Here is a short photographic sequence of a Lesser Whitethroat making a meal of a Painted Lady Butterfly. Having caught the Butterfly, it proceeded to remove the wings. That done it then despatched the body in one huge gulp Okay, so what's for pudding? This one gave us some trouble to ID correctly. Final consensus is that it is a Hume's Whitethroat
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Neil Morris kindly took me down to the resort to show me around. We had a productive day's birding with over 40 ticks. New species for my Qatar list included Eurasian Stone-curlew, Eurasian Wryneck, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, both male and female, Whinchat, Eurasian Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat. We also took a break during the heat of the day to enjoy a lovely meal at one of the restaurants. All in all a great trip. Male Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush in evening light A Female Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, having flown onto the ground from her look-out post to catch an insect The beach and lagoon areas were a bit quiet. A pair of Kentish Plovers who had successfully reared a chick were present, as well as a single Grey Plover, a Western Reef Heron (dark phase), a Sanderling, a Purple Heron, a Squacco Heron, an injured Slender-billed Gull and a very shy Eurasian Stone-curlew. We were hoping for some Gull and Tern sightings, but nothing really, other than some long range visuals of a few terns flying north, but quite far out to sea Kentish Plover chick. Almost impossible to detect when lying in a small hollow on the beach. Here, its movement alerted me to its presence A lone Sanderling feeding on the open shoreline above the wave wash An obliging female Common Redstart. The male was less co-operative Eurasian Wryneck, a shy bird which is hard to locate given its cryptic plumage. One of my favourites There were Chiffchaff's to be found in almost every shrub on the property. Big numbers moving through on the spring migration. In amongst them was this Willow Warbler, as pointed out to me by Mike Pope Other species included European Bee-eater, Cattle Egret, Barn Swallow, Menetries's Warbler, Ortolan Bunting, Eurasian Hoopoe, Common Kestrel, Osprey, Red-throated Pipit, Tree Pipit, White-throated Robin, Daurian and Turkestan Shrikes, Yellow Wagtail, Barred Warbler, Isabelline, Northern and Pied Wheatears, and the rest.
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April 2024
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