An afternoon at JPR

Week 48; 29 November 2019 - Jahra Pools Reserve

I enjoyed the last 2-hours of the day slowly cruising around JPR enjoying the cool, but mild winter weather. There were a couple of female Western Marsh Harriers patrolling over the reedbeds

Female Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

A few Greater Spotted Eagle's had already chosen their perches for the night

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

A juvenile Greater Flamingo paused for a portrait

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Ducks were quite active over the main pool and it was great to see Ferruginous again

Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca)

There were good numbers of Gadwall too

Gadwall (Anas strepera)

A few days back, Neil Tovey had found Ruddy Shelduck on the coast. I checked the beach, but no sign of it. But I was fortunate to see it inside the reserve when it was flushed by a raptor and managed this crappy record image in  the dying light of day. I believe this is the only image taken of this bird, as it wasn't seen again after this.

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea)

Earlier, I enjoyed watching a pair of Vagrant Emperor's laying eggs in one of the recently opened waterways

A pair of Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger)

Full House

Week 47; 23 November 2019 - Pivot Fields

I spent a morning back at the Pivot Fields and arrived just as the sun was rising spreading a red carpet across the morning sky just after 6am.

Glorious sunrise on route to the Pivots

It took a little time for the sun's rays to creep across the farm, but found this Crested Lark catching the first rays

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

I searched for Larks in the fields, but there were only a few Skylarks present today

Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)

I had a small flock of Spanish Sparrow's feeding in the maize field

Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis)

I then spent quite a bit of time at the marsh where many of the birds seem to concentrate; Common Chiffchaff were calling and foraging in the reeds - this one has some grey in the upperparts

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

A Streaked Weaver (Cat E species) was also calling from the reeds

Streaked Weaver (Ploceus manyar)

There were a few Stonechat's present, some with a lot of visible white in the tail which are Caspian Stonechat. I spent at least an hour with this individual trying to get flight images to show that diagnostic tail pattern and this proved to be quite challenging

Caspian Stonechat (Saxicola m. hemprichii)

and others with no visible white in the tail, which will remain as Eastern for now (but could be Armenian/Variegatus)

Eastern Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

Female Eastern Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

Walking part of the marsh, many Common Snipe were seen. The search for Pin-tailed continues unsuccessfully.........

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

as well as Jack Snipe - swinging a big piece of prime glass was not easy for the flight images

Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)

There were even a few Marsh Sandpipers which are pretty late

Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)

In the grasses and short fields next to the marsh, Pallid Swifts were seen overhead

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

With a surprise Red-rumped Swallow which could be of eastern origin - or just a late autumn migrant?

Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica)

Today I managed a clean sweep (Full House) of all 5 Lapwing species found in Kuwait and all at this location - I believe this is a first! Excuse the poor quality of some of the images, but I did manage to photograph all 5 as well

At the marsh, I had White-tailed Lapwing

White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

and Spur-winged Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus)

In one of the newly ploughed fields, a single Sociable Lapwing with the many Northern's

Sociable (Vanellus gregarius) and Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

and lastly, perhaps the more difficult,  I had 7 Red-wattled Lapwings in a field with quite long grass and contended with heat haze from water evaporating from the field

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Raptors were well represented with Eastern Imperial

Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)

A Western Osprey over the marsh was unexpected

Western Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Good numbers of Black Kite

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

The resident Common Kestrel

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

And wintering Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

A last drive around the farm, I had quite big numbers of Namaqua Dove on the overhead lines

Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis)

Along with a Meadow Pipit that I checked quite carefully - since we haven't had a Buff-bellied for quite some time

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)

Another great morning's birding at this location, but now it was time for a late breakfast

Long time, no see!

Week 47; 22 November 2019 - Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)

It was great to visit JPR again for a few hours in the afternoon, with the onset of winter it is amazing how quickly the light fades and sunset creeps closer to 5pm.

I spent some time with a female Eastern Stonechat in gorgeous golden light, complimented by the diffused brown of the Sabkha bushes in the background

Eastern Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

The star of the afternoon was this cracking adult Ring Ouzel that flushed from the side of the road and luckily for me, landed in a tree where it remained for 5-minutes. As much as I would have liked to get a little closer, I didn't try as Turdus species are notoriously skittish in Kuwait. It has been over 10-years since I last saw one in Kuwait, so a common bird it is not!

Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)

JPR is still the place to see Greater Spotted Eagles in winter

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

A couple of Western Marsh Harriers seem to overwinter at JPR, more females than males

Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

I took a drive down to the outfall and saw this Jack Snipe in the open, pretending to be anything but a bird

Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)

At one of the pools, I had this Common Snipe at the waters edge with glorious reflection in the water

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

By now the sun was almost gone, so headed back to the gate and got a bit creative with Common Chiffchaff's foraging on the boundary fence of the reserve

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

There were clouds in the sky and these were reflecting on one of the pools

Winter reflections

Followed by an afterglow as the sun set on another mild winters day in Kuwait

JPR Sunset