Common Starlings - Khafra Marsh

Whilst birding Khafra Marsh in late February we came across a small flock of over seventy Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris in flight and on overhead wires. This winter there appear to be more birds than normal with the species a winter visitor that is common in the Eastern Province but rather uncommon and erratic in Tabuk, Riyadh and Jeddah. I have seen small flocks in Jubail around Sabkhat Al Fasl as well as at Khafra Marsh this winter. These birds will be moving back to their breeding areas soon so was nice to see and be able to at least obtain a couple of photos of them.

Common Starlings near Jubail – Records by Vinu Mathew

Whilst in the Jubail area recently Vinu saw over 1000 Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris at local camel pens. These camel pens hold good numbers of livestock and attract large numbers of House Sparrows but also a few Common Starlings in the winter. This winter there appear to be more birds than normal but 1000 birds is easily the highest number I have heard of in a single flock in Saudi Arabia. Common Starlings are a winter visitor that is common in the Eastern Province but rather uncommon and erratic in Tabuk, Riyadh and Jeddah. I would like to thank Vinu for letting me use his photograph on my website which is shown below.

Common Starlings - Jubail

Whilst in the Jubail area recently I saw plenty of Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris at local camel pens. These camel pens hold good numbers of livestock and attract large numbers of House Sparrows but also a few Common Starlings in the winter. This winter there appear to be more birds than normal possibly as a result of the cold weather in the north, where Phil Roberts told me there was snow whilst he was in Jordon on 27 January. The species is not easy to photograph in the Kingdom so I was glad to get good views and a couple of photos even though the conditions were not idea as there was a very strong wind and large amounts of dust in the air.  They are a winter visitor that is common in the Eastern Province Gulf but rather uncommon and erratic in Tabuk, Riyadh and Jeddah. I would like to Thank Arnold Uy for letting me know the location of these birds.

Some good birds in and around Jubail

There are some good areas for birdwatching in Jubail but they take some looking for. The birds that frequent these areas are also good at times and again take some looking for. Whilst birding the area recently I have come across a few good birds including a Citrine Wagtail, and a fly past Long-legged Buzzard. This species appears to be coming more regular in the Jubail area in recent years. Another bird of prey that can be seen in Jubail is the Greater Spotted Eagle a species that is invariably found near water in the winter months. These birds will be departing the region soon, heading back to their breeding grounds to the northeast. Other winter visitors include a small flock of Common Starling, Western Cattle Egrets, several Great Cormorants and Black-headed Gulls a six Pied Kingfishers. Other birds seen included Common Moorhen, Squacco Heron, Ruff, Marsh Sandpiper and Slender-billed Gull.

Citrine Wagtail

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Greater Spotted Eagle

Pied Kingfisher

Squacco Heron

Slender-billed Gull

Common Moorhen 

Common Starling 

Great Cormorant

A very cold winter day – Jubail

I went birding on 29 January to Jubail on a very cold and windy day. The temperature was 5 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature I have seen in Saudi Arabia since I have been here. Temperatures in Hail in the northwest of the Kingdom reached minus 3 degrees Celsius some of the coldest weather in the country for more than fifty years. The temperature felt even colder as a strong wind was also blowing and as a result the birds were hiding from the wind and not really showing well. One example of this was the 100+ Greater Flamingo’s. They are normally spread out over the sabkhat in loose flocks but this time every bird was huddled together in a tightly packed group to keep warm and out of the wind. The adults were in the middle and the less knowledgeable juveniles on the outside. Other birds hiding from the wind included 18 Western Cattle Egrets, and I suppose many other species as well as our total for the day was well down on normal. We only really saw the winter visitors in any numbers with large numbers of White Wagtails and Water Pipits and smaller groups of both Spanish Sparrows and Common Starlings. Wader numbers were well down on normal as combined with the cold weather and strong winds was high water so there was not many places for waders to use. We did see a few Black-winged Stilts, Common Redshaks and Common Greenshanks but very little else. The only other birds seen in any numbers were Squacco Herons, Gulls of various species and terns including four Whiskered Terns. A few early migrants were located including Barn Swallows, Common House Martins and Common Swifts.

