I had a couple of
spare hours between dropping the family off and picking them up again in town
so went to the Al Khobar Sea Front. This area is being heavily developed but
has good tracks along the sea front allowing views over the tidal mud flats.
The tide was completely out when I went which is not an ideal time but I did
see a few groups of Greater Flamingos feeding quite close to the shore in wet
areas left by the retreating tide. I counted 120 birds including both adults in
bright pink plumage and juveniles in their more drab greyish pink plumage.
Greater Flamingo numbers are not very high in Dammam / Al Khobar when compared
to Jubail, where several thousand birds spend the winter every year, but still
several hundred birds use the Gulf close to the urban areas and are always a
pleasure to see. A bird with a large white plastic ring, originally ringed in
Turkey also spent one winter in the Al Khobar area recently although all the
birds I saw lacked any rings unfortunately. This is the first time I have seen
the Greater Flamingos so close to the shore, as normally they feed out by the
tide line and remain quite distant.
Greetings! I am a member of a group of expats who are homeschooling our children in the Eastern Province, and would love to be able to teach them to identify the bird species here. Having lived here for several years, I have enjoyed seeing the variety of birds, but with no real knowledge or skill in birdwatching, I find I can't identify many. Where can I find a guide book or other source of info to share with our group? Thanks for a great blog, as well as for any tips you can offer.
ReplyDeleteLaura
DeleteGuide books to the region are mentioned on my website in the bottom right column (at the bottom of the website). There are all the books mentioned that are relevanat to our area of the world. Then look them up on Amazon or similar to find out the details.
Hope this helps and good luck
Jem
Hi Jen, I just noted them from my balcony at Khobar seafront during the low tide yesterday (September 2016). Are you saying they on migratory path towards Jubail for winter or are they around in Khobar for the winter? Originally I thought they are from nearby Bahrain Zoo.. 😅
ReplyDeleteFerry
DeleteThe birds we are seeing at the moment are migrnats from thier breeding grounds in Iran and Turkey coming here for the winter months. Many winter in Jubail but many also winter in the Dammam / Al Khobar waterfornt areas but in smaller numbers. Some stay through the summer and these are the ones that may / do breed.
Jem
Hi do you know of any photography group here in eastern region? I like to take photos of birds too, and I think it will be much fun and worthwhile with a group thanks
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ReplyDelete