17 July 2020

Summer plumaged Dunlin - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area recently I saw a summer plumaged Dunlin on a wet pool. Breeding plumaged Dunlins are scarce in the areas I bird. The bird unfortunately had a deformed bill with growths around it. The subspecies from our area are  birds are mainly Calidris alpina centralis that breeds in north-east Siberia from Taymyr Peninsula to Kolyma Delta and winters from the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea eastwards to southern Asia. The plumage of the bird suggests Calidris alpina centralis or Calidris alpina alpina.