Hi Adrian, Sounds like good birding, out of interest what type of habitat is present on the farm? in my ignorance I imagine it to be all desert which I presume is wrong.
Ian,
There are two circular fields and one semicircular field. The reason for them being circular is because the irrigation equipment turns on a central axis. The original land was scrub and the part of the farm is bounded by the sea. Most of the rest of the area is date plantation and between the palms they grow an assortment of crops, corn, lavender, alfalfa etc. There are also several irrigation ditches where you can find snipe, purple heron and last year we had a bittern.
It's a great place for birds because of the diverse habitat. Yesterday was a slow day! Today I'm told there was marsh and palid harrier as well.
Ian Campbell said
Fri Nov 30 3:51 PM, 2007
Hi Adrian, Sounds like good birding, out of interest what type of habitat is present on the farm? in my ignorance I imagine it to be all desert which I presume is wrong.
Adrian Drummond-Hill said
Fri Nov 30 1:36 PM, 2007
Yesterday in Bahrain at Badaan Farm, my usual haunt.
Now that's what I call out of county birding Bahrain reports always welcome Adrian, they certainly brighten up a dreary November evening in Manchester!
It's getting a bit colder here Ian, down in the mid 20's C. I may have to put on a thicker T shirt.
Ian McKerchar said
Sun Nov 25 9:19 PM, 2007
Now that's what I call out of county birding Bahrain reports always welcome Adrian, they certainly brighten up a dreary November evening in Manchester!
Adrian Drummond-Hill said
Sun Nov 25 2:35 PM, 2007
Last week I was in Bahrain and along with two other bird watchers, saw a skein of three graylag geese over fly the farm we were on. On Friday I was on the same farm with the Bahrain bird recorder, Howard King. Howard spotted another goose grazing in one of the fields and this turned out to be a white fronted goose. It's the second record for Bahrain. We have since discovered that there have been several sightings of white fronted geese in the UAE so it looks like this year could be a bumper year for geese.
Ian,
There are two circular fields and one semicircular field. The reason for them being circular is because the irrigation equipment turns on a central axis. The original land was scrub and the part of the farm is bounded by the sea. Most of the rest of the area is date plantation and between the palms they grow an assortment of crops, corn, lavender, alfalfa etc. There are also several irrigation ditches where you can find snipe, purple heron and last year we had a bittern.
It's a great place for birds because of the diverse habitat. Yesterday was a slow day! Today I'm told there was marsh and palid harrier as well.
Sounds like good birding, out of interest what type of habitat is present on the farm? in my ignorance I imagine it to be all desert which I presume is wrong.
Common mynah 50+
Cattle egret 50+
Kestrel 1
Short-eared owl 1
Desert wheatear 1
Desert warbler 1
Isabelline shrike 1
Curlew 5
Collard dove 100+
Laughing dove 100+
Crested lark 100+
Tawny pipit 50+
White wagtail 20+
Grey heron 5
Grey francolin 60+
White-fronted goose 1
Steppe grey shrike 1
Graceful prinia 10+
Redshank 1
White cheeked bulbul 20+
Isabeline wheatear 1
Western reef heron 4
Mongoose 2
There must be more but that's all I can remember
It's getting a bit colder here Ian, down in the mid 20's C. I may have to put on a thicker T shirt.
-- Edited by ajdh at 14:36, 2007-11-25