Pivot Field, Dubai, Feb 2013

The Pivot Field is an area of turf and rougher grassland watered by a huge circular sprinkler (the pivot). There are two ‘crop circles’, the larger of which is about half a mile across. They can be seen on Google Earth by cutting and pasting these coordinates into the search box; 25°10'3.11"N 55°26'9.45"E. From the car park birders are welcome to walk out onto the circles, but cars may not be taken beyond the car park. 

I started on the turf field on the west side. Sprinkler heads here provided perfect hawking posts for Green Bee-eaters which would swoop down on unsuspecting insects. The short grass also appealed to the Motacilla species with White Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail all seen here.

Close to the car park, a wide trench had collected some water and had attracted a few birds. A Common Snipe, a Common Ringed Plover and a few Black-headed Gulls were seen here on the first pass and four Green Sandpipers were found on the way back.

I am assuming that the irrigated circles have a dynamic life with sowing, growing and cropping occurring on different parts of the circle throughout the year depending on the seasonality of crops. For the most part, it seemed to be taken up with the growing of grass at this time of year. The Polo Club is just next door and I guess they need hay? This week there were four cuts of grass and each provided a haven for different birds.

The Isabelline Wheatear appeared to like the short, fine turf whereas the doves seemed to like the freshly cut grass that had been left out to dry.

Crested Larks could be seen dashing about in the rough grass looking for food. Occasionally one would sing from a prominent perch on one of the vegetation heaps at the edge of the crop circle.

I didn’t get a chance to get as far as the long grass. Something had caught my eye and I didn’t want to disturb it. Sociable Lapwings are often reported from here and this was a bird that I had wanted to see for a long time. Red-wattled Lapwings stood out with their contrasting head pattern, but there was one bird amongst them that had a more demure head pattern. I used the scope to check and was delighted to see that it was indeed a Sociable Lapwing and that there were two others with it.

This species is critically endangered and underwent a rapid decline in population during the twentieth century. I didn’t want to disturb it so kept a reasonable distance from it, but was pleased when it came closer and I was able to get a few shots.

Birds seen;

Eurasian Marsh Harrier 3, Eurasian Kestrel 1, Red-wattled Lapwing 30, White-tailed Lapwing 1, Sociable Lapwing 3, European Golden Plover 1, Common Ringed Plover 1, Green Sandpiper 4, Common Snipe 1, Black-headed Gull 60, Eurasian Collared Dove 120, Laughing Dove 25, Rose-ringed Parakeet 1, Green Bee-eater 3, Eurasian Hoopoe 1, Crested Lark 25, White-eared Bulbul 8, Isabelline Wheatear 1, Western Yellow Wagtail 1, Citrine Wagtail 3, White Wagtail 40, House Sparrow 50

Visit the dedicated Middle East page for more posts from Dubai including Ras al Khor and Safa Park

In case you might be tempted by a side trip to the nearby Warsan Lakes (see below), you may find that any time you have would be better spent by staying at Pivot Field.

Google Earth is a wonderful tool for anyone who wants to explore an unfamiliar place. It can even give a fresh perspective to somewhere that you think you know. It is not perfect however; nearly, but not quite. It does not show the wall at Warsan Lakes for example. It shows the perimeter road, entrance and car park, but failed to mention that access is no longer possible due to the entrance being blocked and an eight foot wall around the entire complex. It was a disappointment as I had pictured myself driving lazily around the lakes, watching grebes, ducks and reed warblers. There is a tiny gap in the wall at Google Earth ref; 25° 9'33.24"N 55°25'13.23"E, but it does not give an adequate view.

But… on one of the roundabouts was a flock of White-tailed Lapwings. This is a bird that I can never see enough of. I twitched one at Dungeness once and now I was looking at a flock of 16 of them. Traffic was light so it was possible to stand on the pavement and shoot across the road, but shortly, a couple of pedestrians disturbed the birds by crossing the roundabout and putting them to flight.

A few birds had flown up from the lakes, but I suspect that there were fewer birds in there than I had pictured ahead of time.

A Eurasian Marsh Harrier made a pass and found a column of air to gain height from.

Birds seen; 15

Mallard 3, Little Grebe 2, Great Cormorant 23, Grey Heron 2, Purple Heron 2, Eurasian Marsh Harrier 3, White-tailed Lapwing 16, Black-headed Gull 12, Eurasian Collared Dove 60, Laughing Dove 20, Crested Lark 1, White-eared Bulbul 6, Graceful Prinia 8, White-Wagtail 4, House Sparrow 40.

Creek Park, Dubai, Feb 2013

On the journey from the airport to the hotel I had noticed a large number of dark birds on the creek as we passed over Garhoud Bridge. Since I was in the market for a Socotra Cormorant, I felt the urge to skip my planned nap and take an impromptu visit to Creek Park.

