Paul Chapman
Well-known member
Just back from a trip to Kuwait with two companions. We had the excellent assistance of Pekka Fagel whose details are in the Birding World article referenced below. In order to visit a number of sites, local assistance is required. Organised by Pekka, we were kindly provided access to visit several reserves including Jahra Pools Reserve and in addition SAANR – albeit the latter only on the last day. The site is excellent and you could lose yourself in searching it properly for a week even at this time of year. Most of a day did not even feel like beginning to scratch the surface.
I have not mentioned details of any of the sites as they are well covered by a combination of “The Birds of the State of Kuwait” by George Gregory [2005] and “Birding Kuwait” by Richard Bonser (Birding World Vol. 24 No. 11 pages 467 to 484). From my personal perspective, I had fourteen new species for the Western Palearctic which was the benchmark that I set myself for a good trip. The significant misses were Indian Roller (which had not yet been seen this winter as far as I am aware) and Common Babbler (which we failed to see on our single attempt at Abdaly Farms but was still present there in April at least). Shikra did not really give itself up but I was just about happy with a couple of brief but frustrating sightings of a male at Jahra Farms. We had about 30 Accipiter sightings and frustratingly, Common Sparrowhawk showed quite well at least seven or eight times. A number of the other sightings were simply put down to Accipter species! Otherwise, I had four other misses. I had as possible targets Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, Dunn’s Lark and Menetrie’s Warbler which are plainly less significant from a Western Palearctic perspective but would have been nice and more significantly, Crested Honey Buzzard as a possible species. It is being increasingly recorded. Frustratingly, all four have been seen this week in Kuwait.
Of course, there was evidence of shooting pretty much everywhere with spent cartridges a frequent sight but we only saw actual shooting twice – from the back of a pick up truck at Jahra East Outfall and on one of the visits, two individuals were shooting from outside into the rear scrape at Jahra Pools. We heard shooting on another couple of occasions. We saw a few injured birds dragging legs - maybe half a dozen. I am told that there is far more evidence of shooting in spring.
The sites visited included Abdaly Farms, Al-Abraq, Doha Peninsula, Falaheel Park and Shore, Green Island, Jahra East Outfall, Jahra Pools Reserve, Jahra Farms, Rawdatain, SAANR, Sewer Plant Reeds, Sulaibikhat Bay, Subiya and Sulaibiya Pivot Fields.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the variety of species seen with personally 136 species in total on netfugl taxonomy – a couple of additional species on a more favourable basis (stonechats and gulls!). For a winter trip, in diversity terms, this compared with my experiences in Extremadura and Central Morocco. The best species (for me) were:-
Western Reef-egret – up to twenty seen on three dates
Pallid Harrier – several seen on three dates
Shikra – the species never really gave itself up but I was happy that there was a male in Jahra Farms which I saw all too briefly on three visits (2nd, 3rd and 5th December). A bit of an identikit tick as a result!