Black-winged Stilt 

Common Greenshank

Common Starling

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Spanish Sparrow - male

Spanish Sparrow - male

White Wagtail

Whiskered Tern

Common Starlings & Eurasian Skylarks – Dhahran Hills

A couple of interesting groups of birds have been seen on the ‘patch’ in the last few days. The most interesting sighting was a group of 11 Common Starlings that were seen flying around the percolation pond getting ready to roost in the reed beds. This is only the second time I have seen the species on my local patch with the first some years ago when three birds were seen on a football field near my house. Common Starling is not an unusual visitor to the region in winter but rarely gets onto the camp. This is what having a real local ‘patch’ is all about, finding good birds on the area you bird regularly even if they are not rare, even locally. The other interesting group of birds was 13 Eurasian Skylarks in the edge of the spray fields. Again this species in not uncommon as a winter visitor but do not occur so often on the camp. They occur every autumn in small numbers and are almost always in the spray fields, but this was the first sighting of the winter. Other interesting birds included a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 21 Little Stints, Curlew Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and five Common Snipe. Duck numbers still continue to rise with an amazing 105 Common Pochards now present on the percolation pond with three Tufted Ducks, nine Ferruginous Ducks and 65 Northern Shovelers.

Common Starling

Eurasian Skylark

The usual suspects - Sabkhat Al Fasl

I went to Sabkhat Al Fasl on 4 January 2014 for my first visit of the year. This is a relatively quiet period in Saudi Arabia and the weather is very winter like with morning temperatures just reaching ten degrees Celsius. It was a relatively slow mornings birding but some interesting birds were seen. Up to six Daurian Shrikes were seen and a singe Turkestan Shrike which is similar to the species wintering status with Daurian Shrike being much commoner than Turkestan Shrike. Hundreds of Great Cormorants were flying over and fishing in the large wet areas with thousands of Large White-headed Gulls, mainly Steppe and Caspian Gulls. Quite a few Common Chiffchaffs were seen in the reed beds and plenty of Clamorous Reed Warblers and Graceful Prinia’s were seen in the reeds as well with several Bluethroats skulking around in the bottom of the reeds. At least fifty Water Pipits were on the sandy areas and tracks through the scrubby desert areas.

Daurian Shrike

Great Cormorant

Graceful Prinia

As always Purple Swamphens were seen in good numbers with both Grey-headed and Purple Headed varieties in about equal numbers. One Western Great Egret, hundreds of Indian Reef Herons and three Little Egrets were seen along with about ten Squacco Herons. Birds of prey included five Greater Spotted Eagles, two Western Ospreys, twenty Western Marsh Harriers and a single Eurasian Sparrowhawk. Three Common Kingfishers were seen flying around but there was no sign of last weeks White-throated Kingfisher.

Purple Swamphen

Indian Reef Heron

Greater Spotted Eagle

A bird that is relatively common at Sabkhat Al Fasl in winter but is difficult to see and photograph is the Common Starling. They form small flocks at the site but are normally only seen flying over of perched in the reed beds at great distance. Today I managed to find one below the power lines and when it flew and landed on the main pylons I took a few photographs of it, the first ones I have managed of the species since I have been in Saudi Arabia.

Common Starling

Waders were on the flooded sabkha area in reasonable numbers with most being Little Stints, Dunlin, Black-winged Stilts, Common Redshank and Common Greenshanks. Other waders seen included a single Grey Plover and one Marsh Sandpiper. Eleven Common Shelducks and about a thousand Greater Flamingo were out on the Flooded Sabkha with three Gadwall and five Eurasian Teal. Only two species of tern were seen, Caspian Tern and Gull-billed Tern and several hundred Slender-billed Gulls were also present.

Caspian Tern

A good number of migrants - Sabkhat Al Fasl

Birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl over the weekend was quite rewarding with plenty of migrants on offer. The scrubby bushes and trees on the way into the site produced quite a few Daurian Shrikes as well as two Turkestan Shrikes and a single Mauryan Grey Shrike. Wheatears were also plentiful with four Northern Wheatears and six Pied Wheatears in the scrubby desert area. A few Common Chiffchaffs were jumping around the bushes and plenty of Crested Larks were setting up breeding territories in the area. Unfortunately I failed to locate any Rock Thrushes, as both Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush and the much scarcer Blue Rock Thrush had been seen at the site in the previous couple of weeks.

Crested Lark

A drive to the back of the site to look at an open area of water was rewarded with six Whiskered Terns, two in full breeding plumage and seven Squacco Herons were hiding in the reeds. This area also held a large mixed flock of White and Yellow Wagtails (see post in the next few days for details). Two Common Starlings were also seen in the reeds, with these being the only ones seen during the day. Most of the birds must have moved off for the summer, although they are never easy to see even though large flocks of several hundred roost in the reed beds in the winter. Whilst birding the reed edges and looking through the few openings in the reeds that have been made by hunters, I located three Wood Sandpipers and a female Ruff (reeve). A couple of Marsh Sandpipers and a number of Little Stint were also seen. Birds of prey seen included two Greater Spotted Eagles and a female Common Kestrel, which was very flighty and would not allow close approach. Kestrels are very timid in this area as the locals often try to catch them. Up to 13 Western Marsh Harriers and a single Western Osprey were also present with the Western Osprey spending most of its time sitting on a metal post surveying the scenery.

 Squacco Heron

 Common Kestrel - female

Common Starling

Sightings of Purple Swamphens have been thin on the ground in recent visits but this time I saw three different adult birds. One adult had two fluffy, newly born, chicks with her which is again proof of successful breeding at one of only two breeding sites for the species in Saudi Arabia. It is now apparent that the reason the sightings of the species has dropped over the last month or so is because they were breeding and keeping a low profile. Whilst watching the Purple Swamphen a nice male White-spotted Bluethroat came out of the reeds and performed well, but distantly.

 Purple Swamphen & Young

Finally I went to the wet flooded sabkha area to look for waders and here it was obvious the number of Greater Flamingoes had decreased from several thousand to only about 200 birds. Waders were still not about in huge numbers but 100+ of Little Stint, Ruff, Common Ringed Plover and Pied Avocet were still present and Common Redshank, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper were also seen in numbers above 10 each. A single Temminck’s Stint was feeding along a muddy pool and close by where two Common Sandpipers and a number of Kentish Plover.

Common Sandpiper

Common Starling - Qatif Thursday Market

Today the weather was not good at all with very strong winds and large amounts of dust in the air. We went to Qatif Thursday market and the coast of Tarout Island as I had heard there were a lot of birds for sale in the market. We got to the market quite early and after buying some local bread, which is a speciality of Qatif we went to the area of the market that sold birds. I was pleasantly surprised as there were lots of birds for sale, but not wild caught species as I had feared. Most birds were chickens a few Turkeys and hundreds of pigeons and doves, all of which looked like they were bred in captivity. The only wild caught birds I saw were a case of Common Starlings, about ten White-eared Bulbuls and one White-spectacled Bulbul. There were a few hundred Common Quail for sale but it was likely these had been bred in captivity. I took a couple of photographs of the Common Starlings, with the owners permission.

 Common Starlings

Common Starlings

After looking around the bird section of the market we went to the coast at Dareen but these was little to see due to the poor weather with only 12 Steppe Gulls and two unidentified Terns. We did see the largest number of traditional fishing vessels in the Arabian Gulf here and also the remains of Tarout Fort.

 Dhow - Traditional Fishing Vessel on Tarout Island

Tarout Fort