Wader passage – Jubail

Wader numbers in Jubail have fluctuated over the last month. It has been a poor season for Sand Plovers with very low numbers of Greater Sand Plover and virtually no Lesser Sand Plovers. Black-winged Stilt and Kentish Plover are local breeding residents and have remained in good numbers with very large numbers of Dunlin and Little Stint present. The numbers of Dunlin are the highest I have seen in my ten years in Kingdom. Smaller numbers of Broad-billed Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Snipe, Curlew Sandpiper, Pied Avocet, Ruff, Temminck’s Stint, Marsh Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper have all be seen.

Black-winged Stilt

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

Common Sandpiper

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

Dunlin

Dunlin

Dunlin

Dunlin

Kentish Plover

Little Stint

Little Stint

Marsh Sandpiper

Pied Avocet

Ruff

Ruff

Plenty of water birds – Jubail

The last time I visited Jubail I found plenty of water birds. Gulls numbers were high with lots of Steppe Gulls and Caspian Gulls along with a second calendar year Great Black-headed Gull. Common Black-headed Gulls were also plentiful with up to 100 birds seen, but they were still fewer in number than Slender-billed Gulls. Great Cormorants were also seen a good numbers as has been the case all winter in the Jubail area. Wader numbers are increasing with all the normal fare plus a single much less common Broad-billed Sandpiper and up to ten Marsh Sandpipers. Great White Egrets, Little Egrets and Indian Reef Herons were also common with all the Indian Reef Herons seen being white phase birds. Land birds seen included a number of singing Graceful Prinias and several Daurian Shrikes.

Common Black-headed Gull

Great Cormorant

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper

Little Egret

Graceful Prinia

Daurian Shrike

Returning Waders – Jubail

The number of waders in the Jubail area is increasing with one or two quite unusual species being seen. An early Broad-billed Sandpiper was an unusual sighting by a small area of water alongside a track as was the well marked Black-winged Stilt seen previously that is still in the same area. More usual waders included good numbers of Kentish Plovers, Black-winged Stilts and Common Redshanks with smaller numbers of Little Stints, Ruff, Common Snipe and Green Sandpipers. Wader numbers should start building up over the next few weeks as migration gets into full swing.

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Kentish Plover 

Common Redshank

Green Sandpiper

Common Snipe

Ruff

Plenty of birds – Jizan Corniche

Whilst birding the southwest of Saudi Arabia in early April we spent a few hours looking at Jizan Corniche. This is an excellent area for birding and has a fantastic small inlet which waders and other water birds get pushed up at high tide. Good views of the birds can also be had here and we saw plenty of species here including most of the common waders, Broad-billed Sandpiper which I had not seen in this area before and 13 Eurasian Spoonbills some in breeding plumage. The commonest birds seen here were Crab Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits although good numbers of Ruddy Turnstones and Lesser Sand Plovers were also present. The cornice itself has both Pink-backed Pelican and Black Kite on the lampposts by the side of the road and Black-crowned Sparrow Lark feeding on and around the boulders between the road and sea. Plenty of other waders, Greater Flamingos and Indian Reef Herons were along the shore and a couple of Striated Herons were also present. A few gulls were also seen with Steppe Gull, Baltic Gull, Sooty Gull and White-eyed Gull being commonest. I will post details from the fish market and harbour with photos of some of these species in a few days time.

Crab Plover

Eurasian Spoonbill

Bar-tailed Godwit

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Eurasian Spoonbills

Lesser Sand Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Pink-backed Pelican

Black Kite

Black-crowned Sparrow Lark

Indian Reef Heron

Migration really picking up – Sabkhat Al Fasl

My weekly trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl produced a good selection of migrants although in small numbers. Whilst driving down the track into the site a Pied Wheatear was located in the small shrubs along the track and close by was an unusually marked Spotted Flycatcher with a reddish tail and rufous on the breast under the wings. A grey shrike briefly chased the flycatcher but identification was not confirmed as it was seen too briefly and not relocated. A Purple heron was also seen in flight but again we failed to relocate the bird.

Spotted Flycatcher

Driving around it was apparent waders were still about in good numbers with Terek Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint and Common Sandpiper all see in a small area. Four Temminck’s Stints were a good count and a couple of Common Snipe were also seen in the pools by the reeds. Plenty of Yellow Wagtails were seen including Yellow-headed lutea and Sykes’s Wagtail bema and a single well marked juvenile Citrine Wagtail, in almost the same place as last week’s bird but not the same bird as this one was better marked. The scrape had a good number of waders including a juvenile Collared Pratincole that allowed reasonable views and was my first sighting of the species this autumn although many others have been seen by other birders.

Collared Pratincole - juvenile

Other good birds seen included Tree Pipits and Red-throated Pipits in small numbers and smart male Siberian Stonechat. Several Eurasian Hoopoes, Daurian Shrike, a single European Bee-eater and two Ortolan Buntings were also present. Purple Swamphen were also plentiful with one bird giving particularly good views and was so close I could not fit it in the viewfinder of my camera.

Purple Swamphen

Finally we went to the sabkha area which had a lot more water than in recent trips to the site. As a result it was full of waders and terns with thousands of birds present. Most birds were Kentish Plovers and Little Stints with well over a thousand of each species. Dunlins were also plentiful with 500+ birds as were Black-winged Stilts with a similar number of birds. Ruff, Broad-billed Sandpipers, Curlew Sandpipers, Grey Plovers, Common Redshanks, Marsh Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Lesser Sand Plovers, Greater Sand Plovers and Whimbrel were all present in small numbers but Common Greenshank numbers were higher than I have ever seen at the site and were well over 50. Tern numbers were also large with over 200 Caspian Terns, 50+ Gull-billed Terns and possibly 1000 Little Terns.

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Lesser Sand Plover

More migrants – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Last weekend’s birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl produced a few different migrants to the birds seen in previous weeks. Most birds were similar with waders being common even though numbers had dropped significantly from the week before. A few Broad-billed Sandpipers were nice to see and close views of both Lesser Sand Plover and Greater Sand Plover was good to brush up on the identification features of both birds. Other waders seen included Ruff, Dunlin, Terek Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Ringed Plover, Lesser Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit. Two Temminck’s Stints were also present on the inland pools.

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Lesser Sand Plover

Greater Sand Plover

New migrant passerines seen this week included a female European Stonechat, three Red-throated Pipits, one Blue-cheeked Bee-eater with several others heard calling, a Daurian Shrike and a fine female Black-eared Wheatear. Plenty of Yellow Wagtails were seen and a first year Citrine Wagtail gave good views. Other migrants present were Barn Swallow, Sand Martin and Spotted Flycatcher with resident species seen well included Graceful Prinia and Clamorous Reed Warbler. Plenty of terns were about with 187 Caspian Terns counted and several hundred Little Terns. A minimum of twenty Gull-billed Terns one White-winged Tern and several White-cheeked Terns made up the total. A large increase in the number of Grey Herons was noticeable with well over one hundred birds seen.

Graceful Prinia

Although we failed to locate any Egyptian Nightjars I received a photograph of a bird seen at the site the day we were there with a note saying at least two were present.