By Muntaha Al-Fadhli (with photos)
KUWAIT, July 24 (KUNA) -- Kuwait has been blessed with islands rich with fungal lifeforms, plants and coral reefs, making them home to different species of birds who land on them during certain periods of the year for breeding, while other birds visit them to rest before they continuing migration.
Member of the Bird Monitoring and Protection Team (BMPT) at Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS), engineer Abdulrahman Al-Surayae, told KUNA that Kubbar Island is considered as the best and most beautiful of Kuwait's islands, saying that it is frequently visited by swimming and fishing lovers, and divers during the summer.
He added that Kubbar has an amazing shore and clear water. It measures 370 meters from its eastern side toward the west, and its width is 290 meters from its northern to its southern parts.
Al-Surayae added that the weather of Kubbar is fine in summer, where the temperature is 39 degrees Celsius by the shore, reaching 27 degrees at its lowest level at night.
He explained that the island is located along the route of giant ships carrying oil and commercial products to the inland, which is which the state deciding to station a light house on the island to signal the passing vessels.
The sea of Kubbar is rich with fish, where a type locally known as the "manjoosah" is found in large quantities during this time of year. It is a thin fish, five centimeters in length and is famous for its dark green and shiny silver colors, and wide eyes. This fish is the main constituent of the tern bird's diet.
Al-Surayae mentioned that tern birds arrive in flocks to the island in early May, especially sea tern birds that fly in from the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea towards Kubbar.
The terns stays on the island during the summer season for mating and breeding, then they fly back again to their homeland.
He said that following the mating season, each kind of tern birds chooses an appropriate spot on the island to build its nest and after the eggs hatch, the small terns are fed by their parents on small fish until they grow and learn to fly within two to three weeks.
He concluded that those who are concerned about environment in the country should work on protecting this island, which he described as a natural reserve.
Copyright Kuwait News Agency 2008.
