unidentified Dragonfly

The last was a Damselfly which I have seen, but they are much more elusive to find after they have flown and landed - again no clue what species this is.

Unidentified Damselfly

By now I was also wilting a little, so decided to head back home

Cormorants and Turtles

Week 27, 30 June 2013 - Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City (Click to enlarge image)

At the end of June I was down at Sea City and this was one of the least productive visits in terms of birds, as is expected at this time of year.

As expected at this time of year, Socotra Cormorants were roosting on the off-shore buoys along with a few Terns.

Sub-adult Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

Having a good scratch

Socotra Portrait

As there was not much else about, we took the boat to a small patch reef and after waiting for 20-minutes were rewarded with sightings of at least 4 large Hawksbill Turtles, the lens I had on was not ideal to show the size of the Turtle. These Turtles breed in Kuwait during the summer on the southern beaches and some of the off-shore islands.

Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) surfacing for air

The image below was taken by my friend Anand, a few days after my visit and is obviously the best way to observe a Turtle.

Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) more graceful under the water

The Terns of Kubbar Island

Week 25, 21 June 2013 - Kubbar Island (Click to enlarge image)

Last month I visited Kubbar Island with a group of friends. Kubbar is famous for it's large summer colonies of breeding Terns and fortunately this visit coincided with this amazing spectacle.

The small group of tiny islets to the south of Kuwait are subtropical coral cays and are surrounded by beautiful azure waters. Kubbar Island is one of this small group of coral islets with associated reefs but is the most significant island in terms of breeding seabirds. 

It is a small (18ha) sandy island that has salt-tolerant bushes around most of the perimeter. Other areas are dominated by Seidlitzia annuals and there also are big patches of bare ground. Beaches are mainly sandy (sadly, more often covered with litter) and some rocky stretches. 

Access to the island is open to all and sadly there is no real protection or conservation efforts for the birds during this important and short breeding season in the harshest months of the year, in terms of temperature. Fortunately, there are no natural predators for the eggs and young during this time. However, the majority of mortalities and fatalities are a direct result of the human disturbance and the authorities really need to do more to provide guidance to these recreational visitors to respect and avoid disturbing the breeding birds at this critical time - if that can happen, then all can co-exist and enjoy this small piece of paradise in the Arabian Gulf.

4 species of Tern breed on this small island and each have their own specific habitat requirements for their breeding and nesting.

The Bridled Terns are found around the perimeter of the island and exclusively use the salt-tolerant bushes, where they lay their eggs near the stem under the bush. I estimated that there were about 250 pairs of Bridled Terns.

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) egg under the Salt Bush

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) chick under the Salt Bush

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)

The White-cheeked Terns build their nests in a more elevated area than the Bridled Terns and these scrapes are either found either on the bare ground or in areas where there is some patchy grass cover, but all with no shelter at all from the brutal summer sun. I estimated around 150 pairs of White-cheeked Terns.

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) egg in the open area

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) chicks in the open area

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) chick in a small scrape in the open area

Adult White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) coming to sit on eggs after  wetting it's belly feathers

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) with young in some shade

The location below gives an idea of where the White-cheeked Terns breed. 

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) breeding area

I sat quietly on the ground (it was difficult to be unobtrusive) and waited for the adults to come in and feed some of the young. What was interesting with the interaction below, is that one of the adults (I assume it is the male) came in with a fish and then landed at the nest with 2 chicks and started calling loudly. The other half (female?) of the pair then flew in, landed and gently took the fish from the male before feeding it to the chick. During the feeding, it appeared to guide the chick in swallowing the small fish whole.

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) coming with food for the chicks

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) parents

The famale White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) taking the fish from the male

The female White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) feeding the chick

Once the chicks are old enough, they make their way down to the beach where the breeze coming off the water provides some respite from the heat and the parents continue feeding the chicks on the beach.

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) on the beach with the more mobile chick

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) with a chick that could fly, but was begging for food

The Lesser Crested and Swift Terns have a large communal nesting area on bare ground near the western side of the Island.

In previous years, the small numbers (3 pairs) of Swift Terns were part of the Lesser Crested colony, but this year their numbers had increased almost 10-fold so that they had the numbers for their own small colony in close proximity  to the Lesser Crested.

A pair of Swift Terns (Sterna bergii) with chicks 

The now bigger Swift Tern (Sterna bergii) colony with a single Lesser Crested in front

A squabble between a Swift Tern (Sterna bergii) and Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis)

The Terns would often erupt into flight off their eggs, here Swift and Lesser Crested Tern

A departing Swift Tern (Sterna bergii)

The Lesser Crested Terns had two distinct communal colonies, probably due to the area available and this was a noisy gregarious place, but they really are the coolest of the 4 Tern species in my opinion. I estimated around 900-pairs of Lesser Crested. 

The two Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis) colonies

Lesser Crested Terns (Sterna bengalensis) on eggs

An out of place White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) in front of the Lesser Crested Tern colony

When the young are old enough they move down to the beach as part of a communal nursery and it was hard to work out whether the adults were feeding their own young or just any hungry open mouth each time they came in with a fish.

The Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis) nursery on the beach

Organised chaos for feeding

The adult Lesser Crested Terns (Sterna bengalensis) brought in a constant supply of fish