31 January 2014

Plenty of birds back on the Percolation Pond – Dhahran Hills

There are now a lot of birds on the percolation pond and the last visit produced very large numbers of Gulls. There were a minimum of 500 Common Black-headed Gulls, 15 Heuglin’s Gulls, ten Steppe Gulls and three Caspian Gulls. Five Great Cormorants were in the trees where a couple were drying out their wings and looking quite prehistoric in the process. Plenty of duck are still present with most being Eurasian Teal and Northern Shoveller but a new female Garganey joined them yesterday. The number of Little Grebes has built up to double figures with the Great Crested Grebe joining them and dwarfing the Little Grebes in the process.
Great Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Great Crested Grebe
The Spray fields had a single NCT Stonechat and several Crested Larks. A pair of Graceful Prinia were singing away and a group of over 100 Pallid Swifts and a single House Martin were flying around the area. A single Marsh Harrier was over the fields in the late evening but not much else of note.
Crested Lark
Pallid Swift