24 November 2014

Red-tailed Wheatear and a few other passerines – Dhahran Hills

The Red-tailed Wheatear is still present on the boulders behind the pond and looks like it may remain for some time. I have still not managed to get any proper photographs of the bird as I always see it in the late evening after work and the light is already poor. As a result the photos below were taken with a high ISO and are not as good as they could have been. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to take some better photos in better light if I can find the bird again. Other passerines are not that common but a few Common Chiffchaffs, a Lesser Whitethroat and several Daurian Shrikes have been around. Other birds of note have been three Tawny Pipits in the spray fields that do an excellent job of hiding in the grass and keeping themselves well hidden and a few Eurasian Skylarks remain from the small flock I found a few days before. Other winter visitors seen include a few Water Pipits and several White Wagtails including some males still in full breeding plumage. Several Rose-ringed Parakeets have been seen in the late evening as whilst I have been watching the girls playing football in the main camp. These birds very rarely come to the Hills area so I do not often see them and have never managed to photograph the species in the camp even though they are common in the main camp, but this is not part of my ‘patch’ for birding. Also seen were two Western Marsh Harriers over the spray fields an adult male and a female.
Red-tailed Wheatear
Red-tailed Wheatear
Daurian Shrike
Western Marsh Harrier - female
Western Marsh Harrier - male