Summer waterbirds on Kuwait Bay

Text by Stam Zogaris - photos by Aris Vidalis

Kuwait Bay at high noon in early July, with an incoming sand-storm and temperatures just over 40 ^oC. Even at the oddest times, it could be rewarding to take a drive 20 minutes west of Kuwait City, for some birdwatching! We visited without a guide, even without a scope, just binoculars and a camera. And we were impressed. In fact, the "Autumn migration" had already begun for some waterbirds, and we were surprised to find concentrations of post-breeding flocks even this early, this far south. At Jahra Pools Reserve, we realized that we had found the jewel-in-the-crown of Kuwait’s birding hot-spots.

View Summer waterbirds on Kuwait Bay in a larger map

At 11 am on the second of July 2011 we arrived at Jahra Pools Reserve (c. 35 km west of Kuwait City). It was high tide and a strong shore-ward north wind was blowing. Amazingly there is freshwater here! The water is artificially provided by a sewage treatment outfall, but within proximity of the vast sabkha salt flats and natural mudflats at the southwest corner of the Bay. The ponds and Phragmites reedbeds created by the water are oasis-like. Green reed-beds and muddy shallows surrounded by sand flats, and a hint of the escarpment’s desert hills in the distance. And this is now to some degree, a protected-area, partially fenced in (but the fence does have holes in it). Two guards greeted us kindly and allowed us to enter. Apart from a few older shot-gun cartridges scattered at the site, it seems that the birds are rarely disturbed here. Obviously visitors to Kuwait, even locals, rarely come here. In just one hour we spotted 22 bird species and made some interesting observations on fall migration start-time and breeding potential of this small wetland.

First the breeding potential of the site. Kuwait is a desert country with very few breeding birds. We noticed that at least 5 species showed evidence of having bred at this site, and these include Black-necked Stilt, Purple Gallinule, Moorhen, and Kentish Plover. We also observed and photographed juveniles of both Lesser Sand-Plover and Greater Sand-Plover and are still unsure if these species could possibly breed here.

Second, the start of migration. Kuwait Bay is at the southeastern extremity of the Western Palaearctic region, so it is immediately interesting for bird biogeography and migration – little is published about the specific passage dates of many species, especially during the long hot arid summer months. Our luckily-timed visit during high-tide at Jahra showed that many south-flying migrants reach Kuwait even as early as the beginning of July. We saw impressive numbers of fall migrants during July 2 2011, including: mixed flocks of Greater and Lesser Sand-Plovers, several terns in flocks and no less than 6 sandpiper species (Tringa spp). Total numbers were also rather impressive, especially the stilts – with several locally-fledged juveniles (see Table 1).

Next we went to Doha Spur (near Power Plant outfall) in Sulaibikhat Bay a few kilometers east of Jahra. This is also a nature reserve, marked only by new green sign. Here we find another artificial water outfall, presumably this time a major outlet for seawater coolant used by the Doha power stations. It is an estuary-like situation – the water pours out like a river into the vast tidal flats. On this visit, the tide was still high and the birds were forced to gather upland near the outfall’s narrow bay, including about 245 gulls and terns. The visibility was poor and here you really do need a telescope. Between 12:35 and 13:10 we spotted 14 taxa, several unidentified to species, but tantalizing. It was beautiful out there on the flats.

Next site, also in Sulaibikhat Bay but closer to Kuwait City was accessed via Granada road, one of the few points of easy access that was perceptible to us on a heavily modified coastline that is slated "to be developed". Here we did not find good habitat or large numbers of birds- the coastline has largely been in-filled with soil and construction-site debris, and the choppy sea was a dark dirty brown. The only really special bird was a flashing glimpse of a Terek Sandpiper in flight. A few Greater Sand-Plovers also flitted along the beach; the wind strong, visibility was worsening. Garbage was strewn everywhere along the beach and the artificial shoreline - obviously the natural coastal Sabkha has been completely filled-in here– it really looked like a wasteland. We had to leave, the sandstorm was closing in…

Resources

A Al-Sirhan (compiler) 2010. Kuwait Annotated Checklist of Birds. Kuwait Ornithological Rarities Committee. Available at: http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/media/blogs/kuwait/2010/check_list/Kuw...