Common Whitethroat arriving – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The scrubby areas around the Waste Water Lake at Dhahran are attracting quite a few migrants. Barred Warblers are common and in early May the first Common Whitethroats appeared in Dhahran, some giving good views. The lake is a good place to see birds flying around catching insects with lots of Pallid Swifts, Sand Martins and Barn Swallows all in small groups. The below photo of the Pallid Swift shows a large full crop, full of insects it has caught. European Bee-eaters have been moving through in good numbers and are mainly seen in flight rather than perched. They sometimes use the overhead power lines for perching, but the light is never good when I see them there for photographs. Other birds seen in good numbers around the lake include Laughing Dove, Spotted Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, of which some of the latter will stay and breed.

Common Whitethroat

Common Whitethroat

Common Whitethroat

Barred Warbler

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Laughing Dove

Laughing Dove

Pallid Swift

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Sand Martin

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Various Warblers – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The scrubby area next to Dhahran Waste Water Lake has had a lot of warblers passing through in recent days. The weather is cooler and wetter than normal for this time of year and the birds appear to be liking the climate. Graceful Prinia is a resident breeding species and a lot of birds are now singing as they are in their breeding season. Willow Warbler numbers have increased dramatically in the last couple of weeks with upwards of fifty birds seen on a single day. As the Willow Warbler numbers have increase so has the Common Chiffchaff numbers decreased with many days none seen and on a good day one or two. Barred Warbler is another species of warbler that has started to show up with four birds the day high for me. Lesser Whitethroat numbers have also been high this spring with birds seen on every visit in numbers up to seven. Another resident breeder that is singing now is Clamorous Reed Warbler. As there are phragmites reeds at the edge of the lake the birds have moved in to breed here and are very noisy first thing in the morning before the temperature increases too much.

Barred Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Common Chiffchaff

Graceful Prinia

Graceful Prinia

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Barred Warbler – Al Uqair

Whilst birding Al Uqair im mid-April I came across a few migrants bit a lot less than previous days. One unusual species seen was a Barred Warbler which is an uncommon but widespread passage migrant in Saudi Arabia. This bird was on a barbed wire fence but normally they occur in dense undergrowth, tall scrub, overgrown plantations and hedges. They are very distinct and are a large, gray warbler with crescent markings on the breast and a prominent pale yellow eye. It is usually shy but occasionally appears in a very exposed position, and as a result it may be more common than it seems. It sometimes sings in spring.

Migrants passing – Jubail area

The last few weeks a few more migrants have been passing through with plenty of warbler seen. Most have been Eurasian Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Barred Warbler but also a few Eastern Olivaceous Warbler have been seen and one or two Asian Desert Warblers. Wheatears have also arrived with Black-eared and Pied being the most numerous with the Asian Desert Warblers almost always associated with the Wheatears feeding in close proximity to each other. Eurasian Bee-eaters and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters have also been plentiful with small groups seen regularly over the last few weeks. Shrikes have been seen in small numbers but many less than previous years. Woodchat Shrike has been the commonest with a few Mauryan Grey Shrikes also seen with the odd Red-backed Shrike also present. 

