The last week on my local ‘patch’ has proved to be a rather slow affair, although a scattering of good birds have occurred with the best being the Black-winged Kite on 20 April that unfortunately only stayed for one day. As mentioned in a previous post this was only the second record for the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and was present at the same time as a female Montagu’s Harrier that also only stayed a day. This was only the second time I have seen this species in Dhahran but they are uncommonly seen elsewhere in the province. Other birds of prey seen included a female Pallid Harrier, Western Osprey and Eurasian Sparrowhawk. Migrant passerines were few and far between with a few Turkestan Shrikes, small flocks of up to 20 Ortolan Buntings, several Common Redstarts, two Barred Warblers and four Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins. A smart male Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush and small numbers of European Bee-eaters added a splash of colour to the birding but the most significant arrival of birds was reasonable numbers of European Turtle Doves. A few waders are still passing through with the best being a Terek Sandpiper, only the third record I have seen on my ‘patch’, but also Wood Sandpipers, one Common Snipe, three Black-winged Stilts and a Common Sandpiper seen. The spring has been rather slow in Dhahran, as well as elsewhere in the region, but to compensate for this a few really good birds have been found making the birding exciting and interesting despite the lack of numbers.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvn1v_sg93loE1f1Sjphk0GHZIbDsV1-xIoLfBj4KumZ5ATIvuTRaehAWtjrgqrIUhWWoEaC2mERRtKJRCt77OJCnue24dOFgNbR_OwkGpbXtObosaPT-k_FeEMN2Q4dY5mk7VvksUPk/s1600/Western_Osprey.jpg) |
Western Osprey |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0SEGcAPgU4nc90Rr5Abo3U3NTQxJcFgO16_UBuHrt4a-Do5VfFEuAeqc1wKNqvqgYszO-U8SS9Hfd9_44cv-8VxQe2LqkFfmskoiR2eED6aYMCY1L_mneFpE3-KXiG5-jsJJ60OLeuQ/s1600/Rufous-tailed_Rok_Thrush.jpg) |
Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3od_SPfoepp1f2zGRpTyioN4Es6YK0eQC0Db1EJVTOVBnrKeoK_YKTaPXctWt5HihRYmAUWx7zMzsu2KTmVebEcm7_ZkQVBawgADl3-3mwA4WaFy5YshHYqiTCi3ACLg_dakXCx1XrM/s1600/Ortolan_Bunting.jpg) |
Ortolan Bunting |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTLdZILfrhToNgqTng_xcrUfEvuHKy5iqolOBty6fQfbE0jsXHlw6O9DtrH1SI7AJZa4Krc3soKj_f8sCk8HwxOlGbcId0bzzbU0S3zh5grN2igUOWboBcbMz0KHoDesSA82Gd7875o4/s1600/European_Turtle_Dove.jpg) |
European Turtle Dove |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0acxIytUeBaFMzkAmUZ7pHzBxehc2GSRTZCDRYnAX4MQABq7rKuyTzsN6GyoWScUT5iAyMwGhArGnETzsCscC6-XTiin4LTb-J3jm74JbSj_nPTFgTD-uf8G9spa_qHM4sMZoXHZZhM/s1600/European_Turtle_Dove1.jpg) |
European Turtle Dove |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7OivPcM7iyVMKr8uOJ0-_sktA1D1KRkrzpliqiaeYfp8TuzzU63ckpaQeN_puDR0yOMqw-8w1ryNHfdyyTRJN0SAxYSmHuJe4jNZoQuw5CPyCkHdRwtnMYKeG22M66IdqlFQ8oo_no8/s1600/Terek_Sandpiper.jpg) |
Terek Sandpiper |