Whilst at Sabkhat Al Fasl last weekend we found a group of terns fishing at close range near to a water outflow from one of the core areas into the flooded sabkha. This area is usually quite dry by now but due to the unusual amounts of rain we have had this spring it is still full of water. The terns were fishing for small fish that had gathered around this outflow. It looked like good photographic opportunities would be available, as the birds were close and performing well. There were probably twenty terns in all with most being White-cheeked Terns and the others Little Terns. The top photograph is what I take to be a Little Tern and shows how dark grey the rumps can be on some of the Little Terns that occur in the Gulf region. One disadvantage of having a big lens (600mm) is that when birds are close and active the big lens is not the best for taking photos. As a result I did not manage to get the good shots I thought I might, and below are the best I achieved.
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| Little Tern |
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| White-cheeked Tern |
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| White-cheeked Tern |
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| White-cheeked Tern |