The morning of our 4th day was dedicated to visiting the isolated farm of Al Abraq out in the western desert. On the drive out there we managed our first
Black Kite of the trip and within a short space of time we'd arrived on site. Despite cold and windy conditions we thoroughly checked the whole area and had a very entertaining and educational morning. In an overgrown orchard area we quickly located the wintering
Hume's Warbler and with a little encouragement from a recording it called back and showed very nicely. Also seen on our wander were
Black Redstart, c3 Desert Wheatears, Chiffchaff, 6+ Song Thrushes, Robin and Cattle Egret. The next tactic here was to slowly drive a small area of green and irrigated cultivations on the edge of the farm which traditionally always attract plenty of birds. It proved a great idea with
8+ Water Pipits, 5+ Meadow Pipits, Tawny Pipit, 3 European Stonechats, loads of
White Wagtails and surprisingly the first few migrant
Yellow Wagtails. With perseverance and a lot of searching I got onto an odd looking heavily marked pipit and it was the bird we'd been hoping to connect with - a
Buff-bellied Pipit of the asian race 'japonicus'. It was rather secretive in the vegetation but eventually gave itself up for some great views and photographs.
Desert Wheatear, Al Abraq
Al Abraq
Black-headed Wagtail, Al Abraq
Tawny Pipit, Al Abraq
Buff-bellied Pipit, Al Abraq
Buff-bellied Pipit, Al Abraq
With the weather deteriorating we left Al Abraq and headed back to the bright lights of the city and once more to Jahra Pools. Migrants were clearly starting to move through as things were a little more lively than our previous visit.
9+ Marsh Sandpipers, Common and Green Sandpiper, 4 Little Stints, Dunlin and
Avocet were new arrivals.
200+ Spanish Sparrows flew back and forth over the reeds,
Bluethroat was again present as were
Moustached Warbler, Graceful Prinia, Water Pipit, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier and increased numbers of
Swallows, House Martins and
Pallid Swifts. Along the back track a pair of
Siberian Stonechats showed extremely well.
Siberian Stonechat, Jahra Pools
Siberian Stonechat, Jahra Pools
A quick look at Jahra Farms again, in the pouring rain was predictably unproductive. But we lived to fight anther day...
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