Gavin Farnell invited me to join him on a trip to the South of Qatar to an area adjacent the Saudi Border in search of this desert special. It was my first trip this far south and I was keen to see what the topography looked like. At the border post we left the tarmac and headed out into the desert hoping to track down this small creature. Gavin told me they sun themselves on top of small shrubs that dot the dune landscape and this is where we should concentrate our efforts. Its great when a plan comes together. We had not travelled far and there one was perched on top of a shrub. As we observed it, it jumped off onto the sand and scuttled off a short distance. Gavin had also told me how they are known to curl up their tail like a scorpion as a defence mechanism, and to watch out for this behaviour. Right on cue our Agama obliged. We had lovely visuals of this individual for a few more minutes. Another lifer for my Qatar list Our target species for the day, an Arabian Toad-headed Agama sunning itself on top of a shrub It leaps off the shrub onto the dune below It stood motionless on the sand, blending into the background perfectly Note the yellow/orange colouring on the back of the head Right on cue, the scorpion curled tail manoeuvre A final image before it scurried off as across the desert.
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It looks like another migration season has come and gone. Sightings of migrating birding parties have dropped off dramatically.Temperatures have climbed and are now in the mid forties. The local residents though are to be seen going about their lives despite the heat. Grey Francolin Little Grebe Crested Lark Arabian Grey Shrike Eurasian Collared Dove Male House Sparrow
Recently I have come across two birding related articles regarding avian issues occurring in the Middle East. I include links here for those who may want to find out more about these matters. Click on the text buttons below to be navigated to the pages Threat to Northern Bald Ibis in Syria. A BBC article written about this issue. This bird is listed as Critically Endangered by Birdlife International with a estimated count of 200 - 500 mature individuals remaining "Unsubstantiated claims concerning the breeding biology of the Basra Reed Warbler." Richard Porter and colleagues have expressed concerns about the breeding biology research paper as published by Al-Sheikhly et al. See comments posted on the OSME website. This bird is listed as Endangered by Birdlife International with an estimated count of 1500 - 7000 mature individuals remaining
Last week I managed to get some images of what looked like a juvenile Kite of some description as it flew overhead. I submitted them to QBRC for adjudication as I was not absolutely sure on the identification of the bird. I have been informed that it is most likely to be a Black Kite X Black-eared Kite (intergrade). There is only one official record of a Black Kite in Qatar dating back to 2013. The Black-eared Kite is listed as rare with 15 sightings accepted by the committee between 2004 and 2014. It would seem that this is a first record of an intergrade bird here. So all in all a rare and unusual sighting
The other day when I arrived at one of the burrow sites to spend some time observing the owls I came across some other photographers already there. I witnessed a rather unique interaction. They were throwing grubs onto the floor and one of the parents was flying down onto the ground, collecting them and then taking them back to the safety of the rocks to feed them to the owlets.The owl was quite bold and at one point even landed on the ground and looked up expectantly at the vehicle as if asking for a top up. Given the number of vehicles visiting the burrows for photo opportunities these owls have obviously become quite habituated to human presence. This is confirmed by this interaction Parent on ground collecting up a grub in its beak It then flew back to this prominent rock near the burrow. From here it hopped down into the rocks where the owlets were situated Having fed the collected grub to one of the owlets it would hop back up onto a prominent rock and swoop back down to the spot where the grubs had been thrown on the ground and repeat the process Looking up at the vehicle whilst waiting for a further supply of the grubs Just prior to take -off with another grub for delivery Once the feeding session was over the parent returned to stand guard at one of its favourite look-out points near the burrow
The Tortoise (actually a terrapin or semi-aquatic turtle, but a bit of poetic license for the sake of the story). The Red-eared Slider is unfortunately an introduced species into the country which are sold as pets at the Souks. Some have escaped or have been released and are to be found in fresh water bodies at various locations. They originate from the lower Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico The Hare. Known as the Desert Hare, the Arabian Hare or the Cape Hare (Lepus capensis) or in the local vernacular as Al Arnab. They are widely distributed and found in habitat with some vegetation or scrub. Generally active at night, they spend the day resting up in shallow scrapes under bushes. I was almost on top of this one before it burst into flight. Luckily it stopped to have a look, which allowed me to get this image. This is my first sighting of a Hare in Qatar
Here are some owlet behaviour observations as they go about their lives in the vicinity of the burrows Two siblings squabbling Pedicure Under-wing preening The morning after a late night out Double wing flex, practising for lift off Right side wing and leg stretch Some housekeeping Head scratch
Here are a collection of a few Tern shots taken around Qatar recently. I have delayed the posting of these images as some of them involved breeding birds A concerned parent Saunders's Tern hovers overhead checking that the chick is safe A Saunders's Tern chick A Bridled Tern parent perches on top of the nesting bush A single egg is laid in a scrape under the bush Bridled Tern A Lesser Crested Tern flies by in evening light A White-cheeked Tern flies overhead. We suspect they were also breeding in small numbers near the Bridled Terns
Some interesting observations this week. The little tern was in the same spot as last week. Instead of being accompanied by a Collared Pratincole there was a Red-throated Pipit feeding nearby. This week I managed to get a lovely reflection of the Little Tern on the surface of the puddle in soft side light Just off to one side this Red-throated Pipit was feeding on a patch of grass Close to where I saw the Indian Peafowl female and her brood of chicks last week I came across this male in full display. Perhaps this was the father of the brood Back at the pond the juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron was still present but there was no sign of the female Little Bittern Elsewhere though this male Little Bittern was getting mobbed by some Common Mynahs so perhaps they had a nest close to hand which they were defending I also watched this Eurasian Collared Dove as it was busy collecting nesting material Another pair of Geese have also been sitting on some eggs. Only one seems to have hatched and here is the little gosling that has made it.
Every day throws up something new or different. You never really know what to expect.Here is some of what I saw when I was out and about the other day. A Black-winged Stilt A male Namaqua Dove A male Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark A Red-throated Pipit A Spotted Flycatcher. I have seen these in good numbers in the last few weeks I spent quite a while trying to get an image of a Pallid Swift as some of them circled overhead and then swooped down to drink water from one of the dams on the farm
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