10 October 2011

Jeddah - September bird records from Graham Langley

Graham Langley went birding for a day in Jeddah on 13th September and mentioned he got up very early and took a taxi to the Southern Corniche, where there were shorebirds, gulls and tern everywhere although passerines were sadly short in number. Graham sent me his reocrds and kindly said I could put them on my website so here they are:-
 Indian Reef Heron (Grey Morph)
Indian Reef Heron
 common on shoreline, mostly dark phase birds
Little Egret
 2 seen although I didn't bother sorting most from the above
Eurasian Spoonbill
 At least 25 on the pools near at the Corniche
Greater Flamingo
 Only two seen at the Corniche
Western Marsh Harrier
 A female northern end of Southern Corniche
Crab Plover
One bird on sandbar offshore from Corniche
Black-winged Stilt
Regular along the Corniche and at airport pools 
Spur-winged Plover
 Six sen on Jeddah airport approach road
Kentish Plover
 Several at Corniche and on brackish pools inland
Common Ringed Plover
 Common on shore at Corniche
Grey Plover
 One at northern end of Southern Corniche
Eurasian Curlew
 One on sandbar offshore from Corniche
Common Redshank
 Several at Corniche. One at airport pools
Common Greenshank
 Several at Corniche. One at airport pools
Marsh Sandpiper
 One at Corniche, bizarrely on a seaweed covered shoreline pool
Sanderling
 Several on shoreline at Corniche
Little Stint
 Two on airport pools, scattered individuals at Corniche
Curlew Sandpiper
 Two on a brackish pool at Corniche
Ruff
 One on Airport pools
Ruddy Turnstone
 Very common on Corniche
Lesser Crested Tern
 Common offshore at Corniche
Swift Tern
 At least two birds probably this species not the above at Corniche
Saunder’s Tern
 Several 'little' terns at Corniche. At least one was a Saunders
Whiskered Tern
 Very common at the Corniche
White-winged Tern
 Several seen with Whiskered terns at the Corniche
Sooty Gull
 Regularly seen all along the Corniche
Caspian Gull
 One on a lamppost at northern end of Southern Corniche
White-eyed Gull
 a few seen along The Corniche
Slender-billed Gull
 regular individuals and small groups along the Corniche
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
 2 at Jeddah airport
Rock Dove
 Very common
Eurasian Collared Dove
 Common throughout
Laughing Dove
 A few seen, mainly on edge of the city and around the hotel
Namaqua Dove
5 seen on road from Corniche to Khoumrah town
Desert Lark
Several seen on  road from Corniche to Khoumrah town
Crested lark
  Common along road from Corniche to Khoumrah town
Black-crowned Sparrow Lark
 Flock of six on  road from Corniche to Khoumrah town
Barn Swallow
 two birds heading south along Corniche
African Rock Martin
 Two birds around the hotel, nesting.
Yellow Wagtail
 A group of at least 10 over pools by Corniche, subsp unknown
Southern Grey Shrike
 One on fence near Jeddah Airport approach road
Masked Shrike
 One on fence between Khoumrah and the coast
Yellow-vented Bulbul
 Several on Airport approach road. Two at hotel
Arabian Babbler
 Two in acacia scrub between Khoumrah and the coast
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
 One in trees in hotel car park
Spotted Flycatcher
 One in trees in hotel car park
House Sparrow
 Common everywhere
Ruppell’s Weaver
 Two 'singing' in car park trees in hotel
Common Myna
 Common everywhere
House Crow
 Common everywhere
Brown-necked Raven
 Two with house crows at Jeddah Airport terminal
Fan-tailed Raven
 One with house crows on rubbish dump at edge Khoumrah town