A mega still in Sulaibikhat

Week 04, 23 January 2015 - Sulaibikhat Bay

I was guiding Rob Tovey from Oman (http://birdingforalark.blogspot.com/) for the afternoon during his weekend in Kuwait.

As we didnt have too much time, we started at the outfall in Sulaibikhat where there were large numbers of Gulls, predominantly all Common Black-headed which seem to like 'dirty' water

Wintering Common Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

and a number of other large white-headed Gulls, of whose ID I'm unsure of

The primary mirror suggests possible Steppe, but bill a possible Armenian?

Gull sp

There was a huge flock of Greater Flamingo's further out on the low tide and at one stage the flock took off and split in two - one group heading up the coast and the other down. A Lesser Flamingo was seen late last year in this flock and had been seen periodically since then - but this was going to be a long shot.

A small part of the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) flock

We went a little further up the coast, as that was our best chance to see Crab-plover's, which we did. Imagine my surprise when standing right in the middle and front of the flock of Flamingo was the Lesser, this the 3rd record for Kuwait and a lifer for Rob

Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), 3rd record for Kuwait