Whilst birding the Jubail area I came across a few Little Terns some of which had well grown young to feed. Some were resting on the muddy edge of some sabkha and other flying around. In the Eastern Province the Little Tern is a common passage migrant and summer visitor that is scarce in the winter. Care must be taken not to confuse it with the very similar Saunder’s Tern that also occurs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in the summer and breeds on offshore islands. It has bred in freshwater and brackish areas of eastern Saudi Arabia and possibly the Red Sea also. Birds are scarce inland but have been recorded in all areas including Riyadh. The chance to try to get photos is increased as adults were feeding young and continually flying backwards and forwards with food. The harsh light is a drawback but the best photos I managed are shown below.
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
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30 June 2019
28 June 2019
Lesser Emperor - Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area recently we came across a Lesser Emperor Anax Parthenopesitting still on a large reed stem. The dragonfly allowed close photos to be take the best of which is shown below. Lesser Emperor has a length of approximately 71mm and has a bright blue ‘saddle’ that is very noticeable. The rest of the abdomen is brownish, as is the thorax. The eyes are green. It is a wide-range Palearctic and Indomalayan species that is not threatened on a global scale, although local declines may occur due to habitat destruction and water pollution. Occurs in much of southern and central Europe including most Mediterranean islands, across Asia to Japan including parts of Arabia, Korean Peninsula and China, and North Africa. In the south of its range it can be on the wing in March but is most commonly seen from June to September. They are most often seen patrolling around ponds, lakes and other still water. This is the second year in succession I have seen the species in Jubail having not seen it previously in other years.
26 June 2019
Arabian Spotted Eagle Owl - Tanoumah
Whilst in Tanoumah in May Phil
Roberts and I managed to see and photograph an Arabian Spotted Eagle-owl. I
initially saw the bird on some overhead wires where it stayed for a few minutes
before flying off. I have seen the bird here last year on the same wires. When
it flew, it did so only a short distance and landed on a nearby building where
it started calling very softly. We got out of the car and moved closer getting
to about twenty metres of the bird where I got some very poor IPhone recordings
of the call. After about ten minutes the bird flew again and disappeared. We
walked down the road the way it had flown and I saw it again perched on some
more overhead telephone wires. Here we managed to walk behind large sets of
building walls and get in front of the bird allowing reasonable photos to be taken
at close range. The owl was not disturbed by our presence, and stayed on the
wires the entire time until we left it in peach in the same location. The
subspecies in Arabia is an endemic sub-species to southwestern Arabia and
although not rare is difficult to locate. Birds are resident near the Red Sea
coast north to Jeddah and can be seen in the Tihamah and Asir areas including
Najran and Hejaz north to Taif. Other birds have been seen in a wooded wadi
eight kilometres east of Wadi Juwwah in April and near Tanoumah at various
times of year. The taxonomic status of form milesi,
significantly isolated in southwest Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman, is uncertain.
It is a rather small eagle-owl with long, erect ear-tufts and with race milesi smaller and more tawny coloured.
They use a variety of habitats, from rocky outcrops in desert to woodland with
sparse ground cover: particularly favours areas with mosaic of low hills,
grassland and scrub; prefers semi-open woodland, and rocky hills with scattered
trees and bushes; also found in thorn savanna; avoids dense forest. From sea level
up to c. 2100 metres.
24 June 2019
Solanum incanum – Talea Valley
Whist looking around the Talea Valley in the Asir Mountains, after a huge thunderstorm, hail and heavy rain I came across an erect bushy leaf shurblet 1 metre high and slightly spiny. Some spines are on the mid-rib of the grey-green velvety leaves. Large pale yellow smooth round fruits. It turned out to be a Solanum incanum which is widespread in the Hijaz and Asir mountains.
