A Quick Weekend Twitch

I had to take my mother for a hospital appointment this morning, so I had a look at the lake there for the reported Mandarin.
There it was tucked up under the near bank with its female Mallard consort.
Then I dropped into Marshside for an hour on my way home. Nel's is too flooded for my liking, lots of ducks, but nowhere for the waders to land except on the far bank. Wigeon and Teal were in the majority, with plenty of Pintail and a few Gadwall as well as Tufted and Shelduck.
I found some Snipe tucked in the long grass quite close to the hide and a small flock of Golden Plover on the far bank with Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit and Redshank.
Nice to see a couple of Hare boxing and hear the song of the Skylark.
Nothing added from Sandgrounder's except a flock of Linnet close in and Pink Feet over. A large flock of Golden Plover was on Crossens Inner in the distance.

My daughter rang at lunchtime to go for a walk with the kids to Mere Sands Wood this afternoon, well, beats gardening !!!
And if I could lose them for a bit, might get some birding in !!!

Two Bitterns had been seen recently from Rufford hide, and there was still one there, showing as well as bitterns do in the reeds.
Quite a big flock of Tree Sparrows now by the visitor centre on the feeders, but the Water Rail didn't show whilst I was there, it had been seen earlier.
A flock of Pied Wagtail on the adjacent ploughed field numbered about 20, must be migrating through.
Nothing else unusual around the reserve but Treecreeper is always a nice bird to see, as are the Bullfinch.
Great Crested Grebe displaying and a pair of Goldeneye from Gibbon's hide. 

Falconry

I had a two hour falconry experience kindly bought for me at Christmas, so yesterday I was Hawking for two hours !!
Wild Wings at Worsley Old Hall was the venue, and I joined another seven people lined up in a field ready to handle raptors.
We were given a variety of birds to hold.
Owls, large and small, the most beautiful being the Barn Owl, although the markings on the American Barn Owl were darker, you can't beat a British bird !!
The largest and heaviest being the European Eagle Owl at about 2kg,
that made your arm ache after 10 minutes !!
Falcons including a Saker, which was just awesome in it's power, and Harris Hawk.

After a couple of hours passing them around and learning about the way they are trained, we got to fly a couple.
A little Kestrel, which really did seem tiny compared to what we'd just been holding, and the 'falconer's standard', Harris Hawk.

Kestrel which flew free

A very interesting day, although I'm sure how I feel about it.
Training wild birds of prey is, perhaps, a bit like training Dolphins, maybe they should be in the wild ??
But many are bred in captivity and are extremely well cared for.

 Eagle Owl

 Saker Falcon

Still it makes you think.

Dubai with a car 2

The second day with car.
We decided, having perused the map, that we were correctly at Pivot Fields yesterday, so, as we knew the way, we went for another look.
Good job we did !!
This time we braved the guards, who couldn't have been nicer and ushered us through the gate with a smile.
We should have known, a grass nursery was what it was !!!
The 'pivots' are used to water the grass before it's harvested. There were tractors and diggers about harvesting and pruning the palm trees.

On the grass near the entrance were White and Yellow Wagtails, one Yellow had a Black head, which I thought was a different species, but apparently not.
Crested Lark were plentiful, and a mixture of pipits. I picked out the very pale Tawny Pipits, and then  'longer, darker' pipit with fawn coloured sides, eventually I narrowed it down to a Richard's Pipit.

A couple of large puddles a bit further down the track, had 2 waders, which I just identified as Green Sandpiper before a tractor flushed them, never to return.

Walking further down the track of the central ditch, I could see plovers, yes, just what we were after, our target bird, 10 White Tailed Lapwing, what a gorgeous little plover.
But just for a bonus there were 2 Sociable Plovers as well, they were a bit smaller, dark legs and most noticeably a dark cap coming to a point on the back of the head. Brilliant.
Marsh Harrier was drifting over the longer grass as we returned to the gate.

Next stop Ras-Al-Khor again. It was now blowing a dust storm, so visibility was poor.

