Paul Scott and I had an early start to get to Abraq a little after sunrise on a crisp and clear morning with an azure blue sky and the mercury around 5-degrees. It was certainly a lot colder than we thought it would be.
First bird we saw was a Grey Wagtail, just after the entrance of the farm - so that was encouraging.
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| Male Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) |
We flushed a Squacco Heron from the same area, to slow to change the camera settings, so a Squacco in motion
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| Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) |
We walked the wooded area and found that Willow Warblers had also arrived and were foraging together with the Chiffchaff's. With its pale legs I thought the bird below was Willow, but I stand corrected with the insight's of an experienced ringer who confirms it is Chiffchaff; small dark bill, neat eye-ring and short wings
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| Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) |
We heard the long staying Hume's Leaf Warbler and took some time to get images of this fast moving and energetic little bird - in fact there were two birds present
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| Hume's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus humei) playing hiding-go-seek |
In the open area, we had a male Western Marsh Harrier pass by overhead
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| Male Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) |
A Daurian and Mauryan Grey Shrike were also seen, so finally some spring migrant action
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| Mauryan Grey Shrike (Lanius lahtora pallidirostris) |
We then had a walk through one of the areas that last year was just sand, but is now covered in grass and flowers and looked for invertebrates; Painted Lady's still abound
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| Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) |
As do the possible Bordered Straw Moths
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| Possible Eastern Bordered Straw (Heliothis nubigera) |
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| Possible Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltigera) paler than the Eastern Bordered Straw |
and there were many caterpillars seen on plants and on the ground - I suspect these are Painted Lady caterpillars
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| Possible Painted Lady Caterpillar |
Not sure what this smooth caterpillar is, but it shook off the ants that 'attacked' it and continued on its way
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| Unknown Caterpillar |
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| Fighting off the Ants |
Another Striped Hawk-moth was a highlight for Paul
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| Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica) |
We had an unidentified Beetle
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| Beetle sp. |
and Wasp with a partially red abdomen
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| Wasp sp. |
We also found a young nymph Grasshopper that had us stumped. But after sharing the images with Dr. Arne Lehehman, he identified it as 2nd instar Stone Grasshopper which will grow to 4-6cm in a couple of weeks
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| 2nd instar Stone Grasshopper (Eremotmethis carinatus) |
I showed Paul the Desert Hyacinth and it appears to have flowered in the last week
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| Desert Hyacinth (Cistanche lutea) |
The Red Thumbs were still showing and have quite a repugnant smell and for the rest, the flower show continues
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| Flower sp. |
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| Daisy? |
We headed back east to Liyah where the camel herds are still grazing freely inside the reserve - the fragile ecosystem certainly wont last long. We had Desert and Isabelline Wheatear along with Woodchat and Mauryan Grey Shrike and a single male Siberian Stonechat
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| Male Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola m. variegatus) |
Last stop of the day was at Jahra Farm, I was heartened to see my Dad's spirit bird as we walked in the gate
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| Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
A Common Myna flew past carrying food or nesting material
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| Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) |
And a single Bank Myna came past in the opposite direction
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| Bank Myna (Acridotheres ginginianus) |
Another Moth that looks similar to the one I found last week?
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| Possible Nomophila noctuella |
The White-throated Kingfisher's were actively calling in preparation for the pending breeding season. One of them zipped by in front of me, this was the best I could do..
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| White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) |
So, it seems migration has finally kicked off and the coming weeks should hopefully be better, unless of course all the emergent habitat in the desert disperses the migrants?
