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.
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| Caspian Tern |
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| Caspian Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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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-winged Tern |