KORC Rarity Report 2010

1- KORC Rarity Adjudication

KORC meets quarterly each year to review and adjudicate submitted Rarity Forms for species that are considered Accidental, Vagrant, Rare and Scarce, as well as other specified species that have low and infrequent abundance.

The completed Rarity Forms are reviewed, discussed and either accepted or not by the core KORC members (MP, SIR, PF) who are all based in Kuwait. Consensus must be reached for a decision, but if a decision cannot be reached, then the external adjudicators (OC, PK) are asked for their opinion for a final decision, which requires a majority vote.

The current Committee is as follows:

Mike Pope (MP) – Kuwait (Chairman, voting member)

Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan (SIR) – Kuwait (Secretary, voting member)

Pekka Fagel (PF) – Kuwait (voting member)

Oscar Campbell (OC) – Dubai (External Adjudicator, voting member)

Peter Kennerley (PK) – England (External Adjudicator, voting member)

Brian Foster (BF) – England (honorary member)

2- Accepted Records  by Species for Category A and C

Three (3) new species (1^st) were recorded in Kuwait in 2010 and these are highlighted in

One (1) species was accepted as a Category D Species, namely; Arabian Golden Sparrow and highlighted in yellow.

SPECIES	SCIENTIFIC NAME	SIGHTING #	DATE	# Birds	LOCATION	OBSERVER(S)
Ashy Drongo	Dicrurus leucophaeus	1	3-Apr-10	1	Jahra Farm	H Rudhe
Amur Falcon	Falco amurensis	1	29-May-10	1	SAANR	Mohd Korhshed
Red-necked Grebe	Podiceps grisegena	1	27-Oct-10	1	Jahra East Outfall (JEO)	A Al Sirhan
Arabian Golden Sparrow	Passer euchlorus	1	13-Nov-10	1	Al-Abraq	B Foster, P Fagel

In addition, no further Rarity Forms are required for:

Black-winged Kite and Buff-bellied Pipit, as we have now had 15 submitted Rarity Forms for these Species.

The Status of these two species highlighted in blue will now be reviewed and amended by KORC and updated on Annotated Checklist.

Many other rarities were recorded during the year and these are reflected in the table below:

SPECIES	SCIENTIFIC NAME	SIGHTING #	DATE	# Birds	LOCATION	OBSERVER(S)
Eurasian Golden Plover	Pluvialis apricaria	7	3-Jan-10	2	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	R Al Hajji
Common Crane	Grus grus	5	13-Jan-10	5	SAANR	P Fagel
Lesser Flamingo	Phoeniconaias minor	2	16-Jan-10	1	Sulaibikhat Bay	R Al Hajji
Barbary Falcon	Falco (peregrinus) pelegrinoides	4	22-Jan-10	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	P Fagel
Buff-bellied Pipit	Anthus (rubescens) japonicus	14	29-Jan-10	1	Al-Abraq	B Foster, P Fagel
White-crowned Wheatear	Oenanthe leucopyga	13	7-Mar-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	S Price
Demoiselle Crane	Anthropoides  virgo	7	19-Mar-10	2	Doha North	B Foster, P Fagel
Black Scrub Robin	Cercotrichas podobe	2	21-Mar-10	1	Al-Abraq	M Korhshed, H Al Shajyi
Common Crane	Grus grus	6	27-Mar-10	1	SAANR	R Al Hajji
Desert Finch	Rhodospiza obsoleta	8	30-Apr-10	4	Al-Abraq	B Foster
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	10	1-May-10	1	SAANR	K Al Ghanem
Black-winged Kite	Elanus caeruleus	13	22-Jul-10	1	Kuwait University	R Al Hajji
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	11	5-Sep-10	1	SAANR	R Al Hajji
Black-winged Kite	Elanus caeruleus	14	16-Sep-10	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	P Fagel
Black-winged Kite	Elanus caeruleus	15	6-Oct-10	1	Kuwait International Golf Course	P Fagel
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	10	24-Sep-10	1	SAANR	R Al-Hajji
White-crowned Wheatear	Oenanthe leucopyga	14	3-Oct-10	1	SAANR	H Al-Shayji
Sooty Falcon	Falco concolor	10	9-Oct-10	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	M Pope
Rufous Turtle Dove	Streptopelia o. meena	8	14-Oct-10	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	M Khorshed
Rufous Turtle Dove	Streptopelia o. meena	9	17-Oct-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	R Al Hajji
Dead Sea Sparrow	Passer moabiticus	10	18-Oct-10	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	M Khorshed
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	11	19-Oct-10	1	SAANR	K Al Nasrallah
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	12	23-Oct-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	P Fagel, B Foster, M Newey
Stock Dove	Columba oenas	7	1-Nov-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	P Fagel
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	13	4-Nov-10	1	Al-Abraq	P Fagel
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	14	6-Nov-10	1	SAANR	G Whitehead
Dusky Warbler	Phylloscopus fuscatus	2	13-Nov-10	1	Al-Abraq	B Foster, P Fagel
Eversmanns Redstart	Phoenicurus erythronotus	7	15-Nov-10	1	SAANR	B Foster, P Fagel
Humes Leaf Warbler	Phylloscopus humei	3	20-Nov-10	1	Al-Abraq	M Pope, B Foster, P Fagel, R Ertel
Stock Dove	Columba oenas	8	20-Nov-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	AbdulMohsen Al-Suraye
Eversmanns Redstart	Phoenicurus erythronotus	8	26-Nov-10	1	Al-Abraq	B Foster, P Fagel
Eurasian Golden Plover	Pluvialis apricaria	8	4-Dec-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	B Foster, P Fagel
Pygmy Cormorant	Phalacrocorax pygmeus	2	4-Dec-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	B Foster, P Fagel
Ashy Drongo	Dicrurus leucophaeus	2	7-Dec-10	2	Jahra Farm	P Fagel, B Foster
Buff-bellied Pipit	Anthus (rubescens) japonicus	15	16-Dec-10	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	A Al Sirhan

Aside from the four new species added to the Kuwait List, there were some good records of 2^nd records during this year.

• Lesser Flamingo in the flock of Greater Flamingo’s in Sulaibikhat Bay, exactly where the 1^st record of this species was seen in 2007
• Black Scrub Robin at Al Abraq, the 1^st record for this species was at Tuhla in SAANR in 2006
• Dusky Warbler at Al Abraq, the 1^st record for this species was at Jahra Farm in 2009
• Pygmy Cormorant at Pivot Fields, the 1^st record was from Jahra East Outfall in 2001
• Ashy Drongo – 2 birds at Jahra Farms in December, the 1^st record for this species was in April 2010 at the same location

3- Not Proven Records

None for 2010

Species	Scientific Name	Date	Location	Not Proven Reason
N/A

4- Other Records of Interest

Other interesting observations in 2010 were for:

• A juvenile Barbary Falcon at Jahra Pools Reserve
• 69 Demoiselle Cranes were seen SAANR in March
• 1^st confirmed breeding record of White-tailed Lapwing was recorded in March at Jahra Pools Reserve
• Two different Eversmanns Redstart were seen, a male at Tuhla in SAANR and a female at Al Abraq

5- First Record Images (with photographer credited)

Amur Falcon – Mohammad Khorshed

Arabian Golden Sparrow – Pekka Fagel