Long-legged Buzzard - maybe four seen on two dates
Greater Spotted Eagle – at least four seen on five dates
Eastern Imperial Eagle – at least three seen on three dates
Merlin – single pallidus seen at SAANR (6th December)
Little Crake – single seen at Jahra Pools (2nd December)
Purple Swamphen – three at Jahra Pools (5th December) and single at SAANR (6th December)
Common Crane – four at SAANR (6th December)
Crab plover – several hundred seen on the coast on two dates
Cream-coloured Courser – two at SAANR (6th December)
Greater Sandplover – maybe forty in total between the coast and Pivot Fields on five dates
Lesser Sandplover – several hundred seen on the coast on three dates
European Golden Plover – single at Pivot Fields (4th December)
Red-wattled Lapwing – singles at Jahra Farms (2nd and 3rd December) and Pivot Fields (4th December) – not seen at Abdaly Farms
White-tailed Lapwing – up to two seen at Jahra Pools (30th November and 2nd December)
Broad-billed Sandpiper – single on the coast (1st December)
Marsh Sandpiper – good numbers seen on five dates
Terek Sandpiper – good numbers seen on the coast on three dates
Great Black-headed Gull – four on the shoreline at Falaheel (4th December)
Slender-billed Gull - numerous
Lesser Black-backed Gull - a few fuscus and heuglini seen on the coast
Caspian Gull - a couple of cachinaans seen amongst more numerous barbarensis on the coast
Armenian Gull – up to four seen on the coast (30th November and 1st December)
Gull-billed Tern - maybe thirty on the coast
Crested Tern – up to six seen between two dates - Green Island (1st December) and Falaheel (4th December)
White-winged Tern - a single seen at Jahra Pools (2nd December)
Laughing Dove - numerous
Namaqua Dove - at least 14 at Pivot Fields (4th December)
White-throated Kingfisher – maybe ten sightings of singles on six dates
Bar-tailed Lark - seen in the desert near Al-Abraq (2nd December) and SAANR (6th December)
Greater Hoopoe-lark - seen at SAANR (6th December)
Citrine Wagtail - at least three at Pivot Fields (2nd December)
Bluethroat - numerous in the right habitat
Stonechat - several rubicola and maura seen and at least one very nice variegata
White-cheeked Bulbul – of course everywhere
Red-vented Bulbul – up to four seen at Green Island (1st December)
Hypocolius – up to seven seen at Jahra Farms on five dates and maybe 20 seen at Green Island (1st December)
Pied Wheatear – single at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Finsch’s Wheatear – single at Al-Abraq (2nd December) and five seen at SAAANR (6th December)
Mourning Wheatear – maybe four seen at SAANR (6th December)
Persian/Red-tailed Wheatear – single seen at Khiram (4th December) but not seen at SAANR (6th December)
Graceful Prinia - a few seen and more heard
Moustached Warbler - heard at Jahra Pools and heard and seen at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Clamorous Reed-warbler – heard and seen at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Asian Desert Warbler – maybe half a dozen in total seen on two dates following four different Wheatear species - Desert, Finsch's, Mourning and Pied!
Barred Warbler – singles seen at Jahra Farms (3rd and 4th December) and our hotel in the middle of Kuwait City (6th December)
Hume’s Warbler – single at Rawdatain (3rd December)
Isabelline Shrike – good numbers seen
Masked Shrike – single at Al-Abraq (2nd December)
Common Mynah - seen on five days
Bank Mynah – a single flock of 26 seen at Jahra Farms (2nd December) but the only sighting
Little Bunting – single at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Also a single male Red Bishop sp. at Pivot Fields remains to be identified (6th December)
From a local perspective, I understand that the more notable species for Kuwait were the following found – Hume’s Warbler at Rawdatain (fourth record), 4 Common Crane at SAANR (ninth record) and European Golden Plover at Pivot Fields (tenth record) as well as Jack Snipe, Mistle Thrush and Little Bunting. If you are so inclined, you can study Stonechats of various (sub)species, Isabelline and Desert Wheatears, Steppe Grey Shrikes, Spanish Sparrows and Pallid Swifts to your heart's content. (On the latter, I am pretty happy that you can photograph a Pallid Swift to make it look like a Common Swift but not a Common Swift to look like a Pallid ...... A couple of times a bird in a flock of Pallids due to the angle and the light looked like a Common but when followed its true identity was confirmed.)
Since returning an update from Pekka confirms that he has still not had Indian Roller this winter and he did not see Common Babbler having returned to Abdaly Farms in the last few days with other visitors. However, at Kabd, having been provided with access the day after our departure, he had seen 2 Black-crowned Finch Larks and Dunn's Lark (7th December); at Al Abraq, he had seen Yellow-browed Warbler and Buff-bellied Pipit (japonicus) (9th December); and at Rawdatain Bottling Plant, he had seen not only the Hume's Warbler but also Yellow-browed Warbler and a juvenile Crested Honey Buzzard (10th December). Red-Wattled Lapwings continue to be seen with singles at Abdaly Farms and Sabriya Farm and two at Pivot Fields (8th December). Also, typically (!), Shikra had shown quite nicely. A check of the excellent Flickr websites of Kuwaiti bird photographers revealed Menetrie’s Warbler photos from Jahra Pools Reserve for a day when we visited.
