The Year 2010

Year 2000 was not a bad year at all. I had a lot of lifers. I was away from birding for almost three to four months due to personal issues.  At the end, it looks good.  A good year.

I missed one major trip for the year 2010.  It was Brazil, Peru and Spain.  Everything was ready. But due to some personal issues, I couldn't make it.  The target for 2010 was 1000 species photographed from around the world and 300 from UAE.  Since I missed my trip and four months out of birding while I was in UAE, I didn't make it. No worries.  Will try to achieve that goal in 2011.

October, November and December showed some great results. I got around 20 lifers. Now it stands around 250 birds in UAE and 550 as the World Count.

The Last Day of 2010

Day Out: 31st Dec, 2010

As today is the last day of 2010, I wanted to do some birding and see what happens.  I am totally sick and not feeling well at all.  At the end, by 4:00PM, I decided to visit my local patch Mussafah for an hour or so.

Went to Mussafah with Mariam, we were greeted by a Western Marsh Harrier trying to catch a laughing dove from nearly a thousand of them.  I took some shots.  The bird in between me and the sun and the photos were not good at all.

The place was over crowded with people who were fishing.  So not much luck.  Somehow I managed some average shots of Caspian Tern, Slender-billed Gull and Eurasian Curlew.

Caspian Tern

Eurasian Curlew

Slender-billed Gull

And thats all for 2010.

Thank you & Good bye 2010 and we will never meet again!!!

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.

The Cold Day

Today is very cold and we started early in the morning (5:30) to Al Ain.  I was accompanied by Sunny and his two friends. Mainly visited Green Mubazarah, Jebel Hafeet, Ain Al Faidah, Zaker Pools & Al Jimmi Oaisis. Nothing much apart from the two Pallid Scops Owl.



Sightings:

Green Mubazarah

Desert Wheatear

Black Redstart

Red-tailed Wheatear

Menetries Warbler

Grey Heron

Blue Rock Thrush

Sand Patridge

Jebel Hafeet (Mercure Hotel)

Egyptian Vulture

Eversmann's Redstart

White-spectacled Bulbul

Black Restart

Black Ouzel

Blue Rock Thrush

Sand Patridge

Ain Al Faidah

White-fronted Goose

Masked Shrike

Desert Wheatear

Zaker Pools

Squacco Heron

Little Grebe

Little Egrets

Black-winged Stilt

Al Jimmi Oasis

Pallid Scops Owl x 2

Al Watbah Camel Racetrack 

Western Marsh Harrier

Common Kestrel

Desert Wheatear

Egyptian Nightjar

Barn Owl

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.

Kids Night Out!

Day Out: 22nd Dec, 2010

Barnie... The Kids wants to see the Barn Owl and they were very keen on it. So decided to go to the Watbah in the night around 10:00PM to search for the Barn Owl. Spent almost two hours searching for it. And when we found it, the kids were in deep sleep!!! Called them and showed. They just saw it for a minute and went back to sleep.

The good thing is that I saw a Jack Snipe today. It was the first time seeing a Jack Snipe.  But I could not get any photos.

Gulls the trouble makers

Identifying Gulls is always a trouble. Especially the larger ones. One exception is the Great Black-headed Gull. The troubles becomes evident when one try to identify the Heuglin's Gulls, Steppe Gulls and Caspian Gulls. Its a ocean out there. Even the experts are in dilema most of the time.

During the last couple of months, I have collected around 9 photographs of Gulls which I was not able to ID. Posted the photographs on a number of websites and came to the following conclusion.

Heuglin's Gull

This one is an adult.

This one is a Juvenile.

Steppe / Caspian Gull

Steppe / Caspian / Heuglin's Gull

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.

Save The Harrier

How many times did you see a Raptor siting around 20 metres from you? Its hard. And I was fortunate today. I have seen once the Greater Spotted Eagle around 30 meters and when I was in Kenya I saw the Pygmy Falcon around 15 meters. The best one so far is the Long-legged Buzzard which was around 10 meters. And that was a tragedy too. I did not have enough battery to take the shot I want. I just took around 12 shots and the battery died and I didnt have a spare with me. I pulled my chair from the car and sat and looked at the bird. Almost after 15 minutes I guess he got bored of me and flew away.

I have seen a lot raptors flying just above me. Some of them just 15 meters high. But seeing one sitting on the ground is a different feeling. And I felt that feeling today. I took the risk of going into a Sabka (a mixture of water, salt and mud). You can really get stuck there. For me it was a oppertunity of a life time. So I was ready to take that risk. And the result is not at all bad.

After visiting the Mussafah today (See Over The Edge), directly went to Watbah Camel Racetrack. Found nothing much there. There were some wheatears, larks, Indian Silverbill, etc. So directly went to the Pool to see whether the Goose that I saw a couple of days back is still present. Found a couple of Western Marsh Harriers flying. There were a lot of Mallards with waders like Little Stint, Kentish Plover, Dunlin, Pied Avocet and Black-winged Stilt present in the pool. There were also a lot of Laughing Doves and Feral Pegions.

The Marsh Harrier sat on a bush and my attempt to get a photo was in vain. He moved to the Sabka Area and I was forced to go there. But the risk taken is paid well. I am satisfied with the photos. The bird allowed me to take some decent photographs of it. I guess he too enjoyed it.

Anyway not a bad day at all. A lot of good photos were taken today, especially the photos I took when I was in Mussafah. But if you ask me what is my favourite photo today, I dont have to think even for a second. Its the Marsh Harrier photo. I simply love that photo.

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.

Over The Edge

On the way to Watbah, I stopped at Mussafah Industrial Area (ICAD). Found a lot of waders. I took some shots.

Western Reef Heron

Ruddy Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Laughing Dove

Kentish Plover

Grey Plover

Common Greenshank

Common Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Black-winged Stilt

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.