KORC Rarity Report 2011

KORC Rarity Report 2011

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

Seven (7) new species (1^st) were recorded in Kuwait in 2011 and these are shown in the table below

SPECIES	SCIENTIFIC NAME	SIGHTING #	DATE	# Birds	LOCATION	OBSERVER(S)
Booted Warbler	Hippolais caligata	1	2-Sep-06	1	SAANR	A Al-Sirhan
Eastern Nightingale	Luscinia megarhynchos golzii	1	4-May-07	1	Jahra Farm	M Pope, B Foster, P Fagel
Pectoral Sandpiper	Calidris melanotos	1	5-Oct-11	1	Pivot Fields	R Al Hajji
Pied Stonechat	Saxicola caprata	1	20-May-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	B Foster, P Fagel
Red-crested Pochard	Netta rufina	1	29-Dec-11	9	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	Ouda Al-Bathali
Striated Heron	Butorides striatus	1	31-Jul-11	1	Sulaibikhat KISR Beach	K Al Alghanim
Masked Wagtail	Motacilla a, personata	1	1-Mar-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	K Al Ghanem

In addition, no further Rarity Forms are required for:

Black Stork and Crested Honey Buzzard, 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)
Buff-bellied Pipit	Anthus (rubescens) japonicus	16	15-Jan-11	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	M Pope
Dead Sea Sparrow	Passer moabiticus	11	16-Jan-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	Pierre Crochet
Eversmanns Redstart	Phoenicurus erythronotus	9	21-Jan-11	1	Wafra Farm	Pierre Crochet
Rufous Turtle Dove	Streptopelia o. meena	10	5-Mar-11	1	Jahra Farm	B.Foster, M Pope
Dead Sea Sparrow	Passer moabiticus	12	12-Mar-11	18	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	G Whitehead
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	12	18-Mar-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	R Al Hajji
Common Crane	Grus grus	7	22-Mar-11	1	SAANR	P Fagel
Mongolian Finch	Bucanetes mongolicus	2	8-Apr-11	1	SAANR	K Al Alghanim
Pale Crag Martin	Ptyonoprogne (fuligula) fuligula	8	9-Apr-11	1	SAANR	B Foster
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	13	29-Apr-11	1	SAANR	M Pope
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	14	14-May-11	1	SAANR	B Foster
Long-tailed Skua	Stercorarius longicaudus	3	30-May-11	4	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	M Khorshed
Red Knot	Caldris canutus	2	2-Jun-11	1	Jahra East Outfall (JEO)	R Al Hajji
Arctic Tern	Sterna pardisaea	5	3-Jun-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	R Al Hajji
Eurasian Golden Plover	Pluvialis apricaria	9	15-Jul-11		Jahra East Outfall (JEO)	M Pope
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	15	15-Sep-11	1	SAANR	P Fagel
Grey-necked Bunting	Emberiza buchanani	3	16-Sep-11	1	SAANR	R Al-Hajji
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	16	28-Sep-11	1	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	M Khorshed and others
Spur-winged Lapwing	Vanellus spinosus	10	29-Sep-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	Fahad Alkhamis
Ferruginous Duck	Aythya nyroca	8	18-Oct-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	A.Al-Sirhan, M. Chalmers
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	15	22-Oct-11	1	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	P. Fagel, M. Newey
Common Crane	Grus grus	8	24-Oct-11	1	Pivot Fields	M Khorshed
Rufous Turtle Dove	Streptopelia o. meena	11	19-Nov-11	1	Jahra Farm	M.Pope
Humes Leaf Warbler	Phylloscopus humei	4	3-Dec-11	1	Rawdatain	P Fagel
Eurasian Golden Plover	Pluvialis apricaria	10	4-Dec-11	1	Pivot Fields	P Fagel
Common Crane	Grus grus	9	6-Dec-11	3	SAANR	P Fagel
Hooded Wheatear	Oenanthe monacha	7	10-Dec-11	1	Jahra East Outfall (JEO)	P Fagel et al

3- First Record Images (photographer credited)

Booted Warbler – A Al-Sirhan	Eastern Nightingale – M. Pope
Pectoral Sandpiper – P Fagel	Pied Bushchat – P Fagel
Red-crested Pochard – M. Korshed	Striated Heron – K Al-Ghanem
White (Masked) Wagtail – K Al-Ghanem

4- Not Proven Records

Species	Scientific Name	Date	Location	Not Proven Reason
Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhyncus	19-Jan-11	Al-Abraq	Considered a hybrid by D Forsman
Grey-necked Bunting	Emberiza buchanani	24-Apr-11	Pivot Fields	Observer did not submit Rarity Form
Red-necked Stint	Calidris ruficollis	30-Jul-11	Freee Trade Zone	Confirmed as a Sanderling
Red-headed Bunting	Emberiza bruniceps	16-Sep-11	Sulaibiya, Pivot Fields	Confirmed as Black-headed Bunting
Greater Scaup	Aythya marila	29-Oct-11	Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)	Confirmed as juvenile Tufted Duck

5- Other Records of Interest

Other interesting observations in 2010 were for:

• 4 Richards Pipit seen at Pivot Fields in January
• 124 Hypocolius on Green Island in January
• Humes Leaf Warbler at Al Abraq in January
• 6 Great Crested Grebes in Jahra Bay in February
• Oriental Skylark at Pivot Fields in February
• Pygmy Cormorant was still present at Pivot Fields in March
• Black Vulture seen in SAANR in April
• 5 Arctic Skua’s on route to Kubbar Island in April
• Lesser-crested, Bridled and White-cheeked Terns on eggs at Kubbar Island in May
• Arctic Tern at Jahra East in June
• 21 Socotra Cormorants at Khiran (2^nd highest count)
• 40+ European Honey Buzzards at Tuhla in September
• Grey-necked and Red-headed Bunting at SAANR in September
• Red-wattled Lapwing at Pivot Fields in September
• Wood Warbler at Tuhla in September
• Spur-winged Plover at Jahra Pools in October
• European Goldfinch at Al Abraq in December
• Hooded Wheatear at Jahra East in December

A few of the other interesting species are highlighted in images below:

Crag Martin – 30 Oct 2011, SAANR, Rashed Al Hajji	Short-eared Owl – 02 Nov 2011, Jahra Pool Reserve, Rashed Al Hajji
Tufted Duck – 12 Nov and 29 Dec 2011 – Jahra Pool Reserve, Rashed Al Hajji et.al.	Black-throated Thrush – 17 Nov 2011, Sulaibikhat, Rashed Al Hajji.
Wood Warbler – 24 Sep 2011, SAANR, Rashed Al Hajji.	Icterine Warbler – 09 Aug 2011, Jahra Farm, Rashed Al Hajji.
Mountain Chiffchaff – 24 Nov and 11 Dec 2011, Jahra East Outfall, Rashed Al Hajji.	Mistle Thrush – 5 Dec. 2011, Jahra Pool Reserve, Rashed Al Hajji.
Common Reed Bunting – 10 Dec 2011, Jahra Pool Reserve, Rashed Al Hajji.	Jack Snipe – 14 Dec 2011, Jahra Pool Reserve, Khaled Al Ghanem
Eastern Greylag Goose (11 birds) – 26 Dec 2011, Jahra Pool Reserve26 Dec 2011, 11 birds, RH.	Eurasian Dotterel – 31 Dec 2011, Pivot Fields, Pekka Fagel.