Another January Common Cuckoo – Hanidh

Whilst birding the Hanidh area on 20 January Phil Roberts noticed a Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus sitting in a tree on the edge of a large pivot irrigation field. This is an exceptionally early time for the species to occur but, we had another on 19 January 2018 in Jubail, and there have been a handful of records in the UAE in January. Oriental Cuckoo is a possibility as a vagrant but has not been recorded in the Kingdom yet. The photos I took do not show too many features of this species, although they are very difficult to identify unless calling, which this bird was not. Common Cuckoo is an uncommon passage migrant in Saudi Arabia occurring throughout the Kingdom. Spring migration is mainly in April and May and autumn migration from mid-August to October.

Four Common Cuckoo & other migrants – Jubail

While birding the Jubail area in May we came across a Common Cuckoo in the very early morning. The bird appeared to be very tiered and allowed us to manoeuvre the car into a good position for photographs. This is a species I have not got many good photos of so I was well pleased with my efforts shown below. During the days birdwatching we found three more Common Cuckoo, indicating they were passing in good numbers overnight. Shrike numbers remained high with 50 seen throughout the day. Most were Red-backed Shrikes with 32 seen. Turkestan Shrike was next commonest with 17 birds and a single Daurian Shrike was also located. Other migrants seen included Barred Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat (late bird), Willow Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Common Redstart, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit & Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin. A single Red-necked Phalarope was a nice addition to the days total. Egret and heron numbers were much lower than previous weeks suggesting they have moved off or are secretly breeding somewhere. 

Common Cuckoo

Common Cuckoo

Common Cuckoo

Common Cuckoo

Little Bittern - female

Red-backed Shrike - male

Red-backed Shrike - male

Red-necked Phalarope

Turkestan Shrike - male

Turkestan Shrike - male

Very early Common Cuckoo – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area 19 January Phil Roberts and I came across a Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. This is an exceptionally early time for the species to occur but there have been five records in the UAE in January. I think this is the first January record for the species in Saudi Arabia. Oriental Cuckoo is a possibility as a vagrant but has not been recorded in the Kingdom yet. The photos I took do not show too many features of this species, although they are very difficult to identify unless calling, which this bird was not. Common Cuckoo is an uncommon passage migrant in Saudi Arabia occurring throughout the Kingdom. Spring migration is mainly in April and May and autumn migration from mid-August to October.

Common Cuckoo at Dhahran Hills – Record by Paul Wells

Paul Wells a local birdwatcher in Dhahran found and photographed a Common Cuckoo around the golf course. The Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus is an uncommon passage migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia and is not easy to see let alone photograph, so the pictures Paul took are even more impressive. Birds are more commonly seen in the spring in April than they are in the autumn although birds can be seen during this period mainly in August and September with some late stragglers seen as late as October. I have only seen a handful of birds in the Eastern Province all in the spring and have only managed to photograph a single bird. I thank Paul for sending me the details and for allowing me to use his photos on my website.

Common Cuckoo in Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson a birdwatcher from Tabuk found and photographed a Common Cuckoo in his area in late August. The Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus is an uncommon passage migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia and is not easy to see let alone photograph, so the pictures Viv took are even more impressive. Birds are more commonly seen in the spring in April than they are in the autumn although birds can be seen during this period mainly in August and September with some late stragglers seen as late as October. I have only seen a handful of birds in the Eastern Province all in the spring and have only managed to photograph a single bird. I thank Viv for allowing me to use his photos on my website the copyright of which remain with Viv.

Some good birds north of Jubail – Bird records by Dave Kilmister

Dave sent me a couple of e-mails this week and mentioned he had, had three new species at the water treatment reed beds this week. (The water level is below the gravel, so no waders). A White-throated Robin, Common Cuckoo, and a Rose-coloured Starling. Although he had heard bee-eaters a couple of weeks ago, he saw his first Blue-cheeked Bee-eater for the season last week. Another pair of Orlotan Buntings has also arrived after the first pair that where seen about three weeks ago. The Redstarts and Blackcaps that were present seem to have moved on. Rose-coloured Starling is an unusual bird for the Eastern Province and one I have not seen myself yet. Dave mentioned he saw the Starling with the sun rising behind it and it did not stay long enough for him to get in a better position to take a photo. Dave did manage to get a good photo of the Common Cuckoo that he has kindly allowed me to use on my website.

Common Kingfisher

Dave also went to Ash Sharqiyah over the weekend and had a great day. There were a lot of Spanish Sparrows; and he was not sure if it was them or House Sparrows that were nesting in a stand of trees but it was very noisy. The bee-eaters have returned, much to the annoyance of the farm bee-keeper. There were Collared Pratincoles, a first for Dave but only a few Little Grebes on the lake which was very quiet. The only raptors were a Common Kestrel and a Pallid Harrier both giving very good views. Apart from this, all the usual birds were seen, although only one Yellow Wagtail for 26 species in total. There was also an Arabian Red Fox – Dave has seen plenty of tracks but that was his first sighting out there.

Common Cuckoo - Dhahran Hills

Bird numbers have picked up slightly in Dhahran over the past few days and a few new birds for the year have arrived, but the best birds, for me at least were two adult Common Cuckoos which were new 'patch' ticks for me and takes my 'patch' list to 177 species, which is comming along quite nicely. I get more pleasure out of seeing a new bird on my local 'patch' than I do seeing a new bird for Saudi Arabia so all in all I was very pleased with the Common Cuckoos.

Common Cuckoo

There are quite a few other migrants passing through including new species for the spring for me in the form of Spotted Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush. The Rufous-tailed Rock Thrushes were in the scrubby desert area and one was an adult male and the other a young male. The Spotted Flycather was living up to its name and catching flys from the fence surrounding the Percolation Pond. The pond itself remains very quiet with the only good birds being a whte phase Indian Reef Heron and two Wood Sandpipers. There were 75+ Pallid Swifts flying over the pond with 20+ Sand Martins and a couple of European Bee-eaters were aslo flying around catching insects.

Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush

Spotted Flycatcher

The Black-winged Kite was still about in its normal place with the only other bird of prey seen being a female Pallid Harrier. A few Wheatears made an appearance for the frst time in a week and included two Northern Wheatears and two Pied Wheatears including one fine male. The spray fields still held 25+ Red-throated Pipits, two Whinchats, six Turkestan Shrikes, five Daurian Shrikes and seven Ortolan Buntings.

Black-winged Kite

Ortolan Bunting