Barn Swallow – Dhahran Percolation Pond

Whilst birding the Percolation Pond in Dhahran in late October I have seen a few Barn Swallows flying over in various places in Dhahran. In late October a small group of 20 Barn Swallow were seen feeding over the lake and as I don’t have too many photos of Barn Swallow in flight, I tied my luck at photographing them. Below are my best efforts. Barn Swallow is one of the most common passage migrants in Saudi Arabia (March – May & September – October) but some birds stay well into December most years. It can be seen everywhere and often for much of the year. In addition, a few have recently been recorded breeding near Riyadh where it is a rare breeder and other are thought to breed near Jubail where birds have been seen throughout the year and with juveniles in late summer.

Birding Sunbah Farms - Jizan

Whilst in the southwest of the Kingdom recently we visited Sunbah Farms, a large set of pivot irrigation fields that hold a lot of very good birds. We did nkt enter any of the fields as crops were growing but still saw a lot of good birds in the pivor irrigation tracks and surroundings. A pair of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse were seen near a small amount of water where one seemed to be wettings its breast feathers. Small numbers were also seen flying over at different places. Western Cattle Egret were very common with one very large flock of several hundred birds following behind a tractor cutting the crops where they could easily catch the disturbed insects. A few White-winged Tern were catching insects next to the pivot spray bars and Singing Bush Lark were common around the field edges and in song flight. A pair of Arabian Green Bee-eater were sitting nicely to photograph next to one field and two Black-winged Kite, were seen one of which was a juvenile. Several Barn Swallow were seen catching insects over the fields suggesting they are breeding in the area and Ruppell’s Weaver were common with a few nests found.

Arabian Bee-eater

Barn Swallow

Black-winged Kite - juvenile

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Ruppell's Weaver

Singing Bush Lark

Singing Bush Lark

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

White-winged Tern

White-winged Tern

Residents and migrants – Abha Area

Apart from the endemics the area also held resident African Stonechat, Dusky Turtle Dove, Pale Crag Martin, Fan-tailed Raven, Graceful Prinia, Hamerkop and Long-billed Pipit. Migrants had just started passing through with a few Barn Swallow and lots of Common Chiffchaff seen. Two White-winged Tern in full breeding plumage were seen on one lake visited.

African Stonechat

Barn Swallow

Common Chiffchaff

Common Chiffchaff

Dusky Turtle Dove

Fan-tailed Raven

Graceful Prinia

Graceful Prinia

Hamerkop

Long-billed Pipit

Pale Crag Martin

White-winged Tern

White-winged Tern

A scattering of migrants – Jubail

My last visit to Jubail at the end of September turned up a small number of migrants. Shrikes are always common in this area of Jubail throughout the migration period with quite a number staying to winter. This trip I located a few Daurian, Turkestan and a single Red-backed Shrike. I spent quite abit of time trying to get good photos of Graceful Prinia and saw a number of this species as well as Caspian Reed Warbler and Clamorous Reed Warbler. A single Tree Pipit was very good at avoiding being photographed but the hundreds of Yellow Wagtails were slightly more obliging. A single first calendar year Citrine Wagtail spent a bit of time at close quarters but was never in favourable light for good photos. Barn Swallows and Sand Martins were around in large numbers but not easy to photograph until I found a couple of Barn Swallows resting on a stick that allowed close approach. Trying to get photos of the Sand Martins in flight proved too difficult and I soon gave up. Grey Herons, Purple Herons and Squacco Heron numbers are building up and I managed to get quite close to a Squacco Heron this trip.

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Turkestan Shrike

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Red-backed Shrike

Squacco Heron

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Late Barn Swallows - Jubail

Whilst birdwatching the Jubail area the last few weeks I have seen a few Barn Swallows flying over and a couple landing on some dead trees. As they seemed to use the same trees regularly, so I positioned the car close by in the hope they would come in and land and allow some good photos. This is exactly what happened allowing me to take the below photos. Barn Swallow is one of the most common passage migrants in Saudi Arabia (March – May & September – October) but some birds stay well into December most years. It can be seen everywhere and often for much of the year. In addition, a few have recently been recorded breeding near Riyadh where it is a rare breeder.