I certainly hope to be going back at an early opportunity. A view of Kuwait City from SAANR attached.
All the best
I have not mentioned details of any of the sites as they are well covered by a combination of “The Birds of the State of Kuwait” by George Gregory [2005] and “Birding Kuwait” by Richard Bonser (Birding World Vol. 24 No. 11 pages 467 to 484). From my personal perspective, I had fourteen new species for the Western Palearctic which was the benchmark that I set myself for a good trip. The significant misses were Indian Roller (which had not yet been seen this winter as far as I am aware) and Common Babbler (which we failed to see on our single attempt at Abdaly Farms but was still present there in April at least). Shikra did not really give itself up but I was just about happy with a couple of brief but frustrating sightings of a male at Jahra Farms. We had about 30 Accipiter sightings and frustratingly, Common Sparrowhawk showed quite well at least seven or eight times. A number of the other sightings were simply put down to Accipter species! Otherwise, I had four other misses. I had as possible targets Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, Dunn’s Lark and Menetrie’s Warbler which are plainly less significant from a Western Palearctic perspective but would have been nice and more significantly, Crested Honey Buzzard as a possible species. It is being increasingly recorded. Frustratingly, all four have been seen this week in Kuwait.
Of course, there was evidence of shooting pretty much everywhere with spent cartridges a frequent sight but we only saw actual shooting twice – from the back of a pick up truck at Jahra East Outfall and on one of the visits, two individuals were shooting from outside into the rear scrape at Jahra Pools. We heard shooting on another couple of occasions. We saw a few injured birds dragging legs - maybe half a dozen. I am told that there is far more evidence of shooting in spring.
The sites visited included Abdaly Farms, Al-Abraq, Doha Peninsula, Falaheel Park and Shore, Green Island, Jahra East Outfall, Jahra Pools Reserve, Jahra Farms, Rawdatain, SAANR, Sewer Plant Reeds, Sulaibikhat Bay, Subiya and Sulaibiya Pivot Fields.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the variety of species seen with personally 136 species in total on netfugl taxonomy – a couple of additional species on a more favourable basis (stonechats and gulls!). For a winter trip, in diversity terms, this compared with my experiences in Extremadura and Central Morocco. The best species (for me) were:-
Western Reef-egret – up to twenty seen on three dates
Pallid Harrier – several seen on three dates
Shikra – the species never really gave itself up but I was happy that there was a male in Jahra Farms which I saw all too briefly on three visits (2nd, 3rd and 5th December). A bit of an identikit tick as a result!
Long-legged Buzzard - maybe four seen on two dates
Greater Spotted Eagle – at least four seen on five dates
Eastern Imperial Eagle – at least three seen on three dates
Merlin – single pallidus seen at SAANR (6th December)
Little Crake – single seen at Jahra Pools (2nd December)
Purple Swamphen – three at Jahra Pools (5th December) and single at SAANR (6th December)
Common Crane – four at SAANR (6th December)
Crab plover – several hundred seen on the coast on two dates
Cream-coloured Courser – two at SAANR (6th December)
Greater Sandplover – maybe forty in total between the coast and Pivot Fields on five dates
Lesser Sandplover – several hundred seen on the coast on three dates
European Golden Plover – single at Pivot Fields (4th December)
Red-wattled Lapwing – singles at Jahra Farms (2nd and 3rd December) and Pivot Fields (4th December) – not seen at Abdaly Farms
White-tailed Lapwing – up to two seen at Jahra Pools (30th November and 2nd December)
Broad-billed Sandpiper – single on the coast (1st December)
Marsh Sandpiper – good numbers seen on five dates
Terek Sandpiper – good numbers seen on the coast on three dates
Great Black-headed Gull – four on the shoreline at Falaheel (4th December)
Slender-billed Gull - numerous
Lesser Black-backed Gull - a few fuscus and heuglini seen on the coast
