Phil went birding to Sabkhat Al Fasl in the early morning of the weekend and saw a male Red-breasted Flycatcher. This is an unusual species for the Eastern Province but early October is the prime time for finding them. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get any photographs of the bird but had excellent views. In addition he saw his first Greater Spotted Eagle of the autumn, plus 9 Western Marsh Harriers, 156 Grey Heron, 4 Western Great Egrets, 7 Daurian Shrikes, a juvenile Little Bittern and 3 Pied Wheatears. A Little Crake was also seen and photographed by Phil and he has kindly allowed me to use his photo below, the copyright of which remains Phil’s. It wasn't the greatest morning in terms of numbers of species and wader numbers were way down from previous weeks, but there were a few good birds around. Any day when you see Red-breasted Flycatcher and Little Crake rates as a good mornings birding for sure.
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| Little Crake |