Saturday 23 April 2011

UAE East Coast Pelagic 22.04.11

Went off on a local Pelagic with many of the UAE birders yesterday !  Weather was perfect,  with a lovely breeze on the boat.  Probably the largest numbers of Sooty Gull I have seen over there easily in excees of 300 I would guess.  There were many flocks of Persian Shearwater 200+.   I saw 3 Arctic Skua, only one close enough to photograph though and unfortunately into the sun,  but fab to see it up so close.  Highlight for me was my first Flesh-footed Shearwater,  very distant but certainly distinguishable. The only downside was a stranded Socotra Cormorant that was attached by the foot to some fishing line which had got caught on a Harbour Buoy and could not free itself.   Fortunately shrap knife at hand allowed one of the team to cut the line and allow it to swim away. You can see a picture of this below.   All in all a nice afternoon out ! :-)


     Arctic Skua
 (Stercorarius parasiticus)  

  Arctic Skua
 (Stercorarius parasiticus)  

Persian Shearwater
(Puffinus persicus) 


Persian Shearwater
(Puffinus persicus) 

Persian Shearwater
(Puffinus persicus) 

Socotra Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

 Flesh-footed Shearwater
(Puffinus carneipes)


 Flesh-footed Shearwater
(Puffinus carneipes)   


Persian Shearwater
(Puffinus persicus) 

Socotra Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

 Socotra Cormorant 
(Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

Socotra Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

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