Arabian Adventure 26 - Last Knockings

Rob suggested a surprise visit down to Al Qudra as a bonus Saturday morning visit. I wasn't arguing. With it being weekend...it was busy...with Cyclists, as it has a popular track. We plotted our escape whilst having a Latte and started to tour the Expo Lakes. As soon as we left the crowds we saw our first interesting Bird...

They are released Birds but definitely still worth looking at...

Cute!

Plenty of Great White Egrets about...

This is an area where "anything" can pass over...well...a decent selection of Raptors and Vultures! After my earlier purple Patch at the beginning of my visit, I was hoping for a late addition. Lappet-faced Vulture was my "most-wanted" as it would be a Lifer. We'd driven round for about an hour when I saw a VERY large Bird above us...

Griffon

...not the LFV I was hoping for BUT still a rare Bird for the UAE and a Country Tick to boot!

An excellent late addition for the Trip.

Update: No secrets here! I entered my sightings and photos onto eBird. It seems I've made an error. No problem, I'm used to it!! eBird uses the Merlin App and it flagged the above pic as a LAPPET-FACED!!! More than happy to take it. I'd hoped to see this Species during my 3 visits. To see it (albeit retrospectively) as the Last Bird of my Trip was special indeed. Even better to share it with Rob. Wait till I tell him!

I'll do one last post on the Trip to share my overall thoughts and add some totals...once I've studied a few remaining pics. Merlin might come in handy again!