01/24/10
Needle in a haystack -
Categories: Week 04 - 23 January 2010, Sulaibikhat
The Lesser Flamingo (2nd record for Kuwait) found by Rashed Al Hajji on 16 January 2010 hadnt been seen for over a week. Pekka had confirmed Hume's Wheatear this morning, so I headed out to Sulaibikhat Bay in the late afternoon to check the big flocks of Greater Flamingo on the incoming tide to see if I could confirm the presence of this rarity. Images by Mike Pope
The first stop at the Maternity Hospital was fruitless, only a small flock could be checked. The much bigger flock was into the sun, so I headed to Sulaibikhat Reserve where I could have the sun behind me. There is still water at the reeds with the hide which is heartening and the first bird seen on the way in were a few calling Graceful Prinia's.
I drove to the part of the reserve closest to the flock, disturbing a flock of around 100+ roosting Kentish Plovers
A lone Dunlin in amongst the Kentish Plovers
I found an undisturbed spot and got myself comfortable. The big flock of Greater Flamingo's was some 500m away and was soon joined by the flock I had checked earlier - making the flock even bigger
After around 30-minutes of scanning back and forth through the flock, two Greater Flamingos parted and I saw the smaller Lesser Flamingo in the middle of the flock, before it got closed in again by the moving birds. The bird is in the middle of this image, but this is to give an indication of how far they were and how easily it could be overlooked
The same image cropped to show the dimunitive Lesser Flamingo amongst the larger Greaters.
Satisfied in confirming its presence for our visitors who arrived last night, I headed to Manchester Club to check what could be seen from the spur. Saturday afternoon is not the best time for this location, as it is used as a launch site for small fishing boats. There were big flocks of Gulls, Terns, Curlews and Greenshank that would roost here overnight.
White Wagtails were preening on the berm after a wash in the outfall
After a productive hour out, it was time to head home when I spotted this large flock of Crab Plovers on the Kuwait City side of the spur
