As we had a long holiday
prior to Saudi National Day on 23 September I was able to visit Sabkhat Al Fasl
on Tuesday 22 September. As it was a midweek visit there were no fishermen and
only one hunter that made the visit very pleasant. There were plenty of
migrants around of a good number of species although numbers of most of them
were low. Terns as always at this time of year were plentiful with good numbers
of White-winged Terns, Caspian Terns and Little Terns. Wheatears were also seen
in small numbers with most being Northern Wheatears and Isabelline Wheatears
but I also saw my first returning Pied Wheatear of the autumn that was a nice
first year male. Barn Swallows and Sand Martin numbers were high with more than
100 of each species and plenty of Spotted Flycatchers were also around. A
single Daurian Shrike and several Eurasian Hoopoes were also located along the
edge of the reed beds. Eight Western Marsh Harriers, mostly immatures and
females were seen but there was also an adult male and one Pallid Harrier also
flew over the scrape area. As always there were plenty of Purple Swamphens
around and several Squacco Herons and Grey Herons.
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| White-winged Tern |
 |
| Caspian Terns |
 |
| Northern Wheatear |
 |
| Pied Wheatear - first year male |
 |
| Pied Wheatear - first year male |
 |
| Barn Swallow |
 |
| Marsh Harrier - male |
 |
| Pallid Harrier |
 |
| Purple Swamphen |
