28 May 2023

Silverbills amongst the residents – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birdwatching at Dhahran Waste Water Lake recently I have been seeing good numbers of Pallid Swifts. These fast-moving birds are not easy to photograph well with a large hand held 600mm Canon telephoto lens but with perseverance and a strong arm you can normally manage to get a few decent shots. Indian Silverbill on the other hand, although not common normally stay in place and allow close approach even on foot so photographing this species is much easier. The heron numbers have really decreased with only ten Grey Heron, one Purple Heron, two Squacco Herons and up to seven Black-crowned Night Herons seen. The Black-crowned Night Heron was a scarce bird in Dhahran until the last few years since when it has become common and is seen on almost every visit in reasonable numbers.

Black-crowned Night Heron - juvenile

Black-crowned Night Heron - juvenile

Black-crowned Night Heron - adult


Indian Silverbill

Indian Silverbill

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

Purple Heron


26 May 2023

Caspian Turtle – Al Asfar Lake (Hufuf)

Whilst birdwatching at Al Asfar Lake in late May Phil and I came across a Caspian Turtle Mauremys capsica in the unusual place of crossing a track rather than in the water. This is a tan to blackish, medium-sized (to 25 cm), semi-aquatic turtle that occurs in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran, northwards into Eastern Europe, through Turkey & Bulgaria into the former Yugoslavia. It has a low, oval carapace that is tan to olive or black with yellow to cream-colored patterning on their shells, legs and head. Some stripes extend anteriorly from the neck onto the head of which one on each side passes above the eye and onto the snout where it meets the stripe from the other side. The neck, limbs, and tail are tan-gray to olive or black with yellow, cream, or gray stripes or reticulations. Females are generally larger than males although have shorter, thinner tails. There are four sub-species of the Caspian Turtle of which the one occurring in Saudi Arabia is the Siebenrock's Caspian turtle. Siebenrock's Caspian turtle M. c. siebenrocki, occurs in Iran and Iraq, with relict populations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. This light form with contrasting colors resembles M. c. caspica but has a yellow-to-orange plastron with a small to medium-sized regularly shaped dark blotch on each scute. The soft parts are lighter than in M. c. caspica. They can occur in large numbers in almost any permanent freshwater body within their range where they like to bask in the sun. Breeding usually takes place in early spring and nesting occurs in June and July. A typical clutch is four to six, elongated (20-30 x 35–40 mm), brittle-shelled, white eggs. Hatchlings have round carapaces about 33 mm in length and are brighter colored than the adults. In temporary waters it is forced to aestivate in the mud in summer. They are carnivorous, feeding on small invertebrates, aquatic insects, amphibians and carrion.




24 May 2023

Football Fields – Dhahran Hills

After the amazing number of birds seen on the football fields last weekend, I decided to see what was present. It was clear from general birding that the large fall of birds (Shrikes, Wagtails etc) had departed, and the fields had no migrants at all, just a few local residents. Nine Eurasian Hoopoe were nice to see, with some close to the edge allowing photos and a few Common Myna were present on the grass with one flying off after being disturbed by the gardeners and flying right over my head. The only other birds I saw were House Sparrows which were numerous and mainly picking insects off the grass with a few perched on weeds to the side of the fields. 

Eurasian Hoopoe

Common Myna

Common Myna

House Sparrow - female


22 May 2023

Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

When out walking in the rough scrubby area near to Dhahran Hills Waste-Water Lake in mid-May I came across an Arabian Red Fox. The fox was aware of me, and I spent a few minutes playing hide and seek with it, until I finally manage to get into a position to at least see its face properly. They are relatively common in Dhahran and can be seen most weeks of the year if you look in the right areas, particularly around Dhahran Hills gold course. The Red Fox is currently recognized as a single species and has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, possibly any terrestrial mammal (excluding humans). Its range spans approximately 70 million square kilometres encompassing much of Europe, Asia and North America and extending into North Africa, with an introduced population in Australia. The Arabian Red fox has very large ears for its size and is very thin and sandy coloured compared to the European Red Fox, and they look very different.




20 May 2023

Garden Warbler – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area in mid-May I saw an interesting warbler very briefly in some small tamerisk bushes growing by the side of a flooded sabkha area. The bird was quite active but kept well hidden. I could see it was a plain relatively bulky warbler but was uncertain of its identity. After about five minutes the bird briefly came into view and I managed to get just a handful of photos before it disappeared back into the bush and they flew off far away to another set of tamerisk that was not possible to reach. The photos did not turn out too badly considering the bird was only in the open for a second or two and are my best efforts so far in Saudi Arabia of this species. Garden Warbler Sylvia borin is an uncommon migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia from late April until May and again from September to October. It is recorded less frequently in the Eastern Province, where it is regarded as scarce, although their drab nature makes them easy to overlook so are probably more common than records suggest. In nearby Kuwait they are regarded as an uncommon passage migrant and rare winter visitor being seen in small numbers, on bushes and trees, in widely scattered areas throughout the country. To the south in the United Arab Emirates they are regarded as an uncommon migrant from April to May and September to October with two November records. In Bahrain it is an uncommon passage migrant from April to May and September to October.





