KORC Rarity Report 2012

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 – Kuwait (Chairman, voting member)
Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan – Kuwait (Secretary, voting member)
Pekka Fagel – Kuwait (voting member)
Oscar Campbell – Dubai (External Adjudicator, voting member)
Peter Kennerley – England (External Adjudicator, voting member)
Brian Foster– England (honorary member)

2- Accepted Records by Species for Category A and C

Four (4) new species (1st) were recorded in Kuwait in 2012 with the Long-tailed Ducks being the most unexpected; the Exclamatory Paradise Flycatcher was accepted as a Cat-E Species and all are highlighted in the table below:

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMESIGHTING #DATE# BirdsLOCATIONOBSERVER(S)
Franklin’s GullLarus pipixcan15-Jun-121Jahra East Outfall (JEO)R Al Hajji
Paddyfield WarblerAcrocephalus agricola126-Aug-121Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)R Al Hajji
Mesopotamian CrowCorvus c. capellanus123-Oct-121Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)K Al Ghanem
Exclamatory Paradise WhydahVidua interjecta1 (Cat E)23-Oct-121Al-AbraqM.Pope
Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalis17-Nov-124Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)Ouda Al-Bathali

One more sighting of Dead Sea Sparrow in 2013 will mean that a Rarity Form is no longer required for this species.
Many other rarities were recorded during the year and these are reflected in the table below:

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMESIGHTING #DATE# BirdsLOCATIONOBSERVER(S)
Mediterranean GullLarus melanocephalus62-Feb-121Green IslandP Fagel, R Swan
Lesser FlamingoPhoeniconaias minor36-Feb-121West of Kuwait UniversitySwiss Group
Masked WagtailMotacilla a. personata210-Feb-121Wafra FarmSwiss Group
Dead Sea SparrowPasser moabiticus1316-Feb-124Al-AbraqP Fagel
Eurasian Golden PloverPluvialis apricaria1126-Feb-121Pivot FieldsK Al Ghanem
Radde’s AccentorPrunella ocularis215-Mar-121SAANRR Al-Hajji
YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella216-Mar-121SAANRK Al Ghanem
Desert FinchRhodospiza obsoleta917-Mar-121Khiran AreaR Al Hajji
Radde’s AccentorPrunella ocularis36-Apr-121Al-Shallal’s FarmTodd Pepper
Dalmatian PelicanPelecanus crispus71-May-122Boubyan IslandK Al Nasrallah
Black StorkCiconia nigra165-May-121Sulaibikhat BayM. Pope
Amur FalconFalco amurensis213-May-121Jahra East Outfall (JEO)R Al-Hajji
Booted WarblerHippolais caligata227-Aug-121Jahra East Outfall (JEO)R Al Hajji
Booted WarblerHippolais caligata328-Aug-121SAANRR Al Hajji
Eastern Bonelli’s WarblerPhylloscopus orientalis231-Aug-121Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)R Al Hajji
Blyth’s Reed WarblerAcrocephalus dumetorum315-Sep-121SAANRR Al Hajji
Demoiselle CraneAnthropoides virgo86-Oct-123Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)H Al Shaygi
Ferruginous DuckAythya nyroca97-Nov-121Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)M Pope
Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus118-Nov-121Jahra East Outfall (JEO)R Al Hajji
Dead Sea SparrowPasser moabiticus1414-Nov-123Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)R Al Hajji
Hooded WheatearOenanthe monacha822-Nov-121Jahra East Outfall (JEO)R Al Hajji

3- Not Proven Records

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMEDATELOCATIONNot PROVEN REASON
Indian Pond HeronArdeola grayii16 Sep 12SAANRInconclusive id features (agreed by all KORC Members)

4- Other Records of Interest

Other interesting observations in 2012 were:

  • 15 MacQueens Bustards at SAANR in January
  • A single Afghan Babbler at Jahra Pools in January
  • Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse at Abdaly Farms in January
  • 131 Pied Avocet in Sulaibikhat Bay in January
  • Buff-bellied Pipit at Al Abraq in February
  • 3 Red-tailed Wheatears at Khiran in February
  • A juvenile Hypcolius photographed at Jahra Farms in August
  • 40+ Black-tailed Godwits at Jahra Pools Reserve in September
  • 2000+ migrating Steppe Buzzards at Khuwaisat over a few days in September
  • 2 Black Storks soaring above Jahra Pools in September
  • Black-winged Kite in Jahra area in September
  • 2 Levant Sparrowhawks at Al Abraq in October
  • 30+ Hypocolius seen early in the morning at Green Island in November
  • A single Great Crested Grebe at Jahra Pools in November
  • A Great Bittern near Jahra East Outfall in November
  • A single Great Crested Grebe at Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City in the south of Kuwait seen swimming in the newly created lagoons in December
  • 2 Socotra Cormorants (appear to have overwintered) seen off-shore in November and December
  • 2 Eurasian Siskin and possible Siberian Chiffchaff at Al Abraq in December
  • A single White Stork and Eastern Imperial Eagle seen at the Pivot Fields in December
  • A White Pelican was observed in Sulaibikhat Bay in December

5- A few of the other interesting species images below:

Booted Warbler (Rashed Al Hajji)
Franklin’s Gull (Rashed Al Hajji)