Some winter birds – Bird records by Munzir Khan

Munzir photographed a few winter visitors recently including Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Common Redshank and RAed-spotted Bluethroat at a marsh about 20 kilometres before Khafra Marsh. Both these species are winter visitors to the Kingdom. Northern Lapwing is a very difficult species to get close to in Saudi Arabia and Munzir has done very well to get such a good photo of the species. It is certainly better than any photograph I have of this species in the Kingdom. I thank Munzir for sending me the photos and allowing me to use them on my website. Northern Lapwing is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province occurring in varying numbers. This year appears to be a good year for the species however. Jack Snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province, with Red-spotted Bluethroat being a common winter visitor. It is very difficult to get a photo of the quality of Munzir’s of the species, however.

Jack Snipe

Northern Lapwing

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Common Redshank

First autumn Ringing tip of year? – Sabkaht Al Fasl

We went ringing for the first time this autumn on 15 September. This is early for us as the temperatures are very high still at this time of year. We caught 39 birds of 11 species including White-throated Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Eurasian (Caspian) Reed Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Little Bittern, Common Redshank, Graceful Prinia and House Sparrow. Common Redshanks was a new species for us at our ringing site as was White-throated Kingfisher making it a very good ringing trip. It was a very hot and humid day and taking down the nets at the end of the session was far from pleasant but the day was still very enjoyable. We set nets in the same locations each tip with some over water (catching both new ringing species) and other over land in rides between reed beds. We set nine nets this trip (7 x 18 metre and 2 x 15 metre).

Common Redshank

Little Bittern - male

Willow Warbler

Waders and Herons – Jubail

Whilst in the Jubail area recently we saw plenty of species of waders and many kinds of herons. There were hundreds of Grey Herons present as well as the largest number of Little Egrets I have seen at the site, well over 200 birds. A few Little Bitterns and Squacco Herons were also present along with Indian Reef Herons and a single Western Great Egret. Waders were also seen in reasonable numbers with Dunlins, Common Redshanks, Little Stints, Common Sandpipers and Marsh Sandpiper present. Most were on the large flooded sabkha areas but some were on wet puddles or ditches.

Grey Heron

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Little Stint 

Marsh Sandpiper

Waders along AlKhobar Corniche – Bird records by Arnold Uy

Whilst birdwatching along the Khobar Coniche Arnold Uy found good numbers of waders. I was birding the Jubail area at the same time and although saw different species to Arnold it was obvious waders were on the move. Arnold took some amazing photos of various species including Ruddy Turnstones, Curlew Sandpipers and Common Redshank. All three of these species as=re common passage migrants with Ruddy Turnstone the least common but still plentiful at the correct time of year. The whole coastline of Taraut bay is excellent for waders but it is not so easy to get close up views like Arnold has managed. Arnold has allowed me permission to show some of his photos on my website which can be seen below.

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Common Redshank

Curlew Sandpiper

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 waders – Dhahran Expro Wader Roost

A trip to the Dhahran Expro Wader Roost produced plenty of waders of a good variety of species. The tide was not ideal but plenty of birds were along the edges including both Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers in small numbers. Curlew Sandpipers, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits and Dunlins had the largest number of birds with lesser numbers of Ruddy Turnstones, Common Redshanks and Common Greenshanks. There were much smaller numbers of Green Sandpipers, Terek Sandpipers and Grey Plovers. Other birds seen included very large numbers of Slender-billed Gulls with many first calendar year birds along with adults indicating a good breeding season. Several Indian Reef Herons of both black and white morphs were present as well as lots of Gull-billed Terns and two Caspian Terns. The only passerines of note seen were several Isabelline Wheatears hiding from the sun under the small bushes long the edge of the wet areas.

Whimbrel

Bar-tailed Godwit

Common Greenshank

Common Redshank

Curlew Sandpiper

Eurasian Curlew

Lesser Sand Plover

Green Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Terek Sandpiper

Common Redshank but not much else – Dhahran Hills

The evenings birding produced the same Common Redshank as seen a couple of days ago in the wet ditch. It has become a bit more tolerant of disturbance in the last few days so I was able to get quite close to take photos. Also on the ditch was a single Black-winged Stilt but not much else. The settling pond and spray fields only had a single White Wagtail, the first for the winter for me. Numbers of this species should build up considerably over the next two months as additional wintering birds arrive. A female Pied Wheatear was in the spray fields but nothing else of note. The percolation pond had a Marsh Sandpiper, 16 Ferruginous Ducks, one Common Pochard was still present, three Northern Shovellers and two Garganey otherwise it was very quiet.

Wet ditch still producing – Dhahran Hills

The wet ditch is still producing a few waders which is good as the settling pond and percolation pond are now attracting little in the way of this group of birds. The ditch has been good for Redshanks this autumn with both Common Redshank and Spotted Redshank recorded. Yesterday there was another Common Redshank that was very flighty but after being joined by three Little Stints it settled down and allowed photographs to be taken of it. Also in the ditch were a Wood Sandpiper, a Dunlin and two Black-winged Stilts. Elsewhere there was little evidence of migration with only a few birds of interest being seen. The best bird was an immature Greater Spotted Eagle seen flying off from the trees around the percolation pond. This species is seen every year in varying numbers but they are never common and always nice to see. This is the first record for me in the camp this autumn although Phil saw one a few weeks ago. A western Marsh harrier was also seen over the spray fields but very little else. The percolation pond had four White-winged Terns, three Northern Shoveller, two Garganey and eleven Furruginous Ducks. The only passerine of note were a few Tawny Pipits.

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Little Stint

Little Stint

Black-winged Stilt

Spotted Redshank and Common Redshank on wet ditch – Dhahran Hills

Both Spotted Redshank and Common Redshank are uncommon on the ‘patch’ with Spotted Redshank scarce. I had only seen the species a couple of times before and Phil only saw his first for Dhahran a few weeks ago. Most birds seen have been on the Percolation Pond where they are often quite distant so finding one on the wet ditch was a very pleasant surprise. This happened yesterday the day after I had seen a Common Redshank on the same wet ditch. This was the first time I had seen either species on the ditch showing wader passage is still in full swing. In the Eastern Province Common Redshank is a common passage migrant and winter visitor along the coast from August until March but is generally scarce from mid-march to mid-June. From July to October they are also common on pools away from the coast presumable concerning birds on migration. Spotted Redshank is an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor, seen on migration from March to May and again from August to November. They are normally seen on pools away from the coast but are never common.

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Waders in flight – Dhahran Expro Wader roost

An afternoon at the Dhahran Expro Wader roost produced quite a good increase in wader numbers since my last visit. It looks like a few waders may be on the move as numbers of some species had increased significantly. Whilst at the site I took a few photographs of waders in flight, but as the light was not particularly good, due to the overcast nature of the afternoon, they are not as good as they could have been. I did manage to photograph Common Redshank that flew by calling as well as Ruff, Marsh Sandpiper, Kentish Plover, Dunlin and Little Stint. There were quite a few other species present but none flew close enough for me to add to the birds in flight list.

Common Redshank

Kentish Plover

Marsh Sandpiper

Mixed Wader Flock