I travelled up to the north to see what I could find. Unfortunately I forgot to check the state of the tide before I left. When I got to Al Ruwais it was very low which meant most of the waders were quite "far out" making photography a bit challenging. It was also quite quiet in general terms as I checked out spots along the coast so I only came away with a few images. A Grey Plover in shallow water at Al Ruwais Port A Mauryan Grey Shrike seen just outside Al Ruwais A Kentish Plover chick on the Fuwairit beach. One of two that were out in the open with their vigilant parents The Owl in the wall was still showing
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This time last year I came across a breeding colony of Egrets. I decided to return to the site to see if they were using it again this year. It was good to see that breeding activity was once again in full swing. I estimate over 30 nests were being used. There was all stages of breeding visible with brooding parents, fledgling chicks on nests and almost fully grown juvenile birds all to be seen. Adult in full breeding plumage showing the orange-buff wash on the crown, back and breast An almost fully grown juvenile. Note the greyish-blue beak and legs An adult watches over two chicks in the nest Here one of the chicks moves to the edge of the nest to defecate An adult incubating eggs or brooding chicks on a nest
I almost missed this Purple Heron as I drove past it, as it was blending so well into the tall clump of weeds it had positioned itself in. It stood motionless for ages waiting for a Field Mouse or something to come into range. After trying this for a while without a result it flew off and landed on a bush that housed a whole lot of Sparrow nests. I wondered if it was going to try and pinch a fledgling sparrow out of a nest. I decided to leave and let it go about its business of securing a meal A well camouflaged Purple Heron waiting for a prey item to come into range
Last week it was Tree Pipits, this week there were several Red-throated Pipits to be seen This juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron has been hanging around in this spot for a while now. It is seen here having a bit of a cat nap I came across two Masked Shrikes. This one had just flown down from its branch to catch this tasty morsel I also managed to tick this Turkestan Shrike. For some reason I don't see many of them here so it was a good sighting The resident Indian Silverbills are enjoying the abundance of seed heads at the moment This Red-vented Bulbul is on high alert, waiting to hawk an insect from its perch
Here are some images of an Eagle taken in the very poor light conditions of the last few days. It has been confirmed as a partly fulvescent Greater Spotted Eagle by Neil Morris. Whilst I have seen the GSE here this paler form is a first for my records
After all the recent overcast, windy and rainy weather it was wonderful to have this sunset view from our apartment on Friday night. The Diplomatic Club is in the foreground
I came across this Red-necked Phalarope feasting in insects trapped on the surface of the water in one of the irrigation storage dams. There were quite a number of dragon-fly larvae and these were definitely on the menu. Some of them were quite large and needed tenderising before they could be ingested Red-necked Phalarope Complete with Dragon-fly Some tenderising takes place The smaller pieces are ingested
The last couple of days have been overcast and grey. This makes it a bit challenging for photography, but despite this there were still some birds to be seen going about their business My first Bee-eaters of the season. I saw about half a dozen of these European Bee-eaters hawking insects between bouts resting on the ground Western Siberian Stonechat male Western Siberian Stonechat female Spannish Sparrow male with take-aways Daurian Shrike on lift off
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April 2024
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