Today I proved that you can find birds anywhere. I was on my way back from a campout in the desert and was watching power lines and wire fences that stretched on for miles, enjoying Crested Larks and a large count of Gray Shrikes – 4. I was also taking photos of birds on the ground (mostly larks), but apart from the shrikes, I hadn’t seen any notable birds. Then I came across an area with green grass, berry bushes, and even yellow flowers. I was there looking at birds for half an hour.
My single life bird for the trip was the Gray Francolin. This is a game bird closely related to partridges that has only bred in this area for a decade or two. It actually is not an introduced species – no one really knows for sure how it got to Qatar, but it presumably expanded its range here. The two birds ran away from me but I still managed a decent shot:
One common urban bird represented in the grassy patch was this White-eared Bulbul. I always enjoy hearing its calm, assuring gurgling call. Bulbuls enjoy eating fruit and this individual was no exception, seen here expressing interest in a berry bush:
Another group of common birds exhibiting interesting behavior were the wheatears. We saw the common Isabelline and Desert varieties, but both of them were flycatching – flying up from a perch to catch insects midflight. It really was fun to watch and it is quite amazing how many different kinds of birds capture prey this way.
The final birds seen were three small Namaqua Doves. This was a treat because you rarely see more than two of these birds feeding together, especially considering the territorial instincts of the species. These birds are instantly recognizable; the handsome males sport a black mask that covers their face and throat along with a pink and yellow beak, and the females are easy to identify because of their elegant black eyeline and piercing black eyes. They are also among the smallest pigeons – they are only about the same size as a House Sparrow. We saw two males and a female foraging amongst the grass, looking for the tiny seeds which compromise almost their entire diet:
I was pleasantly surprised to see this little patch of green in the middle of the bland desert. It really was something else to be surrounded by vast expanses of sand and beautiful birds at the same time. On my way to the campout we had actually gotten a fleeting glimpse of the francolin, my life bird, but in this oasis I was able to get photographs of a bird who runs and runs fast. This was also only the second time I ever observed the Namaqua Dove and my best views of the bird at that. A patch of grass in the middle of nowhere might not seem like the best place for birds, but during a slow season still having two months to wait till spring migration, this little oasis is a great place to look for some of the resident species.
Here is a complete list of birds we saw there (some birds were omitted from above due to lack of notability):
Gray Francolin
House Sparrow
Gray Shrike
Crested Lark
Isabelline Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Laughing Dove
White-eared Bulbul
Namaqua Dove
All photos were taken by myself.
Happy birding!