22 June 2019
Late migrants – Jubail
Towards the end of May I went to Jubail with an early morning start getting me to the site at first light. There were a good number of migrants around with a couple of Whinchats and plenty of Willow Warblers in the tamarisk bushes. A few Red-backed Shrikes, a Common Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatchers. Apart from Willow Warblers the reeds were alive with the song of Caspian Reed Warblers and Clamorous Reed Warblers. GrOut on the flooded sabkha were plenty of terns and herons a good numbers of Wood Sandpipers.
Clamorous Reed Warbler |
Grey-headed Swamphen |
Little Ringed Plover |
Red-backed Shrike |
Red-backed Shrike |
Whinchat |
Whinchat |
Whinchat |
Wood Sandpiper |
20 June 2019
Arabian Skittering Frog - Tanoumah
Whilst looking for Owls at night in Tanoumah in the
Asir mountains of southwest Saudi Arabia Phil spotted a frog jumping across the
road infront of the car. As we had cameras at the ready for any owl sightings
we took some flash photographs of the amphibian. The Arabian Skittering Frog or
Arabian Five-fingered Frog Euphlyctis
ehrenbergii is a species of frog in the Dicroglossidae
family found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It has previously been treated as a
subspecies of the Skittering Frog Euphlyctis
cyanophlyctis, but is now considered as a valid species. The frog is
restricted to areas of permanent and temporary water in the Red Sea coastal
region of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It has an altitudinal range from sea level to
2,400 metres above sea level and lays its eggs in water. The species may
aestivate during the dry season, meaning it spends the hot or dry period in a
prolonged state of torpor or dormancy.
18 June 2019
Birding Alheefah Park - Tanoumah
Alheefah Park is normally very
popular but as it was Ramadan when we were there, the number of people was much
less than normal. The park is right on the escarpment edge and has breathtaking
views, and is covered by large juniper trees and acacia scrub. The large trees
are good places to see birds and Phil Roberts located a small group of Bruce’s
Green Pigeons in good light where I managed to get a few good photos. There are
plenty of rocks and hillsides and we heard Phlby’s Partridge calling soon after
arriving and eventually located a single bird calling from the top of a rocky
hill. As it was getting late and we want to look for owls we did not stay too
long at the site with the only other bird photographed a male Palestine Sunbird.
Bruce's Green Pigeon |
Bruce's Green Pigeon |
Bruce's Green Pigeon |
Palestine Sunbird |
Philby's Partridge |
16 June 2019
Desert Locust – Billasimer
Whilst
birding a deep woodland valley near Billasimer I flushed a Desert Locust Schistocerca gregariasituation off the
main track and onto a dry stone wall, where it was well camouflaged. The Desert
Locust can form plagues and threaten agricultural production in Africa, the
Middle East, and Asia, something it has done for centuries. The desert locust
is potentially the most dangerous of the locust pests because of the ability of
it to form swarms and to fly rapidly across great distances. There has not,
however, been any large swarms I know of in recent years.
14 June 2019
Crested Honey Buzzard in Alheefah Park - Tanoumah
We went to look for Eurasian Griffon
Vultures at the lookout point in Alheefah Park and were rewarded with a female
Crested Honey Buzzard that flew along the escarpment before disappearing. The
species has only been seen five times previously in the summer in the Kingdom but this record being mid-may could be a late spring bird. Last
summer we saw an adult female flying just overhead in the Bani Saad area and another
adult female at some distance at the bottom of Wadi Wadj in Taif. An adult Male
was at Dhahran 5th & 6th May to 30 July 2011 with two second calendar year
birds 5 July 2014 in Dhahran. A second calendar year was at Tanoumah 5 July
2013. These new records mean that birds have been seen along most of the Asir
mountain range in summer and show a few birds may regularly summer there. As
most birds seem to be females there is a chance birds could be breeding in the
area?