Spotted Eagle

The centre was closed, as it was Friday, so I had to be content with views through the fence. As I approached a large, light coloured raptor was floating towards me, it was too small and pale for an Eagle, I thought Osprey, but it could have been Crested Honey Buzzard when I'd looked at Collins. Not good enough views with the dust to confirm it though, so that was one missed. Still plenty of plovers and sandpipers about, I picked up Greenshank and Woodsandpiper, Black Wing Stilt mixed around the feet of the Flamingos.
Too dusty to stay too long, so off shopping again !!

                                                                               

We didn't get time to do the coastal sites, or the oasis of Al Ain, so hopefully, we can go again one day and do a bit more, I hope so.
As in the best places, always leaves something to go back for, and Dubai did just that, lots to see and do.
    

Dubai with a car 1

We hired a car for 2 days to look round and do a bit of birding on some of the sites suggested on the 'uea birding' site.
The Nissan Sunny must have been the only one in Dubai, but it did fit in well with the Ferrari's, Lamborgini's, Hummers, and Maserati's !!
 It cost about £50 a day including delivery and fuel was half price to that in the UK.
Driving in Dubai is, as you might expect, chaotic !!! Seven lane highways, you can pick your lane, overtake, undertake, over the top if you want, just try to avoid hitting anything too hard !!
Finding your way ok, with the signposts clear and usually early enough to get from lane 7 to lane 1 in time.
Most roads are at least dual carriageways, so if you're going the wrong way, tough, for a few miles until you can find a turn off which allows you to turn round. This occurred more than once !!!

Anyway, first stop, Pivot Fields, take the A44 towards Hatta.
First problem, major roadworks, so we ended up with a tour of the Al Quos Industrial Estate, very nice !! Finding our way back to the A44 we could only go south back to Dubai for about 10 miles to do a 'u'ee !!! Try again, this time we found the 'Textile City' sign to turn off. We didn't know there were 2, and we took the first one, a tour of the Fruit and Vegetable market followed on an estate with no apparent exit, very nice.
We found the second sign and what I thought was Pivot Fields but it was a Nursery with a gate and a guard so I didn't think it was right, it was, and we returned the next day to enjoy the birding, but today we were too scared to enter and headed south for Ras-Al-Khor.

 Red Wattle Lapwing

Black Francolin

We did get Red Wattled Lapwing, Crested Lark, Green Bee Eater and plenty of White Eared Bulbul and Black Francolin in the hotel garden on the next turnoff.

Ras-Al-Khor

Ras-Al-Khor is a wetland and area of mangroves which lies at the end of the Dubai creek, it has a small (very) visitor centre with binoculars, telescope and a guard. Signature birds are Flamingo and Great Spotted Eagle, which we had as we approached the hide. Reef Heron in indigo blue form, Great White and White Reef Heron, Spoonbill and Little Egret, were the larger water birds to be seen. Waders included Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover and what I thought were funny looking Dunlin, turned out to be Broad Billed Sandpiper. Graceful Pirina showed itself well on a reed stem infront of the hide.
 

Just time for a trip to Ghantoot Polo Club. 

A half hour drive down the E11 towards Adu Dhabi found us at the gates of the Royal Polo Club, no way were we getting in there to view the lawns. So our watching had to be done through the gate or over the wall. 

We did manage Cream Coloured Courser on the lawns with one Golden Plover, plenty of Crested Lark, White and Yellow Wagtails, and a Great Grey Shrike on the surrounding bushes. There were some tracks of fox, I think, it was too far from habitation for any dogs.

Enough birding for one day, we had to go shopping !!

Next stop Mall of the Emirates !! 

But more birding tomorrow, back to Pivot Fields and Ras-Al-Khor.

Dubai in February

We had a week's holiday in Dubai, to do sightseeing, but you have to do a bit of birding don't you !!!
Staying at the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach, one of the only hotels with some greenery, it was one of the first hotels built in Jumeirah Beach and is subsequently rather small compared to it's neighbours, only 9 stories, that's about 200 less than what's around it !!!
Still, it suited our purposes, was clean and tidy, and the food was good and plentiful, even if lager was £8 a pint.
Dubai is a fabulous place, skyscrapers like you've never seen, all shapes and sizes, and all brand new, there was nothing there but a village till 15 years ago. Now everything is the biggest or the best in the world.
We hired a car for 2 days to look for some further out sites, but more of that later.