By the time I arrived, the dark birds had moved on and the creek was mostly populated by Black-headed Gulls. A few Great Cormorants were roosting on the floating bridge that crosses the creek and marks the north-east corner of the park, so I assume that the birds seen earlier were also Great Cormorants.
 

Eurasian Collared Doves and Laughing Doves made the soundtrack for the visit. Grey Francolins and Red-wattled Lapwings were also very distinctive in their calls and will enhance my 10,000 Birds year List which is being compiled for birds identified by sound.
 

The park was quiet in the late morning and the winding call of the Graceful Prinia carried easily from some low bushes. It sat momentarily in the bush before hopping to the top of a sunshade to keep an eye on me. It posed very nicely, but a picture of a prinia needs to have the tail. Shame.
 

The tide had come early this morning and the banks of the creek had been exposed. Only a couple of Common Sandpiper was taking advantage of any feeding opportunities here. The mangroves further upstream were probably busier where the mud is muddier.
 

A cable car runs across the park and the wires were a popular perch for Indian Rollers whose scratchy calls could be heard on the ground Sadly the height of the cables made for poor roller watching. The succulent garden was quite busy with birds and a Red-vented Bulbul sat nicely at the top of a stalk.
 

Creek Park (used to be known as Creekside Park) is a typical city park with lawns and trees. Dubai Creek runs along its northern edge. It can be easily reached in a taxi from the downtown area and can be seen at Google Earth ref; 25°14'30.71"N 55°19'29.87"E. The taxi-rich Riyadh Rd. runs along the edge of the park and it is easy to hail one for the return journey.

Birds seen;

Grey Francolin 5, Great Cormorant 8, Grey Heron 1, Western Reef Egret 1, Cattle Egret 1, Red-wattled Lapwing 2, Common Sandpiper 2, Black-headed Gull 200, Eurasian Collared Dove 150, Laughing Dove 30, Indian Roller 6, Eurasian Hoopoe 5, Rufous-tailed Shrike 1, House Crow 30, Red-vented Bulbul 15, White-eared Bulbul 30, Willow Warbler 2, Graceful Prinia 3, Common Myna 15, Asian Pied Starling 8, White Wagtail 6, House Sparrow 80 Indian Silverbill 1.

Visit the dedicated Middle East page for more posts from Dubai including Safa Park and Mushrif Park.

Red-tailed Hawk Gallery

I usually reserve a decent set of pictures for a gallery post on 10,000 Birds in their 10,000 Clicks section which aims to photograph and document all the world’s birds. The website is already well catered for in Red-tailed Hawks through the beautiful images and story-telling of Walter Kitundu, so I will save these ones for Redgannet.

These are from a couple of juvenile birds that I found in Central Park. They were following each other around in The Ramble and came down, very conveniently, to eye-level giving me a good opportunity to get some decent shots.

I wish that I had had the presence of mind to muck about with white balance and other settings to try to enhance the light which was rather dull with low, snow-laden cloud. Nevertheless, they are in focus and reasonably sharp which is as much as I have come to expect.

The birds were first found near the oven where the rocks give the observer a height advantage as the trees are rooted 15 feet below. They moved on to the feeder area where they perched, menacingly.

The last shot was taken of one of the birds as it waited on a stump at the edge of Tupelo Meadow. It was closely watching a lady who was walking a tiny dog on a leash.

To see the full trip description, follow the link below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/central-park-new-york-jan-2013.html

Jamaica Bay, New York, Jan 2013

We British are famous for our obsession with the weather. For the most part our climate is fairly benign and it is easy for us to forget how disruptive big weather can be. Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the USA during late October and the effects are still being felt. The rail line out to Broad Channel was damaged in the storm and the island is now being served by shuttle buses from Rockaway Blvd., Subway Station. Travelling the couple of miles from the airport to Jamaica Bay should only have taken a very short time, but ended up taking nearly an hour and a half. The shuttle bus stops directly outside the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Centre at Google Earth ref;  40°37'2.19"N 73°49'26.25"W.
The path around West Pond has been damaged too. A wide chasm has opened up across the track and allowed the lake to escape back to the bay. Where there would normally be a great expanse of water covered in waterfowl, there was mud and a single Herring Gull. Out on the salt marshes were a few Brant Geese and some Canada Geese. I have a feeling that the tide probably fills the lake again at each high tide, but I have no idea whether the birds will return with the water. It is my belief that the West Pond used to be freshwater and it would be salt water brought up on the tide.

 There is another freshwater lake across the road, so I made my way over to John’s Pond and East Pond. These were also eerily quiet with almost nothing to be seen.  It struck me that the rail line must have been quite fragile to be damaged in a storm that left the screen hide at John's Pond untouched. Perhaps it was given a higher priority when it came to repairs. I had noted a few birds on the channel as the bus crossed the bridge onto the island, so I decided that my best bet to find anything at all would be to walk back to the bridge. The walk is a little over a mile and a half and took about 30 minutes. At last there were a few more birds here with Brant feeding on the receding tide and a few Ring-billed Gulls roosting while Herring Gulls dropped clams onto the hard parking surface in an attempt to break them open.

