Finally, a windless day

Week 25, 18 June 2013 - Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City (Click to enlarge image)

After almost 3-weeks of non-stop wind and blowing dust we finally had a clear and windless day. I opted to head south and explore the coast on a boat between Sea City and Mina Al Zour.

As expected, I had a single Bridled Tern on the off-shore marker buoys

Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)

Sharing the buoy, were a few 1st year Socotra Cormorants which are summer dispersers from their breeding grounds in the south

1st Year Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

Amongst the 1st year birds was a single sub-adult Socotra

Sub-adult Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis)

Heading a little further north up the coast to Mina Al Zour, we encountered some Terns roosting on a large off-shore buoy - the majority were Lesser Crested

Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis)

More Socotra's were seen, with the final count being 29 birds. However what was interesting this time was the 4 adult birds amongst the 1st years - certainly the most I have seen in one summer.

One of 4 adult Socotra Cormorants (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) seen

A few birds were sitting on the water and quick as a flash, the adult bird dived down and came up with some breakfast that it had to eat quickly, as the 1st year birds tried a bit of hijacking.

Adult Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) with breakfast

On the way back to the Sea City, I had a pair of White-cheeked Terns on the beach inside the project.

White-cheeked Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)