Asian Desert Warbler 

Barred Warbler

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Mauryan Grey Shrike

Pied Wheatear

Pied Wheatear

Woodchat Shrike

Yellow-billed Kite & more – Malaki Dam Lake

Malaki Dam (also known as Malakiyah, Wadi Jizan Dam or Hakima Dam) is probably the largest and most variable expanse of freshwater habitats in the southwestern provinces of Saudi Arabia. This area is a large lake (17 04.72N, 42 97.88E) at the edge of the Asir foothills, 15km east of Abu Arish and is regarded by many of the birders who have bird-watched Saudi Arabia as the best single site in the entire country. It is fed by four main wadis and at high water levels the lake spreads to over ten square kilometres and has a large catchment area extending south into Yemen. The reservoir is bordered to the north by basaltic lava plains and to the south several rocky outcrops which form the edge of Wadi Juwwah, another excellent birding area. The surrounding acacia and salvadora scrubland is interspersed with Tamarix where the hills are grazed and cultivated with some areas with shallow water, the dead remains of flooded trees forming ideal roost sites for herons and egrets. The Lake is on a main migration route and its surrounding area has one of the highest diversities of breeding birds in Arabia with many species being of Afro-tropical origin accounting for the large number of species recorded. We bird-watched a small arm of the lake on 5 April that is less disturbed and has easier access than the other areas. This site is excellent for the endemic Arabian Waxbill in the winter and spring, when flocks can be seen in the reeds and other vegetation near to the water. We managed to find this species after several hours with a number of birds seen flying over calling from one reed bed area to another. Three birds seen well included two adults and a juvenile, but we never got views that allowed photographs to be taken. This was a new species for me in Saudi Arabia and is an Arabian endemic, leaving me two more Endemics to see of the eleven species occurring, Yemen Serin and Arabian Scops Owl. The lake itself held a good amount of water and therefor had good numbers of water birds. Waders included Black-tailed Godwits, Spur-winged Plovers, Common Sandpipers, Kentish Plovers, Common Greenshanks, Common Redshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Temminck’s Stints and Black-winged Stilts. Seven Eurasian Spoonbill,three Hammerkops, with several Glossy Ibis, Grey Herons, Western Cattle Egrets & Squacco Herons were present. Other water birds included Whiskered Little Terns, Common Moorhens and plenty of Little Grebes. Non water birds included African Collared Doves, Zitting Cisticolas, Graceful Prinias, Ruppells Weavers, Laughing Doves, Namaqua Doves and Arabian Babbler. A few swifts were seen including 10+ Common Swifts, 10+ African Palm Swifts, two Alpine Swifts and a Little Swift hunting insects low over the water. We also had two White-browed Coucals, Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, Nile Valley Sunbird, three White-spectacled Bulbul and three Black Scrub Robins. Migrants included eight Barred Warblers in a very small area of acacia along with a female Eurasian Blackcap and several Common Chiffchaffs and two Willow Warblers.

Hammerkop

Alpine Swift

Barred Warbler

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

 We also saw several birds of prey including a second calendar year Greater Spotted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier and a Yellow-Billed Kite. The status of this species/sub-species within the genus of Black Kite Milvus migrans is still imperfectly understood. Up until the mid-1990’s the yellow-billed African breeding populations, aegyptius and parasitus (including tenebrosus) were generally maintained as a subspecies of Black Kite. However, recent work based on DNA shows that the yellow-billed race is significantly distinct from the Black Kite elevating it to full species status Yellow-billed Kite Milvus aegyptius. In the field, the Yellow-billed Kite is distinguished from the Black Kite based on several characters, the most obvious being its all-yellow bill.

Yellow-billed Kite

Plenty of Warblers – Dhahran Hills

The ‘patch’ was alive with warblers on 12 April with birds flitting around everywhere. The majority were Barred Warblers, although good numbers of Eurasian Reed Warblers, Eurasian Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats were seen. Most birds had either gone to ground or dispersed by 09:00 hrs, showing that it is important to get out early in the migration season. I am not sure I saw a Eurasian Blackcap in Saudi Arabia last year, and certainly did not on the camp so to see so many already this spring is encouraging. Despite looking very hard at all the warblers present I could not locate anything unusual although I did see one unusual Lesser Whitethroat that does not look like a typical Lesser Whitethroat, Desert Whitethroat, Central Asian Whitethroat or Hume’s Whitethroat. The type of Lesser Whitethroat this is, is a mystery to me and may well be from an overlap (hybrid) zone? It looks most like a Hume’s type but does not appear dark enough or large enough in the field. The striking feature of this bird is it has a uniformly coloured head and mantle and also has what appears to be a long thin bill and dark eye. There is still plenty to learn about the Lesser Whitethroats that pass through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Barred Warbler

Eurasian Blackcap - female

Eurasian Blackcap - male

Willow Warbler

Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat

Some common birds of Al Hassa – Bird records by Shaheen

The below photographs have all be taken in the Al Hassa area and show a selection of the commoner birds seen in the area. All photographs have been taken by Shaheen mainly around the Lake Al Asfar area of Al Hassa. I have been given permission to use the photographs on my website and as they are good quality and interesting I have reproduced them here. In a couple of later posts I will show some scarce and rare birds of this area that Shaheen also photographed, one a potential new species for the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia if it can be verified as having been taken at Al Hassa or nearby.

European Turtle Dove

Barred Warbler 

House Sparrow

European Roller

Indian Silverbill

Mallard - male

Namaqua Dove