A day to remember

Day out: 7th Dec, 2010

Brent Larsson from Sweden, a visiting birder wants to see Egyptian Nightjar. I met him while I was at Sila twiching for the Taiga Flycatcher and recommended him Al Watbah Camel Racetrack.

Brent Called me this morning to see if I am free in the evening. We agreed to meet outside Al Watbah Camel Racetrack around 5:00PM. We started twitching for the Egyptian Nightjar around 5:10. The sun was still up and we drove for sometime inside the racetrack. The findings are as follows:

Birds

• Issabelline Wheatear
• Desert Wheatear
• Desert Warbler
• Crested Lark

Mammals

1. Red-tailed Fox - 4
2. Cape Hare - 2

Once the sun is set, we went near to the Bilboard where the Egyptian Nightjar hunts for the insects. I was dead right. When we reached there the bird was hunting for Insects. Brent was happy to see it and took almost 25 minutes watching the bird hunting.

Brent wanted to see the bird sitting. We tried to find one but we were not successful. We drove for it inside the racetrack for more than 1 hour. But the luck was not in our favor.

Then everything changed in just two minutes. There was this Short-eared Owl who showed only for a couple of seconds. It then flew. We got a good look at the bird. I always loved seeing Owls. They are the most liked bird as far as I am concerned. I am obsessed with Owls. I don't know why. I have not see to many Owls. So far only 9 species.

In India:

• Brown-fish Owl
• Jungle Owlet
• Spotted Owlet

In Kenya:

• African Scops-owl
• Giant Eagle-owl
• Spotted Eagle-owl

In UAE:

• Little Owl
• Pallid Scops-owl
• Pharaoh Eagle-owl
• Short-eared Owl
• Barn Owl

And I have seen Short-eared Owl only thrice. One in Madina Zayed and two in Al Watbah Camel Racetrack. So this is my forth Short-eared Owl. Things are turning good for us today.

In 5 minutes after seeing the Short-eared Owl, there was another Owl very close to the first location. This time it was a Barn Owl. It showed very well. It stayed in the same place for more than 2 minutes. I tried getting a shot. But I was not succesful. By the time I got hold of my tripod, it flew away.
Left Brent around 8:30. I guess he is happy too.
The sighting for the night is :

• 1 Egyptian Nightjar
• 1 Short-eared Owl
• 1 Barn Owl.

Defenitely today is a great day to remember.

All photos in this blog is copyrighted to Shah Jahan. Please do not use it without written permission. For more information please contact sjahanmi@gmail.com.