30 November 2014

Pied, White-throated and Common Kingfishers near Riyadh – Bird records by Mansur Al Fahd

A Pied Kingfisher was found at Wadi Hanifa, south of Riyadh three weeks ago and photos were sent to a birdwatcher who informed the Riyadh birders of the sighting. On 21 November Mansur and Mohammed went to look for the bird and found it again. Mansur managed to take a couple of photos of the bird as well as some great photos of both White-breasted Kingfisher and Common Kingfisher. It has been a good year for photographing Common Kingfisher by others but I am still to get and decent photographs of the species. The Pied Kingfisher is a rare and irregular winter visitor to coastal creeks and wetlands although there have been a number of inland records such as the one at Riyadh. Mansur also saw one at Al Hayir in 2008 and Mohammed saw one in Zulfi around the same year. In the last few years there have been birds at Sabkhat Al Fasl in Jubail and Al Fanateer Harbour also Jubail. White-throated Kingfisher is a scarce visitor to the Eastern Province but an uncommon resident breeder in the Ryadh area where the below photo was taken. I thank Mansur for sending me the photos and details and for allowing me to use them on m website.
Pied Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher