17 March 2015

Three species of Shrike including Long-tailed – Dhahran Hills golf course

A quick visit to Dhahran Hills golf course at lunchtime 9 March produced few birds but a few shrikes were about including the Long-tailed Shrike which is gradually re-growing its tail. The bird is difficult to locate and extremely wary of people and it is almost impossible to get close to it. Shortly after I arrived a golf buggy scared the bird out from its resting place and it flew up on top of a tall tree. It stayed only briefly before flying off and disappearing not to be re-found. It was clear the tail has grown quite a lot in the last four days and now it appears to have a long tail again although not as long as the full grown tail it had when it was originally found. Two other species of shrike were also seen including a Turkestan Shrike and a Woodchat Shrike. This is the first Woodchat Shrike of the year on the patch for me although I have seen them the last couple of weekends at Sabkhat Al Fasl. Both of these shrikes were feeding from the hedges along the middle section of the golf course and were too distant for photography. The small pond has dropped in water level as some work is being done in removing the phragmites reeds surrounding it in some areas but a few Common Moorhens and Great Cormorants are still about. Apart for this very little else was seen with the exception of a few White Wagtails feeding on the short cut grass of the fairways.
Long-tailed Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Great Cormorant
Great Cormorant