Al Hayer Bridge 21-1-17

Spent morning around the bridge at Al Hayer.  The plan was to spend an hour or so there and move on but as you will see I got side tracked by a nice bird.

Around the area there are the steep sided cliffs if the Wadi and all along these are considerable numbers of Rock Pigeon which circle about a lot first thing in the morning.

There were also good numbers of Eurasian Collared Dove.  I am not that fond of these birds and their cousins the Laughing Dove because they flush noisily when you are still 40 or 50 meters away and disturb all the other birdlife in the process.

A single Blackstart sat on the wall of one of the factories close to the bridge.  I may be imagining it but I wonder if this is the same one I keep seeing in the same place each time I visit, I doubt it but who knows. 

One of the many Laughing Dove about the site this morning, beautiful bird but a pain for birders.

There are always a lot of White Eared Bulbul around this area as the bushes and trees are very much to their liking.

A little more unusual are the Spectacled Bulbul.  There were two on site today but there were also a few at Salbuk and AlHayer fields over the past few weeks.

Last time I visited here there were 3 White Throated Kingfishers flying about, only one was found on this occasion.

Not sure if I should bother even showing this but you can just make out a Moorhen disappearing into the reeds.

And close by was a single Bluethroat which stopped for a short while then flew off along the river.

As I was walking back to the car a bird flew over which was a little different, it subsequently landed in a tree a short distance off.  The Sparrowhawk is a young bird and I think is the same one I saw further up river towards the end of last year.

Another shot of the Sparrowhawk. 

There were a small number of Grey Heron visible around the site today but I only got this flypast to prove it.  This area is rapidly becoming overgrown with reeds so it is becoming more fifficult to spot birds along the river.

There was only a small flock of Common Myna around the place today, visits towards the end of last year found dozens of them.  I assume they had moved off to other areas along the river.

A distant shot of a Graceful Prinia.  As always there were dozens of these in the area though most were recognised by sound rather than sight.

There were good numbers of both House and Spanish Sparrow in the area.

And a single Marsh Harrier flew over literally as I was getting into the car (or maybe it is a Greater Spotted Eagle).  The weather was very cool and overcast so distant shots were all a bit drab today.

As I said I meant to move to another area but spent quite some time looking at the Sparrowhawk.  Also spotted was a single Kestrel which flew over very early.

Birding is always fun when you spot something that keeps your attention for a long while. :)