Tuesday 28 December 2010

Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary 27.12.10

Not had chance to do an "India Part 2" yet,  but hopefully will get to it soon.  In the meantime I managed to catch the last couple of hours sunlight at this sanctuary yesterday.  Not somewhere I go very often as the hides are not placed well and 95% of the sanctuary is out of sight.  However it does offer great photographic opportunities of Greater Flamingo especially towards the end of the day when many fly into position in front of the hide.   Biggest problem I have with these birds is getting a correct exposure,  most usually end up clipped :-(

Anyways if you are ever in Dubai it is worth an hour of your time especially if you are here in the winter months.

Seen during my visit were Great Cormorant, Western Reef Egret, Grey Heron, Pacific Golden Plover, Shelduck, Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Spoonbill, Marsh Harrier, Greater Spotted Eagle, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Black-Winged Stilt.

 Great Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax carbo)
 Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)
 Great Egret
(Ardea alba)
  Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)
  Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)
  Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)
 Eurasian Spoonbill
(Platalea leucorodia)

 Eurasian Curlew
(Numenius arquata)
  Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)
 Greater Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber)

Saturday 18 December 2010

Dubai and Al Ain 17-18 Dec 2010


A round up of this weekends activities.  Not been too well last week so stayed local yesterday.  Visited the Dubai Pivot Fields Friday afternoon.    Things quietening down now here after Autumn migration. 


Dubai Pivot Field 17.12.10


1 Black-Throated Thrush
1 Southern Grey Shrike
1 Bluethroat
2 Siberian Stonechat
6 Glossy Ibis
20 Starling
1 Citrine Wagtail
1 Richard's Pipit
6 White Wagtail
1 Marsh Harrier
5 Little Green Bee-Eater
Other pipits/wagtails/bank myna/cattle egret etc....

 Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus )

Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus ) 

 Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
Little Green Bee-Eater (Merops orientalis )

Al Ain 18.12.10
Jimi Oasis

Pallid Scops Owl 2

Jebel Hafit

Ring Ouzel 1
Black Redstart 2
Hume's Wheatear 1

Green Mub - Back Wadi

Lesser Whitethroat 4 (or desert ? looks more like Desert to me)
Plain Leaf Warbler 3
Barbary Falcon 1 (heading back to base with a kill)
Red-Tailed Wheatear 1
Black Redstart 2
Olivaceous Warbler 1
Pallid Scops Owl (Otus brucei)


Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca )

 Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Hippolais pallida)

Plain Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus neglectus )

Plain Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus neglectus ) 

Red-Tailed Wheatear (Oenanthe xanthoprymna)


Monday 6 December 2010

Sila 3.12.10 - 4.12.10

Since I started birding in the UAE, Sila has been on my 'to-do' list as it is famous for rarities and has had a good variety of birds over recent years.  One of the problems being a Dubai resident is the distance in getting there.  The drive is approx 4 to 4.5 hours down to the western most point of the UAE ,  very close to the Saudi border.
As it was a long weekend with two Public holidays I thought I would spend a couple of days down that way.  It was also good to know that several other UAE resident birders were going to be there too, this proved to be a blessing in disguise :-)

I set off Friday morning around 6:30am with the intentention of going as far as Jebel Dhanna via Mirfa, birding these locations,  staying over night and then moving on to Sila the next day.    I arrived in Mirfa mid morning and met a fellow Emirati birder, Khalifa.  Together we both found a Pied Stonechat female in the small park, it was extremely shy and having only got brief views and no pics, it quickly disappeared for good !   At this point I changed my plan and decided to go straight to Sila, an hour past Jebel Dhanna and spend the afternoon looking for and photographing wintering Grey Hypocolius,  one of the few places in the UAE to still see these birds.   This was a good decision as when I arrived at the Marsh Date Plantations in Sila there were at lease 20 individuals amongst the flock, happily coming backwards and forwards to a dead Acacia tree.

 Grey Hypocolius
(Hypocolius ampelinus)
 Grey Hypocolius
(Hypocolius ampelinus)
Grey Hypocolius
(Hypocolius ampelinus)


With several reasonable pics in the bag I decided to head back to Jebel Dhanna for a couple of beers, currry and a good nights sleep at the Dhafra Resort hotel.

Next morning I got up early and had breakfast at 6:00am with a view to surveying the grounds of the hotel,  Corn Bunting had been seen here a few days earlier.  Alas no bunting but many Water Pipits , White Wagtails , Skylark and one Common Kestrel.   So off back to Sila it was.  This time with Dark-Thoated Thrush in my sights.  Two had been noted Friday by some of the guys preceding me.   One to be found in Sila Park and one in a small Ghaf/Date plantation.   With a quick call to friends I soon had the location and within 10 minutes I had the first Dark-Throated Thrush.

