Birds of Saudi Arabia: Common Greenshank

Showing posts with label Common Greenshank. Show all posts

08 November 2024

A few birds – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birding Dhahran Waste Water Lake recently I have seen a few interesting birds. Waders have been passing through including Common Greenshank in small numbers and quite a few Common Sandpipers. Black-winged Stilt remains the commonest wader by far, however. Common Myna numbers are increasing with birds most often seen flying over as is the case with Eurasian Collared Dove. The normal species remain on the lake including the Ferruginous Duck but Eurasian Coot and Gull-billed Tern gave good opportunities to take photos of them.

Gull-billed Tern

Eurasian Coot

Common Sandpiper

Common Myna

Common Greenshank

29 October 2023

Ducks and more – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

My last few visits to the Dhahran Waste Water Lake have produced a few ducks of various species. The regular Ferruginous Ducks, that have been around for almost a month, were joined on one occasion by three Eurasian Teal and a female Northern Pintail and a female Garganey was also seen on one occasion. Hopefully duck numbers build up over the next month or so, with this being a good and safe place for them to rest and feed. A few waders have been dropping into to feed and rest on the waters edge, with Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank and Black-winged Stilt being the most common. Migrants around the edge of the lake have been lacking this autumn although the number of Rose-ringed Parakeet flying over appear to be increasing.

Ferruginous Duck

Common Greenshank

Rose-ringed Parakeet

07 October 2023

Ducks & Terns – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

My last visit to Dhahran Waste Water Lake produced a few interesting birds with the Ferruginous Ducks still present after more than a week. A single female Garganey was also located in amongst the hundred or so Little Grebes. Hopefully a few more species of duck will arrive over the next month or so. The trouble with photographing the duck at this site is they are always across the far side and never close. The only close photos I ever manage are if the birds are disturbed by mountain bikers or walkers and fly overhead. It is a good location to try to identify a rare duck, however, as they are never really that distant. Waders are still passing with Whimbrel and Kentish Plover of the Cricket Field and Black-winged Stilt and Common Greenshank on the lake edge. Terns are always a common sight at this location with Gull-billed Tern seen every visit and small numbers of Little Tern seem almost every visit. White-winged and Whiskered Terns also occur but less often than the other terns. This visit I saw a single White-Winged and a Single Whiskered Tern. Birds around the lakeside vegetation seemed to be only Eurasian Collared Dove and White-eared Bulbuls.

Common Greenshank

Eurasian Collared Dove

Ferruginous Duck

Garganey - female

White-winged Tern

14 July 2023

First returning waders – Dhahran

Whilst birding the Dhahran Waste Water Lake 1 July, I came across the first returning wader in the form of a Common Greenshank. Black-winged Stilts have been around all year and although numbers have fluctuated, I am assuming they are all local birds making the Common Greenshank something of interest in an otherwise quiet period. Another new bird was a white phase immature Western Reef Heron. A grey phase bird has been around the last few weeks, but it disappeared and has been replaced by this smart bird. Herons seen included one Purple Heron, One Western Great Egret, five Grey Heron and thee Black-crowned Night Herons. The only land birds of note were a few Indian Silverbill, several calling Graceful Prinia and a single Pallid Swift.

Graceful Prinia

Grey Heron

Indian Silverbill

Western Reef Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

Common Greenshank

08 November 2022

Wader numbers dropping - Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently it has been noticeable the wader numbers are dropping. The most common wader remains the Little Stint, followed by Dunlin and Black-winged Stilt. Smaller numbers of Common Ringed Plover are still around and only a handful of Common Greenshank. All the Sand Plovers seem to have moved off, but Kentish Plover is still plentiful.