A few flyovers & Stonechats – Sabkhat Al Fasl

A trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl was relatively quiet but still good birding was had. The winter has had and extended period of cool weather with temperatures on arrival at first light being only 10 degrees Celsius. Plenty of birds were seen flying over with 20+ Western Marsh Harriers along with a Greater Spotted Eagle and a Western Osprey. The Western Osprey was seen later on in a different area where it was seen trying to catch fish but without luck. Other birds seen flying over in good numbers included Black-headed Gulls, LWH Gulls and Great Cormorants. A few terns were also flying about all of which were Caspian Terns.

Western Osprey

Great Cormorant

Caspian Tern

The main reed beds and lagoons were lacking birds but 20+ Purple Swamphens were seen and the reeds were alive with the calls of Graceful Prinias and Clamorous Reed Warblers, two species that breed early in Saudi Arabia. Three Daurian Shrikes and both European Stonechat and NCT Stonechats were present in small numbers. Heron numbers are increasing with 30+ Squacco Herons, several Grey Herons, 17 Western Cattle Egrets a scarce bird at Sabkhat Al Fasl, and 50+ Indian Reef Herons.

Purple Swamphen

Common Stonechat

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat

Squacco Heron

The flooded Sabkhat is very extensive this year due to all the rain we have had and thousands (3000+) Greater Flamingos are enjoying the area. There were only four duck present, all Eurasian Teal with no sign of the regular Common Shelduck. Thousands of Black-headed Gulls with a few Slender-billed Gulls mixed in were also in this are with small numbers of the common waders.

NCT Caspian & Common Stonechats – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl last weekend I saw a good number of wintering Stonechats. Most were NCT Caspian Stonechats (Eastern Siberian Stonechat) but I also saw a single male Common Stonechat. Both these species winter in Saudi Arabia with Common Stonechat much scarcer in the Eastern Province than Caspian Stonechat. The male Stonechats add a splash of colour to the drab winter scenery of many of the areas I bird and trying to work out what species or sub-species you are looking at adds a challenge to birding. The status of Common Stonechat is not very well know as all old data includes Siberian Stonechat with Common Stonechat under one species as they were previously regarded as the same species. Since I have been in Saudi Arabia, at least in the Eastern Province it is clear then Siberian Stonechat maura is an uncommon passage migrant and uncommon winter visitor, varigatus also has the same status but is less common on passage migrant and more common in winter. Common Stonechat appears to be a scarce passage and winter visitor but more data needs collecting on its status.

Common Stonechat - male

Common Stonechat - male

Common Stonechat - male

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat - male

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat - male

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat - male

Various Stonechats – Dhahran Hills

The spray fields have held a number of Stonechats throughout the winter including Siberian, Common and Caspian types. The last few days have been good for Stonechats with many more passing though the area on passage. Yesterday I saw five Stonechats together and managed to get a couple of photos of two of the species. The first one shown below is the (North) Caspian Stonechat showing the plumage features and the white in the tail (see bottom of post for details on the name change. The second bird looks to me like a Common Stonechat and although it has a white rump the rump is slightly streaked and not the full unmarked white of a Siberian Stonechat. The Common Stonechats we get in Saudi Arabia are the European types and not the race that commonly occurs back home in the UK that shows very little white on the rump. Hopefully a few more birds will pass through, as they are very interesting to look at and learn about the variation in plumage.

(North) Caspian Stonechat

(North) Caspian Stonechat

(North) Caspian Stonechat

(North) Caspian Stonechat

Common Stonechat

Common Stonechat

Common Stonechat

Svensson, Shirihai, Frahnert & Dickinson's paper Taxonomy and nomenclature of the Stonechat complex Saxicola torquatus sensu lato in the Caspian region (Bull. B.O.C. 2012 132(4), 20 April 2012) states:
Saxicola [maurus] variegatus called ‘North Caspian Taxon' has a new scientific name proposed Saxicola maurus hemprichii (Ehrenberg)
Saxicola [maurus] armenica called ‘South Caspian Taxon' has a new scientific name proposed Saxicola maurus variegatus (S. G. Gmelin)
The paper proposes the sub-specific suffix variegatus is transferred from Caspian Stonechat (the northern form) to Armenian Stonechat (the southern form), with hemprichii being adopted for the northern (white-tailed) form.

Common Stonechat S. t. rubicola – Dhahran Hills

There are a number of different races of Stonechat that occur in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and I photographed this male Stonechat in the spray fields a couple of days ago. The spray fields are a good area to see Siberian Stonechat ‘maurus’ and at least two are currently present. Male Siberian Stonechat ‘maurus’ are often striking, but things are complicated by the appearance of some brighter, more contrasting Continental Common Stonechats S. t. rubicola from the north (Continental Europe). Spring 'maurus' can still usually be identified by carefully looking at the rump and upper-tail covert pattern as well as the under-wing colour, the extent of the neck collar and breast and flank pattern (male 'maurus' has black axillaries and under-wing coverts and this subspecies probably never shows obviously dark-streaked flanks as shown by many rubicola). This bird although closely resembling 'maurus' seemed to fit Continental Common Stonechat 'rubicola' better as it had a broad white rump and upper-tail coverts with slight grey shaft-streaking and tips to some of these upper tail-coverts. It also had an orange breast with extensive white belly extending to the centre of the breast and white flanks and a large white neck patch, which are considered characters of S. t. rubicola (Walker 2001) (Urquhart 2002). Fine dark shaft-streaks on the rear flank just above the legs are a feature more commonly seen in S. t. rubicola than S. t. maurus. In flight, its large white shoulder patches and large area of white on the rump were obvious; however, the pure white part of the rump is somewhat restricted and does not extend onto the lower back, features fitting S. t. rubicola (Hellstrom & Waern 2011).

Hellstrom, M & Waern, M. 2011. Field identification and ageing of Siberian Stonechats in spring and summer. Brit. Birds 104: 5: 236-254.
Urquhart, E. 2002. Stonechats: a guide to the genus Saxicola. Christopher Helm, London.
Walker, D. 2001. Apparent Continental Stonechats in England. Birding World Vol. 14 No. 4: 156-158.