 Dark-Throated Thrush
(Turdus atrogularis)
  Dark-Throated Thrush
(Turdus atrogularis)
 Dark-Throated Thrush
(Turdus atrogularis)

It was about to get more interesting,  I got a call from Oscar to tell me that he was with others in the next adjacent plantation and they had a possible Taiga Flycatcher.  This would be only the 3rd record in the UAE !  I quickly got out of the plantation and drove over to the second larger plantation where I found the group playing the Taiga calls from an MP3 player. This certainly created some reaction in the bird. It was quite visible but tucked away in the undergrowth and low bushes.  The light was terrible and gave no real opportunities for good pictures.   Recordings were taken and along with in-depth studies of what photographic evidence could be gained a decision was made that it was indeed a Taiga Flycatcher.  I had decided that I would come back later in the afternoon as the light would have improved by then,  as fate would have it my friends Tommy and Mark were making a mad dash to the area at the end of the day and asked me to meet them there.  This proved to be a decisive moment as the bird was out of the undergrowth and much more visible,  we had good views but limited photographic opportunities.  But enough to at least get one or two off !  This proved to be the sighting of the weekend for me.  In the plantation there were also Sparrowhaek, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black Redstart, Song Thrush and Red-Breasted Flycatcher.

Taiga Flycatcher
(Ficedula albicilla)
In between the Flycatcher sightings I had visited Sila Park,  a small but lovely park which I believe is very good during migration seasons !   I shall certainly visit during the next season.   Another Dark-Throated Thrush was to be noted here but a much shyer bird.   Disappearing into the trees at the slightest interest !   Here I also found several Durian and Isabelline Shrike,  many Water Pipit and White Wagtails and one particularly lovely Kestrel !
Dark-Throated Thrush
(Turdus atrogularis)

Dark-Throated Thrush
(Turdus atrogularis)

 Daurian Shrike
(Lanius isabellinus)
  Daurian Shrike
(Lanius isabellinus)


Common Kestrel
(Falco tinnunculus)
 
So my first trip to the Western Region was a wonderful experience - somewhere I will be spending much more time in future !


Saturday 27 November 2010

India Nov 2010 Part 1

Not strictly UAE birding I know but thought I'd share some comments and pictures from my trip to Rajasthan recently.  Although I have lived in the UAE for 6 years it was my first trip to India (I know - pathetic !).  As I wanted to go with my wife we put an itinery together that had a mix of birding and sightseeing.   Our initial port of entry was Delhi from where we quickly left to Bharatpur.  This was once one of the Top Birding sites in the world,  however over recent years the water levels have dramatically reduced and the number of birds recorded there have diminished significantly.   The Keoladeo Ghana National Park was once famous for the Siberian Crane, sadly these have not been reported for several years now.   Adding to this was the issue of reported sightings of a Tiger in the Park,  this had the negative effect of restricting large areas of the park to the Public.   However I had only 3 days there and so left us with plenty of birds to go after.   I hired a guide and a couple of Rickshaws for the 3 days,  the guys were execllent and looked after us well !!    I have included the cycle licence plates of the Rickshaw drivers for your reference, should you ever be out that way.  Soran Singh was my guide and we stayed at the famous Birder's Inn ,  Bharatpur.   Cheap and friendly - enjoyed our stay very much.

Some pics from Keoladeo Ghana National Park :


 Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala)
Darter
(Anhinga melanogaster)

 Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala)
Sarus Crane
(Grus antigone)

 White-Throated Kingfisher
(Halcyon smyrnensis)
 Pied Buschat
(Saxicola caprata)
 Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala)
 Dusky Eagle Owl
(Bubo coromandus)
 Spotted Owlet
(Athene brama)
 Long-Tailed Shrike
(Lanius schach)
 Black-Rumped Flameback
(Dinopium benghalense)

 Eurasian Spoonbill
(Platalea leucorodia)
Asian Openbill
(Anastomus oscitans )

Finally in this Part here is the information on the Rickshaw riders and Guide that I used :








Tuesday 9 November 2010

MEGA at the Pivot Fields 8.10.11

7th November 2010 was an exciting day for the UAE. It's very first record of a Buff-Breasted Sandpiper ! I heard about it in the evening of the 7th and along with many others made my plans to be there at first light. I arrived at the site at approx 6:30am and met up with four other Birders, Clive, Neil , Mark and Andrew. We feared the worst when it seemed that the bird was not around but I knew I was with several very experienced birders and that if it was here it would be found !! At approx 7:15am it flew in and was quickly spotted by Neil. The scopes were set up and good views were achieved. By now I was getting an itchy trigger finger but I did not want to risk flushing the bird whilst people were yet to get there views. But work was calling all of us and one by one everyone left until I was left on my own. So out came the trusty Canon 7D and 500mm and off I went.  Here are some of the results.

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper
(Tryngites subruficollis )



Buff-Breasted Sandpiper
(Tryngites subruficollis )
Buff-Breasted Sandpiper
(Tryngites subruficollis )

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper
(Tryngites subruficollis )