Sunday 28 July 2013

In search of Sooty Falcon. 26.07.13

The Sooty Falcon has undergone a major decline in Arabia.  Current status as per the EBRC (Emirates Bird Recording Committee) - "Highly endangered declining breeding visitor (5 nesting pairs in 2008, per EAD) to offshore Arabian Gulf islands. Rare migrant onshore".  

So it was a pleasant surprise when an Emirati friend of mine reported a sighting on a remote peninsula near the Saudi Border some four and a half hours from Dubai.  For anyone interested here are the co-ords  24°20'42.76"N  51°39'0.31"E. It took a couple of weeks to follow this up (permission was needed as this was a restricted area) but on 26th July 3 vehicles headed for the location,  one from Dubai, one from Abu Dhabi and one from Al Ain.  In total 8 of us headed towards Sila,  having arranged to meet at the entrance gate at 2pm.  Having entered the Faziya reserve we headed to the end of the spit where a bird had been seen.  

We worked our way across the barren and desolate landscape to the multi-tiered cliffs. On the way to the cliffs, a lone European Roller sat perched beside the causeway, soon to be upstaged by a very tolerant Pharoah Eagle Owl sitting in a crevice in the cliff face. Probably the best encounter I have had with this species.

However, that was soon to be bettered. A small, dark shape in the shade of a distant Osprey nest turned out to be our quarry - the smoky grey plumage and shining yellow bill stunningly beautiful even in the slightly blurry, wind-blown view of the telescope, the bird partially obscured by the twigs of the nest. Unfortunately nowhere close enough for any sort of photo,  not even a record shot !


At the end of the peninsula, we had another better, though still distant, view of it perched on the cliff edge, before it flew below cliff level and was lost. We spread out and searched. Walking along the cliff top in parallel with a friend below me at the foot of the cliffs,  we had what was obviously a second bird fly up to cliff ledge, possibly flushed by him, for some reason and luckily for me it landed about 10 meters away,  I immediately hit the ground so as not spook the bird, I was offered great views for about 5 minutes before the bird took to the air once again.  Photos in the bag and brains suitably boiled in temperatures in excess of 40c we eventually dragged ourselves away, we left it patrolling the cliff edge, often hanging in the wind. A truly awesome bird in a spectacular setting and a lifer for me !!


The Barren landscape of the peninsula 
with zero vegitation


I am standing pretty much where the bird landed
As you can see I was extremely lucky it was so close by. 
You can see the vehicles in the distance.

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcon
(Falco concolor)

Pharaoh Eagle Owl
(Bubo ascalaphus)

Pharaoh Eagle Owl
(Bubo ascalaphus)

Pharaoh Eagle Owl
(Bubo ascalaphus)



Saturday 6 July 2013

UAE Pelagic Summary

Been a while since I posted,  to be honest I have travelled a lot recently, taken a lot of pictures, been working hard and just not had time for the blog.  However I find myself with 5 minutes to put together a small blog on a summary of some recent Pelagics I have been on off the East Coast of the UAE.

31st May 2013 Species Included :
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 4
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater 5
  • Persian Shearwater 4000 +   mostly in two large flocks - amazing sight,  one of the largest if not the largest count of this species in UAE waters.
  • Wilson's Storm Petrel 1
  • Red-necked Phalarope 15
  • Brown Noddy 1
  • Sooty Tern 1 (Immature)
  • Bridled Tern 700
  • Little Tern 5
  • Common Tern 200+
  • White-cheeked Tern 2
  • Lesser-crested Tern 2
  • Arctic Skua 1


Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)

Persian Shearwater (Puffinus persicus)

Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)

Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)


7th June 2013 Species Included :

Numbers were down on this trip,  still 1000+ Persian Shearwater,  however other species were lacking.  The highlight of the trip being a Long-tailed Skua

  • Persian Shearwater 1000 +
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater 2
  • Bridled Tern 180
  • Long-tailed Skua 1
Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)

Persian Shearwater (Puffinus persicus)

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)

Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)

Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)


14th June 2013 Species Included :

This turned out to be a cracking Pelagic especially if you needed to see Jouanin's Petrel !
Some of the Tuna action was the best I've seen !!
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater 6
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
  • Jouanin's Petrel 20
  • Wilson's Storm-petrel 22
  • Common Noddy 1
  • Red-necked Phalarope 2




Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)


Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)


Joaunin's Petrel (Bulweria fallax)


Joaunin's Petrel (Bulweria fallax)


Persian Shearwater (Puffinus persicus)


Persian Shearwater (Puffinus persicus)


Wilson's Storm Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus)





Wednesday 3 April 2013

Eagles and Harriers

March seemed to be a good time for Marsh Harriers and Greater Spotted Eagles down in the Dubai Pivot fields.  Whilst I am used to seeing many Harriers this time of year,  Greater Spotted Eagles are a different story.  Whilst fairly common down the road at the Ras Al Khor sanctuary,  in my experience this is the most GS Eagle activity I have seen at the Pivots.  There has been a subtle change in habitat at the Pivots where man-made dunes have now grown lots of shrubs in what was otherwise a grass field,  maybe this has influenced the activity,  certainly the Marsh Harriers focused on this area.  

However the raptor highlight was a Lesser Spotted Eagle,  only the 2nd confirmed record in the UAE.  I photographed the bird descending and landing in the aforementioned dunes,  it did seem a little odd to me but I did just assume it was a GS Eagle.  It was only later when the images were viewed by a Raptor specialist that it became apparent this was probably the first photographed LS Eagle in the UAE,  now confirmed.

Sadly it's time for the Eagles to move on along with many of the Harriers,  until next winter !



Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus)


Greater Spotted Eagle
(Clanga clanga)


Greater Spotted Eagle
(Clanga clanga)


Lesser Spotted Eagle
(Clanga pomarina)


Lesser Spotted Eagle
(Clanga pomarina)


Lesser Spotted Eagle
(Clanga pomarina)


Lesser Kestrel
(Falco naumanni)


Lesser Kestrel
(Falco naumanni)





Friday 8 February 2013

A few bits and pieces in the UAE (Part 2) .....

Ajban

Ajban farms is a favorite site of mine ,  located between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  It is a desert scrub area  with large water lakes.  Unfortunately the water is constantly being pumped into tankers for nearby constructions sites.  Not sure how much longer there will be water there,  once gone I am sure there will be a significant reduction in birds to be found in the area.


Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)


Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra)


Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)


Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta)


Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)


Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)


Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii)


Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana)


Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana)


Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)


Little Owl (Athene noctua)


Red-tailed Wheatear (Oenanthe chrysopygia)


Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)


Little Owl (Athene noctua)


Little Owl (Athene noctua)