East Pond

From here it was easier for me to continue over the bridge to catch the bus back to Rockaway Blvd. The nearest bus stop was opposite 163^rd St. at Google Earth Ref; 40°39'8.37"N 73°50'16.68"W. A Cooper's Hawk flew down from the rail and flapped back against the wind onto the island. Out on the water there were plenty of Bufflehead and a few flocks of Red-breasted Merganser flew through my field of vision as I watched. A distant Merlin flew low over the water and a couple of female Common Golden-eyes were seen. The visibility was poor and it was starting to get dark now. The Bufflehead number was mostly males. I expect that there were some females out there too, but were difficult to see in the conditions.

Birds seen; 17

Brant Goose 400, Canada Goose 30, Mute Swan 4, Gadwall 1, American Black Duck 4, Mallard 40, Bufflehead 160, Common Goldeneye 2, Red-breasted Merganser 35, Double-crested Cormorant 2, Cooper’s Hawk 2, Merlin 1, Ring-billed Gull 15, Herring Gull 35, Great Black-backed Gull 3, Yellow-rumped Warbler 1, Northern Cardinal 6.

Central Park, New York, Jan 2013

“Money will be spent, or blood will be spilled”, warned Mrs Gannet as she packed me off for a trip to JFK. Thus it was that, after a morning’s birding in Central Park, I found myself at the door of Tiffany and Co. on 5^th Ave. Unshaven, wearing my army surplus outfit and a panicky expression at the thought of how much  cash would need to be spent to avoid bloodshed, I entered through the revolving doors, monopod in hand. A security/risk profiling expert may have suggested that my appearance would fit nicely into the pigeonhole reserved for “desperate, wild-eyed, cosh-wielding  vagrant”. I have no issues with the security personnel at Tiffany’s who acted in accordance with their training and were very apologetic as they picked me up and dusted me down. If I have any criticism of 5^th Avenue’s most prestigious jeweller, it is their lack of provision for parking a bicycle outside their store.

Up until then, the day had been going very well; that is, birds had been seen and very little money had been spent. Central Park’s Barred Owl was still in situ, though tricky to find in the arboretum. The Red-tailed Hawks were very visible and a Hairy Woodpecker showed very well in The Ramble. I had headed straight for The Ramble where two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks were following each other through the trees. One dropped to the ground in The Oven at the top end of the Boating Lake and was faced down by a very ballsy Gray Squirrel.

The young hawk had found a detached wing and picked at the feather bases before flying up onto a higher branch to scan the ground below. The willow was rooted beside the water’s edge and the high rocks that I was standing on put us at the same level.

The feeder area was very busy with White-throated Sparrows and Northern Cardinals taking loose feed that had been scattered on a rock. The black-seed socks were being dominated by American Goldfinches while Tufted Titmice and House Finches fed from the silo-sized feeders.

My first visit to the arboretum failed to find the Barred Owl. It had started to snow and the wind was picking up, so I didn’t work too hard but, on my way back, I bumped into a couple of birders who told me where to look and I managed to find it at the second pass. By the time I passed back through the Ramble, the paths were coated with a thin layer of snow and looked very picturesque.

A “Sweep” (to my ears, but Sibley prefers “Peek”) from a dead tree caught my attention and I turned to find a Hairy Woodpecker looking straight at me. It dropped to a damp stump close to the ground and gave me my best ever look at this species. The “inconspicuous tuft” (Sibley) at the base of the bill was very apparent at close quarters. Perhaps it was slightly stained by wood pulp?

Northern Cardinals had been showing quite well today and I have long held an ambition to catch a picture of one in the snow. I was hoping that today might be the day, but the snow didn’t stay for long. One did drop down for a drink while carrying a few snow-flakes and kept me happy until my next opportunity.

Birds seen;

Red-tailed Hawk 4, Mourning Dove 4, Barred Owl 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker 4, Downy Woodpecker 2, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Blue Jay 15, American Crow 15, Black-capped Chickadee 8, Tufted Titmouse 35, White-breasted Nuthatch 4, Brown Creeper 2, European Starling 60, White-throated Sparrow 30, Northern Cardinal 15, Common Grackle 30, House Finch 50, American Goldfinch 25, House Sparrow 200.

There are plenty of other posts from Central Park. Follow the links below;

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/04/central-park-new-york-new-york.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/10/central-park-new-york.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/03/hooded-merganzer-lophodytes-cucullatus.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/01/out-of-towners-central-park-new-york.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/06/central-park-new-york-xena-and.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/central-park-new-york-april-2012.html

Visit the dedicated USA and Canada Page for more from New York, especially Jamaica Bay.