Almost, but not quite!

Week 04; 24 January 2020 - Abu Hassania

I had planned to try and see the Sunbird in the afternoon, but it wasn't possible today. So I checked the dense wooded area close to the residence where the Sunbird has been seen.

This is a deserted area along the beach where there were once some houses, but they are all uninhabited and have fallen into ruin - but it is pretty undisturbed and an ideal site that could produce a good bird. On the way in, had some Asian Grass Blue butterflies.

Asian Grass Blue (Zizeeria karsandra)

I checked some dense bush and my heart almost stopped when I saw a large black and white bird hopping about in dense foliage. It took quite some stealth and time to get clear views - Oriental Magpie-Robin. Sadly the consensus is that it is an escape, as they are quite common cage and aviary birds, so a Cat E tick.

Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis)

There are large numbers of White-eared Bulbul at this site, with many congregating in the trees to catch the late afternoon sun.

White-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis)

Down on the beach I entertained myself with some BIF of the Common Black-headed Gulls feeding over the outfall (or sewage flowing into the sea to call it as it is!). Some are starting to show signs of the black hood coming through..

Common Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

Walking back to the car, a Heuglin's Gull passed by overhead

Heuglin's Gull (Larus f. heuglini)

Twitch!

Week 03; 18 January 2020 - Jahra Pools Reserve

A belated happy new year and decade to all - global challenges persist, but may it also be a decade where all that we wish for and more comes to fruition, says the eternal optimist!

I had a fantastic 2 and bit weeks in South Africa for the first half of January with some time also spend in the Eastern Cape. While I was away, a group of visiting birders found the 1st Brown Shrike for Kuwait on the 3rd Jan and updates I received suggested it would probably stay at JPR. 

I arrived back in Kuwait from SA mid-morning in thundery weather, grabbed a taxi home, dropped my bags, unpacked my bins and camera and headed straight to Jahra Pools where I met Neil Tovey and Paul Scott. We tried for 2-hours without any sign of the bird.

We did have some soaring eagles pass by overhead - note the size difference of the one bird which still has us scratching our heads - maybe Imperial?

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

Possible Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)

At the outfall, a Wood and Green Sandpiper were seen side-by-side.

Wood (Tringa glareola) and Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)

At 4pm Neil and Paul called it quits - my internal battery was also running on low, but I persisted for another 1/2 hour. I sort of dozed off in my car when I suddenly heard a typical Shrike alarm call and there was the Brown Shrike sitting at the top of the tree where it had just flown up after having a bath somewhere inside the reedbed. Light conditions were awful, but a tick is a tick!

1st Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus)) for Kuwait

End of the Decade

Week 52; 28 December 2019 - Pivot Fields

This was my last day's birding before the year end, so too Pivot Fields it was which I worked really hard over 4-hours. Most of the expected wintering birds were seen, but nothing out of the ordinary. I guess it is tough expecting to top the Waterhen in the same month!

Near the Camel pens, I had two Eastern Stonechat

Eastern Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

And quite a few Water Pipits feeding on the decomposing alfalfa bales. Surprisingly these bales generate a lot of heat from the inside which in turn affects the sharpness of the image 

Caucasian Water Pipit (Anthus s. coutelli)

The Long-legged Buzzard's don't let you get close at all. With all the activity around the fields, you would think they would be a little more tolerant

Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

The wintering flock of Black/Black-eared Kite were close to 50

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

There were two huge flocks of Northern Lapwing that were quite flighty

Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus

but I did also manage to get reasonably close to some roosting in a field.

Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus

I had a flock of 15 Spur-winged Lapwing, the biggest number I have recorded to date

Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus)

I spent some time at the marsh, where I eked out one Jack Snipe amongst the countless Common Snipe (although I'm really looking for Pin-tailed)

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

7 of the 8 White-winged Terns seen were in full breeding plumage, getting the glint in the eye is quite a challenge

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

A flock of Ruff looking like a fighter jet display, inverted and coming in to land at the marsh

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

Amongst the Green Sandpiper, I found a Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)

By now the temperature was really pleasant and mild for a mid-winters day, so took a drive around the perimeter and some of the pivots - finding Eastern Imperial Eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)

and the cracking fulvescens Greater Spotted, for comparison, that has been present for quite some time

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga fulvescens)

There was a bit of a fight between two Sparrowhawk's that flushed from the Tamerisk Trees on the boundary - a bit far off to get any decent images though

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

I came across four Wood Pigeon perched on the overhead line

Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

I spent quite some time watching this Cattle Egret trying to down a Green Toad - would be a piece of cake for a Cormorant. At one point, another Egret came over and even then the Egret couldn't get it down - so I left it in peace.

Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) with Green Toad (Pseudepidalea viridis)

You can tell we are having a mild winter, when a Spiny-tailed Lizard awaken from its hibernation - judging from its colour, it was still really cold

Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis)

And that brought and end to another enjoyable morning's birding at the Pivots.

The next decade is almost upon us, so wishing all those who visit my blog a very happy new year and that 2020 is all that you wish for and more!

Hit and miss at JPR

Week 52; 27 December 2019 - Jahra Pools Reserve

My last weekend's birding of this year before I head down to SA for my long overdue summer holiday. I spent a few hours at JPR in the afternoon trying to re-locate the Waterhen, White-tailed Eagle and interesting Martins seen by visiting birders earlier in the week, without success.

Nevertheless, it is still a reserve to be enjoyed and there were still good numbers of Greater Spotted coming in to roost for the night.

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

The Western Osprey is still here and has been present for a couple of weeks now 

Western Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

I was surprised how few Water Pipit's there were

Caucasian Water Pipit (Anthus s. coutelli)

I had one White-winged Tern over the big pool

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

and down at the beach, a few Eurasian Curlews in the inter-tidal zones. These had really long bills, so possibly orientalis 

Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata orientalis)

Checking the skies for any Hirundines, I had two Barn Swallow and plenty of Pallid Swifts

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

Got a bit creative with the back and rim lighting on the reeds, as the sun slipped to the horizon

Backlit Phragmite Reeds

Sunset over Jahra

Jahra Pools keeps delivering

Week 51; 21 December 2019 - Jahra Pools Reserve

I had to work most of the weekend, but keenly followed the progress of visiting international birders who came during the week and weekend to twitch the Waterhen and Sunbird. 

Yesterday the 8th White-tailed Eagle and possibly the 2nd Pale Martin (pending confirmation) were found at JPR by our visitors. Finally I managed to get to JPR late this afternoon for 90-minutes birding before sunset.

At the big pool I had two female Western Marsh Harriers actively hunting

Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

No sign of any ominous looking raptor in the woods, but I did have a 'pair' of White-tailed Lapwing at one of the smaller pools - the looked good in the late afternoon light

White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

Down at the beach, the tide was a zillion miles out, but there were a couple of Greater Spotted Eagles already roosting at the edge of the low tide zone, with a large flock of Greater Flamingo's as a backdrop

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

Two Gull-billed Terns were quite active over the beach 

Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

Although a long way off, I noticed up to 6 Greater Spotted Eagles appearing a little agitated in amongst the reeds where the outfall flows into the sea, some flying in and then out again. Others just seemingly jostling amongst themselves. However, one of the Eagles was larger than the others, but it was only when I checked my images on my computer could I confirm this was indeed the White-tailed Eagle - not an ideal sighting by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully it stays till next weekend and gives better views

Greater Spotted Eagles (Aquila clanga) and White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) on the right

By now, the sun had disappeared, so I had to exit, stopping for this Greater Spotted that was roosting on the side of the road. I had 13 Greater Spotted Eagles that had come to roost for the night in the reserve, not all happy that the White-tailed had decided to do the same.

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)