Bahrain Obs

On Monday I got a phone call from Essa Farraj the head of the Bird Section at Al Areen Wildlife Park to say that he had successfully hatched a Houbara Bustard chick, a first for the park, had two other eggs in incubators with another hen sitting out possible on eggs in the parks enclosed aviary. Today I was able to visit the park and see the chick myself which thankfully is putting on weight and seems to be thriving.
The park does not undertake any artificial breeding methods so Essa has had to wait eight years for birds in his captive flock to conceive and lay naturally. He was understandably very proud of his achievement so I wish him good luck with the rearing of the chick and the rest of the eggs now in his charge.
To get the pictures I had to stick my camera through a small hole in the rearing tray lid and click the shutter in anticipation

Essa Farraj