Caspian Gull - a couple of cachinaans seen amongst more numerous barbarensis on the coast
Armenian Gull – up to four seen on the coast (30th November and 1st December)
Gull-billed Tern - maybe thirty on the coast
Crested Tern – up to six seen between two dates - Green Island (1st December) and Falaheel (4th December)
White-winged Tern - a single seen at Jahra Pools (2nd December)
Laughing Dove - numerous
Namaqua Dove - at least 14 at Pivot Fields (4th December)
White-throated Kingfisher – maybe ten sightings of singles on six dates
Bar-tailed Lark - seen in the desert near Al-Abraq (2nd December) and SAANR (6th December)
Greater Hoopoe-lark - seen at SAANR (6th December)
Citrine Wagtail - at least three at Pivot Fields (2nd December)
Bluethroat - numerous in the right habitat
Stonechat - several rubicola and maura seen and at least one very nice variegata
White-cheeked Bulbul – of course everywhere
Red-vented Bulbul – up to four seen at Green Island (1st December)
Hypocolius – up to seven seen at Jahra Farms on five dates and maybe 20 seen at Green Island (1st December)
Pied Wheatear – single at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Finsch’s Wheatear – single at Al-Abraq (2nd December) and five seen at SAAANR (6th December)
Mourning Wheatear – maybe four seen at SAANR (6th December)
Persian/Red-tailed Wheatear – single seen at Khiram (4th December) but not seen at SAANR (6th December)
Graceful Prinia - a few seen and more heard
Moustached Warbler - heard at Jahra Pools and heard and seen at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Clamorous Reed-warbler – heard and seen at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Asian Desert Warbler – maybe half a dozen in total seen on two dates following four different Wheatear species - Desert, Finsch's, Mourning and Pied!
Barred Warbler – singles seen at Jahra Farms (3rd and 4th December) and our hotel in the middle of Kuwait City (6th December)
Hume’s Warbler – single at Rawdatain (3rd December)
Isabelline Shrike – good numbers seen
Masked Shrike – single at Al-Abraq (2nd December)
Common Mynah - seen on five days
Bank Mynah – a single flock of 26 seen at Jahra Farms (2nd December) but the only sighting
Little Bunting – single at Jahra East Outfall (1st December)
Also a single male Red Bishop sp. at Pivot Fields remains to be identified (6th December)
From a local perspective, I understand that the more notable species for Kuwait were the following found – Hume’s Warbler at Rawdatain (fourth record), 4 Common Crane at SAANR (ninth record) and European Golden Plover at Pivot Fields (tenth record) as well as Jack Snipe, Mistle Thrush and Little Bunting. If you are so inclined, you can study Stonechats of various (sub)species, Isabelline and Desert Wheatears, Steppe Grey Shrikes, Spanish Sparrows and Pallid Swifts to your heart's content. (On the latter, I am pretty happy that you can photograph a Pallid Swift to make it look like a Common Swift but not a Common Swift to look like a Pallid ...... A couple of times a bird in a flock of Pallids due to the angle and the light looked like a Common but when followed its true identity was confirmed.)
Since returning an update from Pekka confirms that he has still not had Indian Roller this winter and he did not see Common Babbler having returned to Abdaly Farms in the last few days with other visitors. However, at Kabd, having been provided with access the day after our departure, he had seen 2 Black-crowned Finch Larks and Dunn's Lark (7th December); at Al Abraq, he had seen Yellow-browed Warbler and Buff-bellied Pipit (japonicus) (9th December); and at Rawdatain Bottling Plant, he had seen not only the Hume's Warbler but also Yellow-browed Warbler and a juvenile Crested Honey Buzzard (10th December). Red-Wattled Lapwings continue to be seen with singles at Abdaly Farms and Sabriya Farm and two at Pivot Fields (8th December). Also, typically (!), Shikra had shown quite nicely. A check of the excellent Flickr websites of Kuwaiti bird photographers revealed Menetrie’s Warbler photos from Jahra Pools Reserve for a day when we visited.
I certainly hope to be going back at an early opportunity. A view of Kuwait City from SAANR attached.
All the best
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