Birding Bahrain

Great Reed Warbler, Hoopoe, Yellow Wagtail, Ruff, Curlew, Temminck's Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and other waders are starting to be reported from various locations indicating the return migration has started.

One day soon the sun will come out and we might get a blue sky - on that day I will probably have to work.

Went to Buhair just for a few hours mainly to catalog any breeding species. It was fairly quiet but I did count eleven pairs of Little Grebe many still attending their floating nests. I did manage to catch this group closer to the shore on the main pond.

Quite a few Moorhen around over twenty pairs at least

Little Terns I found seven pairs but could be more certainly not less.

There were 3 Squacco Herons which with the two at Adhari and other at Dumistan make this years summer population potential breeders.

A pair of Grey Herons and nine Little egrets were noted along with seven pairs of Black Winged Stilts.

But the bird of the day had to be this rather distant White-winged Black Tern that was always just too far away over the more inaccessible parts of the marshes.

This 2cy Black-headed Gull at Dumistan caused a bit of a stir on the Birdforum when AJ asked for assistance in identification - Grey-headed Black-headed even Brown-headed as well as Slender-bill Gull where all suggested until we provided additional images that enabled its ID to be proved beyond a doubt. Yellow legs and bill along with dark eye and brown cap made it a strange looking gull.

The bushes at Dumistan where alive with Yellow Wagtail (feldegg)for a second week AJ managed some real closeup shots.

The desert around the water was alive with nesting Kentish Plover - I managed to get a few shots of birds just hatching under the female with one egg to go

After the chicken farm we moved on to Buhair -
The Glossy Ibis was still present as were the breeding Little Terns and Little Grebes along with a Purple Heron some Night Herons Little Egrets and Black-winged Stilts.

Little Terns

Purple Heron

After Buhair we went to Adhari - an environmental disaster area the ditches have been cleared with a JCB and all the Thorn trees removed
bar one which will go today - there is simply no excuse for this action - the last picture of a breeding Little Bittern from here