Impromptu guiding

Week 49; 07 November 2018 - Green Island and Sulaibikhat Bay

After an enjoyable morning of tennis, I had planned a leisurely walk around Green Island. When I arrived I saw a couple with binoculars and camera looking a little 'lost'. I stopped to speak with them and introduce myself only to find out that Stanislaw and Kasia had arrived earlier in the morning from Poland and their local guide was not at the airport to meet them. So, they arranged for the hotel driver to bring them to Green Island. 

I suggested they join me and we had an hours walk around this man-made island finding a few of their target species. Stan needed only 5 more birds to get to 700 on his WP list and had come to Kuwait to achieve this. White-eared Bulbul was the quickest addition for Stan with one of many seen at the entrance

White-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis)

I found the Weaver, but no luck with the Red-vented Bulbul. On the seaside there were a few Continental Great Cormorants

Continental Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sinensis)

Their driver was only picking them up at 3pm and I couldn't leave them at Green Island for another 4-hours. So, I took them on an orientation drive to show where they could find some of their other target species like Hypocolius and Crab-plover. We ended up at Sulaibikhat Bay, unfortunately the tide was still a little far out for any Crab-plovers (they did get them at the same place later in the week, as well as the Hypocolius), but we enjoyed some of the other species that were in the Bay. More White-eared Bulbul's.

White-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis)

Gull-billed Terns hunting up and down the inter-tidal zone

Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

Many Common Black-headed Gulls

Common Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

And both colour forms of Western Reef Heron, here the dark form cruising over the many Mudskipper's below

Western Reef Heron (Egretta g. schistacea)

Not bird related, but they also enjoyed the antics of the two species of Mudskipper that occur in this habitat; Walton's Mudskipper is the smaller of the two

Walton's Mudskipper (Periophthalmus waltoni)

The other and much larger is Boleophthalmus dussumieri, but often they are found together in the same pool and are both full of character

Boleophthalmus dussumieri

On the drive back to Green Island, I pointed out Al Shaheed Park where they could find another two of their target species. I stayed in touch with Stan and Kasia during their stay and gave them locations for Indian Roller and Babbler. In fact Afghan Babbler was Stan's 700th bird for the WP - a really good bird for that milestone.

What the fog!

Week 48; 01 December 2018 - Mutla'a Ranch, Liyah area and Jahra Farm

Neil Tovey and I had planned to explore Liyah North for Larks, following the good rains. However, we were greeted with a very heavy fog that blanketed most of Kuwait that created havoc on the roads. Isn't it amazing that irrespective of conditions, you still get those ........... who disregard everyone's safety by driving like............(add whatever words are appropriate). 

Neil and I agreed to meet at the Mutla'a turnoff, but it was slow going and quite disorientating trying to make our way there with no landmarks to be seen and even most of the road signs were not visible. Once we caught up, we thought it best to stick it out at Mutla'a Ranch, driving slowly past some of the ghostly desert camps on the way.

Desert Camp

Once at the ranch, we parked and walked - birds, mostly Robins to start, were audible, but just not visible

I can hear you!

The Eurasian Collared Doves were all quite nervous and flighty, probably unsure about this crazy weather

Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

There was quite heavy dew as a result of the fog

Dripping with dew

In in places that were still wet from the previous weeks deluge, life was starting to sprout forth

New life

At 8:30, Neil called it a morning as he had other commitments, but I waited it out as the fog was starting to become less dense. Neil called me from Kuwait City saying it was clear, so I thought I would try Liyah North as the fog slowly lifted and started to clear.

I found a large flock of around 20 soggy Black-eared/Black Kites that were still on the deck. As I got closer, they flew a little and then settled back on the ground preening and trying to get their feathers dry.

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

Black-eared Kite (Milvus m. lineatus)

Fighting for the spoils

There was not much else to be seen in this area, so thought I would try an area west of Liyah where earlier in the week Black and Griffon Vultures were found. I did a big circuit in the desert in the general area, but best I could find was a dark form Long-legged Buzzard, which I had not seen before

Dark form Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

I cut my losses and tried Jahra Farm - aside from White Wagtails, I had two Meadow Pipits

Skulky Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)

And then started looking at the invertebrates; there appeared to be an eruption of these Hawaiian Beet Web-worm Moths

Hawaiian Beet Web-worm Moth (Spoladea recurvalis)

Plus a couple of big flies

Fly sp.

and a strange Wasp that reminded me of a Firefly with it's red/orange abdomen

Wasp sp.

A mega in the west

Week 47; 24 November 2018 - Al Abraq and Dairy Farm Pivots

Kris (Spider) Webb and Mushuq (Mush) Ahmed were in Kuwait for a weeks birding. I arranged to meet them and take them to the Al Abraq in the west of Kuwait where we would also catch-up with Neil Tovey. It was an early start to get to the farm after sunrise albeit in overcast conditions. 

We met up with Neil who connected us with a small flock of Eurasian Penduline Tits to start the morning, but I had to crank up the ISO.

Eurasian Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus)

We spent quite some time in the woods chasing down a Warbler, which ended up being two Warblers - the first was a late Garden Warbler and the second a probable Caspian Reed Warbler

Caspian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus s. fuscus)

There were many Chiffchaff's seen and heard calling - both Kris and Mush were confident that some were Siberian. I photographed a couple and even now there is some variation in the plumage of some birds - more study is needed!

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

There were at least two, but possibly three Red-breasted Flycatchers - but these diminutive, but likable birds were tough to pin down

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva)

Kris and Mush were also interested in some of the invertebrates; I pointed out this Mediterranean Pierrot

Mediterranean Pierrot (Tarucus rosaceus)

And a couple of Dragonflies/Darters - this one looked like a Transformer as it had probably escaped being eaten, but lost some of its carapace. So you could see all the working parts

'Naked" Darter sp.

Around the fields we had a Byzantine and European Stonechat

European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)

At this time of year, as it cools down, so the flies erupt in swarms!

Flies - the winter curse

On the drive around the farm before leaving, a bonus Asian Desert Warbler

Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana)

Before heading east to Jahra, I did a detour to the Dairy Farm Pivots for a walk around two of the fields. We had a single Lesser Kestrel on the way to the field

Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

It was around this time last year that we had Bimac Larks with the Skylarks. It took some time, but we eventually found a flock of around 30 Skylark but they were very flighty and did not allow close approach. We scanned the flock carefully each time they erupted from the field. It was Kris who picked up an exception in the flock which he thought might be Bimac, but as the flock turned into favourable light, Mush shouted that it had a white trailing edge to the wing which we all saw as it came in to land, which makes it Calandra. After some time, we confirmed there were three Calandra's in the flock! This is the 4th record for Kuwait - a real mega! 

Now we had to try and get some record images which proved pretty tough, but was made easier with Mush shouting where the bird was in the flock when they flew which helped Kris and I get some usable images (we were successful), but not as close as we would have liked to be

4th Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) with Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)

4th Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)

4th Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) with Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)

4th Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) with Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)

A very fruitful and successful detour and a couple of happy birders driving back to Kuwait. I showed Kris and Mush where to find the Red-tailed Wheatear I saw yesterday (today the same area was a nightmare with the desert campers and quad bikers - however, later in the week they did find the RT Wheatear in exactly the spot I had showed them). 

Here is the URL to Kris's Blog Scilly Spider