27 January 2016

Larks, Pipits and Buntings – Qaryat Al Ulya

Phil and I went for our winter birding trip to the spray fields north of Jubail in the Qaryat Al Ulya area last weekend. We normally go to see if we can find any wintering birds of prey as well as winter larks and buntings. We had three large eagles at some distance but were unable to identify any of them with a few Common Kestrels in the spray fields. Most birds seen were larks, pipits and buntings with plenty of Tawny Pipits and Water Pipits in the fields. We found two Corn Buntings feeding in a short crop field, a not too common species as well as a large flock of 50+ Greater Short-toed Larks with ten Eurasian Skylarks. Larks seen on the edge of the fields included Desert Lark and Black-crowned Sparrow Lark and a single Bar-tailed Lark a species I have seen on only three occasions in Kingdom so a good bird for me.
Tawny Pipit
Tawny Pipit
Corn Bunting
Corn Bunting
Corn Bunting
Corn Bunting
Bar-tailed Desert Lark
Bar-tailed Lark
Bar-tailed Desert Lark
Bar-tailed Lark