Crested Honey Buzzard |
Crested Honey Buzzard |
Crested Honey Buzzard |
12 June 2019
Woodland birding - Billasimer
The tall woodland around Billasimer
looked good for birdwatching and as neither Phil or I had birded the area we
spent both our available mornings at the location. There are plenty of good
looking sites and a few nice tracks that may hold nightjars (Plain and Montane),
for which we will look next time in the area. We found a couple of very deep
valleys with Philby’s Partidge calling regularly but the birds stayed hidden in
the woods and did not fly as normal, so we failed to even see them. Arabian
Babblers were common along the edge of the valley and Red-breasted Wheatear
were seen on the way into the location. Other birds seen and photographed were Little
Rock Thrush, Yemen Thrush and Abyssinian White-eye. Brown Woodland Warbler was
common and plenty of Dusky Turtle Doves were seen with a couple of Arabian
Magpie as calling and flying up and down the valley.
Abyssinian White-eye |
Arabian Babbler |
Arabian Babbler |
Little Rock Thrush |
Yemen Thrush |
10 June 2019
Diederick Cuckoo in Alheefah Park - Tanoumah
On arrival at Alheefah Park I head a
Diederik Cuckoo calling and after some searching, we saw the bird in the top of
a tall tree. Unfortunately, it flew almost immediately but landed again in a
better-positioned tree for photography. This is normally a very difficult
species to get good photos off, so the ones below were very pleasing. The bird
stayed calling in the same location for ten to fifteen minutes before we left
it in peace. The Diderick Cuckoo is a summer visitor to southwest Saudi Arabia
where it parasitizes Rüppell's weaver. They were previously regarded as
vagrants to the area, but recently birds have been seen near Tendaha dam 5 July
2010, Abha area 20 July 2010, As Sudah 5 July 2013, Wadi Jaw June 2015, Taif
area July 2015, Al Mehfar Park area of Tanoumah June 2016, Quaraish June 2018
and An Namas June 2018. Now I know the call well I seem to see them every trip
to the Asir Mountains in summer, so they are presumably an uncommon summer
breeder.
08 June 2019
Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard - Quraish
Whilst birding recently in the Tanoumah
area I came across a Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus opheodurus down a tree filled wadi. The lizards
were very active even during the hottest part of the day and where always found
near small low-lying plants with hard sandy soil. It is superficially similar
to its larger congener Acanthodactylus
boskianus, and was described officially in 1980. As its name suggests, this
species has a particularly long tail and, in common with other Acanthodactylus species, the toes are
fringed with scales adapted for running over loose sand. Like other lacertids,
the body is long and cylindrical, and the legs are well developed, with the
animal having a basic body colour of grey, with seven dark stripes running down
the back and sides and a tail tinged red in immatures. They live in a range of
arid habitats, including plains with relatively hard sand cover and low hills
covered by dense bushes. It is a diurnal lizard and lives in burrows excavated
out of hard sand where it remains concealed for all but a few hours of the day.
Their burrows not only act as a shelter from predators but also provide refuge
from extreme temperatures. The snake-tailed fringe-toed lizard is currently known
from the Arabian Peninsula and several other countries in the Middle East,
including Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.
06 June 2019
Arabian Magpie - Billasimer
The Arabian Magpie is the only truly
endemic species in Saudi Arabia, meaning it is found in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and nowhere else in the world. It has a very restricted range (An Namas
to Billasimer) and very low number of birds and should probably be classified
as Critically Endangered on Red Data list rather than its current Endangered
status. We went to the southwest mountains in the hope of locating birds as now
the species is breeding or feeding newly fledged young so is easier to find. We
saw ten different birds at various locations and got some amazing views of a
couple of them. Trying to photograph the species is difficult, as they are
nervous and stay in valleys with steep sides, moving up the hillside quickly when
disturbed. This trip we were lucky to see two birds close to the roadside and
as we were in the car the birds were not afraid. One came down and fed on a
roadside verge allowing some good photos to be taken. We returned the next day
and had a similar experience allowing even better photos as the light was
better. Surprisingly, although the birds called a few times they remained mainly
silent. Normally they call loudly to each other regularly.