A quick look round the hotel garden, we had House Crow, Hoopoe, and House Sparrow as well as the more exotics, Red Vented Bulbul, White Eared Bulbul, Common Myna and Indian Silverbill

 Hoopoe on the lawn

 Red vented Bulbuls trying out the loungers

 Indian Silverbill

 Whit Eared Bulbul which were quite tame

Common Myna were like starlings

Not bad for the first day, in the hotel garden, 3 lifers !! 

The next two days we took the 'Big Bus Tour' of the city to do some sightseeing, but keeping an eye out for what was about. I got Indian Roller and Red Wattled Lapwing on one roundabout and Black Francolin running out of the bushes alongside the bus !!

The highways are lined with palm trees and grass, taking 250 million gallons of water a day to keep green, the biggest desalination plants in the world !! 

The Jumeirah Palm is incredible and the Burg Al Arab spectacular, but at £880 a night, slightly out of our price bracket !! 

We gazed up at the Burg Kalifa and realised we'd up there on Tuesday, wow, it's very tall !!

Dubai and Emirates Malls have all the designer names and indoor ski slopes with black run skiing.

Part of the trip was a sail along the Dubai Creek where I add Steppe Gull, very like our Lesser Black Backs but lighter. Also Socotra Cormorant, like a cross between a Shag and a Cormorant.

Laughing and Collared Dove were common, as were White Wagtails in the city, Red Ringed Parakeets were about and any decent patch of water had Black Headed Gulls and Black Winged Stilts.

This was just off the bus and wandering about, what would we get when really tried with the car ????

That'll take another couple of posts !!

Shorties

I've been trying to catch up with Short Eared Owls since Christmas, mostly looking over Crossens outer and Marshside from Mount Baker, but I'd never thought of Low Meadows until I saw  report from Graham of two there.
So yesterday afternoon I decided to take a look as it was freezing cold but nice and sunny.
I parked in the station and walked along the river bank to the Little Owl barn.
When I arrived I noticed a few photographers lined up on a rough pasture near the station, but thought it a bit too enclosed for Shorties, surely they must be waiting for Barn Owl. Anyway, I had Goosander on the river along with a Redshank exploring a bit of exposed mud. As the sun was in front, in my eyes, I decided to make it to the barn before I did any serious looking. Once there I could see Lapwing in all the pastures along with Jackdaw and Carrion Crow, Kestrel on the fence, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting on the trees in the ditch, no sign of Little Owl though. I picked up a nice male Merlin sitting on the ground in a ploughed field, which then had a quick fly round and landed back in the same place, and a Buzzard perched on some pheasant release pens.
Not much else about so I started back, as I approached the first style I could see, not one but two Short Eared Owls hunting over the rough pasture where the photographers were !!! Doh !!!!
I managed to get close enough and had good views of them in aerial combat for a while.
So as to be off the skyline and not disturb them, I went back along the bottom of the bank, only to have one come over my head at about 10 feet, brillant views and closer than I thought I'd ever get to such a fantastic bird, effortlessly floating in the air, and then beating it's wings in that stiff winged butterfly action.
I must remember what a good place Low Meadows is, I might have a look at the Burscough end next week for Yellowhammer if the weather is reasonable.

RND Lifer

I saw a Ring Necked Duck reported on Birdguides within ticking distance at Thorton ICI near Fleetwood. The directions were to park at the delapidated offices and walk down Burglar's Alley !!
I found the offices easy enough, but Burglar's Alley was just a muddy track through the old ICI estate down to the river. I found the ICI lagoon and soon picked up the Duck, close enough for some photos.

Even one with a Tuftie in for comparison.

Note the lack of tuft, sharply pointed head, and white ring above a dark nail on the beak.

Having ticked that, a lifer and even better, a UK lifer, I dropped into Marton Mere on the way home, to look for Long Eared Owl. I stared at the old fruit trees for a while but couldn't pick anything out, they are notoriously difficult to make see with their camouflage and the fact that they don't move much to give themselves away !! I did have a clos view of a Sparrowhawk trying to take a Blackbird, but that was it.