05 August 2011

Some Desert Birds & Waders - Dammam Al Khobar Wader Roost

Yesterday the waste land behind the Dammam - Al Khobar Wader Roost South again produced Greater Hoopoe Lark and Black-crowned Sparrow Lark. A juvenile and adult Black-crowned Sparrow Lark where seen today indicating that they have bred in the nearby waste land. The wader roost was alive with waders and plenty of Indian Reef Heron as well and hundreds of Slender-billed Gull. A new bird for me in Saudi Arabia was Sanderling, with two birds in partial summer plumage feeding on the muddy edge of the tidal creek.
 Greater Hoopoe Lark
 Black-crowned Sparrow Lark (adult & juvenile)
 Black-crowned Sparrow Lark (adult)
 Black-crowned Sparrow Lark (juvenile)
 Broad-billed Sandpiper
 Indian Reef Heron (grey morph)
 Indian Reef Heron (grey morph)
Slender-billed Gull (adults)


Other good birds at the Wader Roost included:-
Broad-billed Sandpiper - 125
Bar-tailed Godwit - 120
Curlew Sandpiper - 200+
Lttle Stint - 300+
Whimbrel - 5
Eurasian Curlew - 4
Sanderling - 2
Lesser Sand Plover - 6
Greater Sand Plover - 18
Ruddy Turnstone - 5
Common Sandpiper - 1
Terek Sandpiper - 12
Slender-billed Gull - 500+
Gull-billed Tern - 2
Saunder's Tern - 4
Indian Reef Heron - 33