Yesterday was very dusty, about as bad as I've ever seen it. Nevertheless I went to the chicken farm to see what was around. Due to the conditions and time constraints, I ended up with only a couple of wagtails.


Yellow Wagtail, form M. flava 'superciliaris' - In Helm 2003 considered an intergrade between feldegg and flava or beema.


White wagtail

I have been having a lean time lately. With only a small envelope of two to three hours on Fridays, I have just concentrated on one spot and hoped for the best.


Common snipe, shaking his head after pruning.


The same bird


Bluethroat


Citrine wagtail


Glossy ibis, applying a bit of polish


Bluethroat, subspecies svecica, from Northern Europe


Frontal view of the same bird

I haven't been out much in recent weeks but did manage a few hours yesterday. There wasn't much doing apart from the usual stuff but I did spot this blue-cheeked bee-eater in a field. His tail feathers are gone and he looked rather sorry for himself.

I stayed in Bahrain from Wednesday evening until Friday afternoon. It gave me more time to photograph birds than I usually get. Here are the results.


Isabelline shrike with lunch


Marsh harrier with a snack in it's talon.


Marsh harrier resting between hunts.


Common mynah making a racket.


After hundreds of blue-cheeked bee-eaters last week, only two this week. This is one of them.


Water pipit with a snack.


Isabelline wheatear.

Indian silverbill.

Barn swallow.

Yesterday I was very lucky and came across a sociable lapwing, pictures below.



Below are other pictures form the outing.






Blue-cheeked bee-eaters


Snipe

This Friday was a mixed bag, some of the usual stuff and two different ones.


Isabelline wheatear


Isabelline shrike


European roller


Pin-tailed wydha. I've seen them before but never with the long tail feathers.


Spiny-tailed lizard or dhub