As it was the start of the weekend out here yesterday so we went to Sabkhat Al Fasl as normal. Started early and one of the first birds we saw a Great Reed Warbler showing well in the reed edges where I could see the strong Thrush looking bill and long primary projection. This was a normal type bird, not one of the greyer eastern
zarudnyi type birds that occur on passage in this region. I saw quite a few of these in the spring but only of the eastern type birds. A Common Kingfisher was seen very briefly that would have been a new bird for Saudi Arabia for me but the views were too brief to include it. There are quite a few migrants around today with twenty Barn Swallow, three Sand Martin, three Yellow Wagtail, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Egyptian Nightjar (in a different location to where we have seen then here before) and Isabelline Wheatear. Wader numbers were well down on what we have seen recently but a Pied Avocet was only the second time I had seen the species here and eight Common Ringed Plover were a new species for the site for me. Other good birds included Purple Swamphen, four Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, two Eurasian Hoopoe and five Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin. We also saw the second calendar year Greater Spotted Eagle perched and in flight and a couple of poor quality flight shots I got of it showed it was the same bird as seen in July at the same site indicating this bird is summering in Saudi Arabia.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXste4X_yfMzgeJ3GOZDfHO1ECTEw3l5GOKy92I2N-OstISqGZlLSVu9m5YDhtGvt1K9xvATvEqTvzq6Sd5A1uQUdIMDzfKHZy53OXyvWH9rWMvGDod8Fc0Wmv8ExldSIQJ5tWzHKUi4M/s1600/Common+Ringed+Plover1.jpg)
Common Ringed Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Caspian Tern
Little Stint
Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen