25 January 2016

A quite winter day but plenty of Eurasian Coot – Sabkhat Al Fasl

My last trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl was quite quiet with few birds seen. I did manage to still see eight Greater Spotted Eagles and 28 Western Marsh Harriers but numbers of other species were low. This was possibly because it was a cool and overcast day and sunlight was at a premium, which is unusual in Saudi Arabia. As always a few Grey-headed Swamphens and Squacco Herons were about but wader numbers were very low with a few Dunlin, marsh Sandpipers and Grey Plovers noted along with 38 Common Snipe. The best thing seen was a large group of Eurasian Coot numbering 121 birds, easily the highest count for the location where any double figure counts are noteworthy.
Grey Plover
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Coots