The corner of the Western Palearctic

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On my way to visit friends in India, a long stopover in Kuwait International Airport allowed me to visit this country for several hours. Being located between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, with access to the Persian Gulf just by the east end of the Western Palearctic, the avifauna in Kuwait has strong influence of oriental birds. While preparing for my visit I realized how much of a must-go place Kuwait is for serious WP bird listers. 

Masked shrike (Lanius nubicus) in Al Jahra farms, 28 Dec 2024

In my case, I had only some hours to visit the country alone and I tried moving around with public transport. Therefore, I focused on my personal target species within reach with public transport. A couple of native species, a couple of introduced ones and an array of uncommon species that are seldom found in winter in Kuwait, some more regularly than others.

Common shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) and steppe gull (Larus fuscus barabensis) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

I applied for a visa on-site after some queueing and downloaded a fre eSim card through some QR codes at the airport. Downloading the CityBus app and filling the online wallet, I could use some of the buses of most bus lines cashless — several companies operate the same routes, but only CityBus buses allow tickets bought from the app. It all felt relatively easy to handle.

Pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

I left the airport at around 09:00, and headed for the farthest destination. West to Kuwait City there is Al Jahra, a large city with two target places. I took buses 13 and 103 and took almost two hours to stop somewhere on the roadside (29.3474502, 47.6994241). This bus stop is close to the fence of Jahra Pools Reserve, a wetland resulting of sewage outfall with a large reedbed and access to the sea. I walked close to the fence looking for birds and headed towards the visitors center. I connected with western marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus), European stonechats (Saxicola rubicola), white wagtails (Motacilla alba), Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and a distant masked shrike (Lanius nubicus). An odd call coming from a shrub revealed a common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) — doing some research later, it seems to respond to the Middle East population, classified either as a poorly known ssp. brevirostris or as part of ssp. abietinus.

White wagtail (Motacilla alba) near Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

I eventually got into the visitors center. I did not  quite understand the functioning of this place out of the few reports I have read, so I did not book any visit in advance — which is apparently expected. However, the center was empty at the moment and a member of the staff kindly brought me around on a golf cart right away at no cost.

Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

We drove through a network of roads in a large reedbed. Small clearings opened to the water behind the reeds, revealing numerous coots (Fulica atra) — one of them partially leucistic —, moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), pied avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) and large numbers of gadwalls (Mareca strepera). Several Eurasian teals (Anas crecca) and ferruginous ducks (Aythya nyroca) were also seen.

Partially leucistic eurasian coot (Fulica atra) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

A tower in the sea was the first proper stop with the car, and the reserve guide encouraged me to get on top and look at birds. This produced large numbers of greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) and black-bellied plovers (Pluvialis squatarola), and my best-ever views of greater spotted eagles (Clanga clanga), which were relatively numerous and unafraid.

Greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

Curlews (Numenius arquata) foraged the shoreline along with common redshanks (Tringa totanus). Among numerous black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), I spotted several steppe gulls (Larus fuscus barabensis) and Heuglin’s gulls (Larus fuscus heuglini), which was the best opportunity I have ever had to learn about and compare these taxa in the field.

Common redshank (Tringa totanus) and Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

After few pit stops here and there, the last stop  took place at another tower inside the pools. A nuptial white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) and a couple of whiskered terns (Chlidonias hybrida) flew around. A glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and a wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) foraged closeby.

Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

Here I found my only lifer of Kuwait, the white-tailed lapwing (Vanellus leucurus). This wader is localized in several areas of the Middle East, with vagrants being mega rarities in different countries of W Europe. Jahra Pools Reserve is perhaps one of the most reliable places of the Western Palearctic to spot this species and this one bird obliged. On top of that, a pair of spur-winged lapwings (Vanellus spinosus) flew in at the bottom of the lagoon — another specialty of this site, with an Afrotropical distribution extending to the Arabian peninsula and far Eastern Mediterranean.

White-tailed lapwing (Vanellus leucurus) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

I was sure those encounters would be the highlight of the day, but when I was out I walked through Al Jahra towards an area of farms in the middle of the city. A mosaic of orchards and paddies, it is among the few places in the WP to connect with bank mynas (Acridotheres ginginianus), a species however introduced from India, and different Far Eastern pipits are sometimes recorded too. I later learned that bank mynas occur in low numbers and are best looked for at dusk or dawn as they visit the area to roost — no wonder why I did not connect with them at midday. 

Laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis) in Al Jahra farms, 28 Dec 2024

White-eared bulbuls (Pycnonotus leucotis), laughing doves (Spilopelia senegalensis), feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica), rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and common mynas (Acridotheres tristis) were present in good numbers. In addition, I connected with yet another masked shrike and a flock of Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis).

White-eared bulbuls (Pycnonotus leucotis) in Al Jahra farms, 28 Dec 2024

I took a bus back to Kuwait City after noon. Bearable temperatures allowed a pleasant walk around the city center. Al Shaheed Park is a large green strip crossing the city center and usually gathers many interesting birds, so I gave it a shot for the end of the day.

White-eared bulbuls (Pycnonotus leucotis) in Al Shaheed Park, 28 Dec 2024

I entered the park through the second phase as the third phase was under construction — on the way, an isabelline shrike (Lanius isabellinus) looked for preys in the palm trees of the road. Once in, a song thrush (Turdus philomelos) did so too, on the park grass under some thick trees.

Isabelline shrike (Lanius isabellinus) near Al Shaheed Park, 28 Dec 2024

The most productive area was indeed the first phase, the northernmost stretch of the park. A tiny lake overlooking the skyline featured a little bittern (Botaurus minutus), a clamorous reed warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus), a white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), all three great additions considering this place is in the center of a capital city in the middle of the desert. 

White-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) in Al Shaheed Park, 28 Dec 2024

A nice woman showed me a fountain nearby where Eurasian collared-doves (Streptopelia decaocto) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) came to drink and bath. A still water surface provided a perfect specular image under the yellowing lights of the sun getting lower. A European robin (Erithacus rubecula) marked its territory nearby and a small group of Indian silverbills (Euodice malabarica) showed off briefly.

Clamorous reed warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus) in Al Shaheed Park, 28 Dec 2024

As I still had the time, I stayed around for a couple of hours at night in Al Shaheed Park. Recent records of long-eared owls (Asio otus) and several pallid scops-owl (Otus brucei) had me walking up and down the park. Reading some reports and browsing through eBird records, the latest species is usually spotted between the Starbucks and the north side of the first phase, where up to four birds had been reported some days before — even if similar Eurasian scops-owl (Otus scops) can hamper their identification as they seldom winter in Kuwait too. However, scops-owls seem to be silent at this time of the year and I failed to connect with any bird at night.

Spur-winged lapwings (Vanellus spinosus) and wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) in Jahra Pools Reserve, 28 Dec 2024

Having a glimpse of this tip of the Western Palearctic gave me only a partial view of the logistics of watching birds in the country — apparently, most areas are off reach without permits and arrangements. However, reading through reports and visiting some of the mentioned places allowed me to learn about the diversity of this corner of the Western Palearctic.

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