Birds of Saudi Arabia: Common Redstart

Showing posts with label Common Redstart. Show all posts

31 May 2024

A few migrants – Al Uqair

Whilst birding Al Uqair last visit the number of migrants had decreased significantly although there were still a few birds about. Red-backed Shrikes were the commonest bird seen with tens of individuals scattered around. Several Spotted Flycatchers were also seen along with a single Whinchat. Other interesting birds included several Common Redstart, Daurian Shrike, Masked Shrike and Spanish Sparrow. The nearby coast had very few birds bit a single Greater Sand Plover and several Kentish Plover were seen on the tideline.

Common Redstart

Daurian Shrike

Greater Sand Plover

Kentish Plover

Masked Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Spanish Sparrow

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

18 March 2023

Small Farm – Al Uqayr

As the migration season is about to start properly, I went to Al Uqayr to see what had been attracted to the area. This is next to the Arabian Gulf and 75 km south of Dhahran where I live. There are a few large palm trees planted along the coast and a couple of small fenced off farms. I visited a small farm I have been to a few times before but mainly in the winter rather than during migration. The farm is mainly palm trees but has other large trees growing around the edge and has plenty of water available to water the trees. Water anywhere in Saudi Arabia is a magnet for birs and even more so in migration season when many more birds are passing. On arrival and looking into the farm from the outside I could see large numbers of small birds flitting about from the palm trees to the ground where plants were growing from the recent rains. Most birds appeared to be Common Chiffchaffs with at least ten different birds seen and phtotographed. In amongst the Common Chiffchaff were two Menetries’s Warblers and a single Eastern Orphean Warbler, but unfortunately, I did not mange to get good photos of the last two species. There was also a single Common Redstart, but this proved elusive and was not seen particularly well. The resident birds were showing well with plenty of House Sparrows present and three Spanish Sparrows keeping them company. White-eared Bulbul were around in large numbers and were the commonest species seen.

White-eared Bulbul

House Sparrow

Common Chiffchaff

Common Redstart

Eurasian Hoopoe

21 May 2019

Migrants - Jubail

A steady trickle of migrants have been passing through the Eastern Province in the last couple of weeks with several Red-backed Shrike appearing. Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Pied Wheatear, Tree Pipit and Western Siberian Stonechat were also seen in small numbers. Very few Yellow Wagtails have been around recently compared to recent years but small flocks of European and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters have been passing over mainly in the early morning.

Red-backed Shrike

Common Redsatart

Pied Wheatear

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Tree Pipit

Western Siberian Stonechat

21 August 2017

Common Redstart - Jubail

The below photos were taken in the spring in Jubail but I did not post them at the time. Normally birds keep well hidden but this individual was quite happy being out in the open feeding along the side of a track. The Common Redstart is a common passage migrant throughout Saudi Arabia and passes through in March to May and again from early September until late November. Samamisicus are regular and normally pass through one or two weeks earlier than nominate occurring in early March and outnumbering the nominate subspecies during the very start of migration.

06 May 2016

Land birds around Jubail

This spring has been a very good one for Common Redstart with hundreds of birds seen throughout the region including many very smartly plumaged males. My last visit to Jubail provided more than 50 sightings of this species roughly divided 50/50 between males and females. Another couple of migrants that have occurred in good numbers this spring were Red-throated Pipit and Tree Pipit with tens of each of these species seen. The last few Daurian Shrikes were seen amongst a larger number of Turkestan Shrikes, with two male Red-backed Shrikes and a couple of hybrid type birds also seen. A good ‘fall’ of Willow Warblers had occurred as birds were seen everywhere including many in the reeds themselves instead of their favourite tamarisk as these were already full of birds.