Birds on the Lake - Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The Waste Water Lake has been attracting a number of Common Black-headed Gulls in the early morning which have been coming and resting with the resident Great Cormorants on the lake. Duck are still regularly being seen with Ferruginous and Tufted Duck seen on every visit and once three Pochard were seen, a more unusual species but still one seen every year at this location. Herons include Western Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Western Great Egret, Squacco Heron and Western Reef Heron. Waders have been thin on the ground but a Green Sandpiper and three Common Sandpipers are resident the last month or so.

Western Reef Heron

Western Cattle Egret

Common Pochard

Ferruginous Duck

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Common Black-headed Gull

Common Black-headed Gull

Nothing unusual – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birding the Waste Water Lake the last few weeks I have been seeing the same species and not much different. Flyovers include the winter first Crested Honey Buzzard and two Wester Marsh Harriers as well as a few Common Kestrel and Eurasian Sparrowhawks. Common species such as Common Myna and Rose-ringed Parakeet are seen daily as are House Crow. Birds on or over the lake include good numbers of Pallid Swift and Great Cormorant and increasing numbers of Grey Heron, Western Cattle Egret and Squacco Heron. The maximum number of Gull-billed Tern reached eleven and a single Isabelline Wheatear was seen on the edge of the pond one day. 

Common Kestrel

Common Myna

Common Sandpiper

Great Cormorant

Grey Heron

Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Western Cattle Egret

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

Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot

Common Sandpiper

Common Myna

Common Myna

Common Greenshank

Common Greenshank

Common Greenshank

Common Greenshank

Waders starting to move – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birding Dhahran Waste Water Lake recently I saw a few waders that are probably early migrants. A good number of Black-winged Stilt were present as was a single Common Sandpiper, birds that have been around for a few weeks but I also saw new birds in the form of a single Common Greenshank and Ruff. The lake itself was little changed from the last few visits with ten Grey Heron, three Western Cattle Egret, three Squacco Heron, two Little Egret and two Great Egret. Another migrant seen was a single Red-rumped Swallow and a Black-necked Grebe was new in as well, but probably a short distant movement as they winter locally. Other water birds seen included a few Black-headed Gulls, a single Steppe Gull, a female Tufted Duck and several Great Cormorants.

Common Sandpiper

Great Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Western Cattle Egret

Waders – Jubail

My last visit to Jubail last weekend was designed to allow me to photograph any waders that were present. Normally I go to the area where the Egyptian Nightjars are at this time of year but this time, I decided to get to the best wader spot whilst the light was still good to allow me the chance to get some better photos. Although the number of waders feeding along the edge of the sabkha was not too high a saw ten Black-winged Stilt & Kentish Plover, hundreds of Little Stint, two Dunlin, and single Common Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover. Many of the birds were feeding quite close and although a little flighty they allowed reasonably close approach if you stayed in the car. The trouble with the middle of summer where temperatures are now well over 45 Celsius each day is the light only remains good for photography for the first hour and a half from sunrise. Then the heat haze and bright light make taking photos a challenge and they never come out as well as earlier in the morning. I stayed the entire time with the waders until the light became too strong.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Common Ringled Plover

Common Ringled Plover

Common Sandpiper

Dunlin

Dunlin

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

Little Ringled Plover

Little Ringled Plover

Ruddy Turnstone