18 May 2023

Violet Dropwing - Dhahran

Whilst birding the Dhahran Waste Water Pool recently I found a large number of Violet Dropwing Trithemis annulata, some of which would perch on the vegetation or other items available. Adult males are unmistakable with their bright body. This species ia also known as violet-marked darter, purple-blushed darter or plum-coloured dropwing. This is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae and is found in most of Africa, in the Middle East, in the Arabian Peninsula and southern Europe. These insects are called dropwings because of their habit of immediately lowering their wings after landing on a perch. Males of this species are violet-red with red veins in the wings while females are yellow and brown. Both sexes have red eyes. It is a robust medium-sized species with a wingspan of 60 mm. The mature male has a dark red head and eyes with the prothorax being violet and the membranous wings having distinctive red veins. The abdomen is fairly broad and is pinkish-violet, with purple markings on the top of each segment and blackish markings on the terminal three segments. It is very similar in appearance to the red-veined dropwing Trithemis arteriosa, but that species has a more slender abdomen and a wedge-shaped black area on either side of the tip of the abdomen. It is an adaptable species, and the adults are able to tolerate a range of habitats including semi-arid rangeland. They can be seen flying near sluggish rivers, in marshes and also beside still-water ponds. Males are often to be seen perching on the twigs of waterside shrubs and on rocks in the sunshine, but in the evening or when the sun is obscured, they move into trees. It is a very common species throughout its wide range which includes most of Africa, the Mediterranean area, the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East. 




16 May 2023

Crested Honey Buzzard– Dhahran Hills

A maximum of five wintering Crested Honey Buzzards have spent the winter of 2022-2023 in Dhahran with at least one bird still being present into May, which I managed to photograph after a few sightings but no pictures. There has been a steady increase in records since 2000 and particularly since 2009 with birds recorded in every month of the year (save August) and records peaking during the winter months (January–March). Smaller peaks also occur in April and October–November dates that fit well with the CHB’s migration period in Kazakhstan (where birds occur late April–mid June and late August–mid October, peaking September). The status, of Crested Honey Buzzard in Saudi Arabia is a scarce passage migrant and winter visitor that also occurs rarely in summer, although records from the western region of the Kingdom suggest breeding may be taking place there. Most records are from the Eastern province in winter and spring with additional records in the west of the country in summer, autumn, winter and spring. The first confirmed record of CHB for Saudi Arabia was in Asir province 11 October 1994, with another bird 5–10 km south on the same day. 





14 May 2023

Hundreds of Shrikes – Jubail

Birding the Jubail area in early May produced a good number of migrants. On arrival it became apparent there were plenty of shrikes around and by the end of the day I had counted 142 Red-backed Shrikes, 12 Lesser Grey Shrikes and six Daurian Shrikes. Although shrikes are common in Saudi Arabia on passage this was an exceptional number for a single day and single location. Warblers seen were mainly Willow Warbler and Barred Warblers with a few Common Whitethroat. Other migrants included a few European Bee-eaters flying over calling, several Spotted Flycatchers, several small groups of Ortolan Bunting and four Whinchat. Yellow Wagtails were seen in various locations in several large groups with most birds being male thumbergi. A single Common Nightingale and two Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins were also seen. Wader numbers are building again with most birds being Little Stints and Kentish Plovers.

Common Whitethroat

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lesser Grey Shrike

Ortolan Bunting

Red-backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi


12 May 2023

Migration in full swing – Dhahran Hills

Birding the Dhahran Wastewater Lake in early May produced a good number of migrants. Shrikes were plentiful with up to ten Red-backed Shrikes and at least two Lesser Grey Shrike, a species not seen commonly in Dhahran. The birds were feeding on beetles on a grassy area but also in the scrubs beside the wastewater lake. A single large Acacia tree has a minimum of thirty warblers in it, most being Willow Warbler but at least two Barred Warbles, a single Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and a Common Whitethroat were also present. Other migrants included a flock of nine European Bee-eaters flying over calling and double figure numbers of Spotted Flycatchers. Whinchat, another scarce visitor to the Dhahran area was seen in the highest numbers since I have been here with at least seven birds recorded. Yellow Wagtails were seen in various locations in small numbers but totalled 26 birds in total with some nice male thumbergi seen at close range. A few pipits were seen flying over calling with all being Red-throated and one or two were also in the grassy areas feeding on insects.

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lesser Grey Shrike

Red-throated Pipit

Red-backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi