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25 July 2015

Plenty of Terns of various species – Sabkhat Al Fasl

The summer is an excellent time to see terns of various species at Sabkhat Al Fasl. The most common tern in the summer at the location is White-cheeked Tern with hundreds of birds seen daily. Caspian Tern is also seen on every visit and is resident but the numbers seen rarely exceed ten although late in the summer, around September numbers can exceed 150 birds mainly out on the flooded sabkha. Little Terns also appear in good numbers in the summer and must breed somewhere nearby, although I have never found any nest anywhere. Again later in the summer birds can be seen feeding juveniles on the edge of the flooded sabkha. Very small numbers of Gull-billed Terns and White-winged Terns also occur although it is rare to see either in numbers greater than ten birds. As mentioned previously the site is a good place to try to photograph terns and the below photos are some of my efforts over the last few weeks.
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
Little Tern
White-cheeked Tern
White-cheeked Tern
White-cheeked Tern
White-cheeked Tern
White-winged Tern
White-winged Tern