This morning I did my final atlas box for this season. I was joined by Meidad and a TV crew documenting my atlas project, which was quite fun. Meidad is a natural born TV star, isn't he?
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Light conditions were quite awful with heavy clouds and no sun at all; this made photography almost impossible. I had some good birds and managed to confirm breeding of several key species - Trumpeter finch, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Spectacled Warbler. None of them were close enough for photography. Mourning Wheatears were ubiquitous with lots of families around. This is an adult male:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zUteYxV-CKiaUgL_eDZOx3Z5MvHX7Aozto1tkQS8WlnyzM0Yz2GRp7xSK0AauFsj6nLk6aYHv6ue_xXpoIYjq2Mb7v-gRAFGdOHsFJFnJMau4bhicHbmbwV56LY9zYG9mN70iJxTlOLw/s400/mourning1.jpg)
And a recently-fledged juvenile:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6fHgP6qb-isBMiW8kQxz0z4F5sQpC7fDQqj8jo95h4Ey559RjnUZK6rTKGtID8QNLxtARXQ92PmH6pht4zTrbpRPGhvz2wTuHt2cL2p_MC3GBRGs_QaAPp6m0PwTcptZiNWL7pPGiYpu/s400/mourning2.jpg)
After we were done we paid a quick visit to the sewage ponds. As it was unusually cold sandgrouse were still coming in to drink so late, and we had some of both Black-bellied and Crowned. I met up with Barak who had found a
diluta-type Sand Martin, interesting bird. Other birds included Citrine Wagtail, a couple of Namaqua Doves and Kentish Plover (a local rarity).
Namaqua Dove - female
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Kentish Plover
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMXojjBtfYyoip8EP6nkSKeIr8Lj-SLB1hpHy2sKmJ4C_2-Uhf9_IoOedHAJTQiPan4CjQVqtUzm3RB8pf-byqIVPtLw3vwE6VJnJOtYN665ZQcZfRM_pxCGbdeyhIelm-RKHW0SQV_C8/s400/kentish.jpg)
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