Winter birding – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The Waste Water Lake in Dhahran has now started to get some regular winter species. The land around the lake is well vegetated but has been seriously lacking birds in the last couple of months. Now a few wintering species are turning up with Bluethroat and Daurian Shrike seen on every visit. Indian Silverbill are busy collecting nesting material and Graceful Prinia are singing loudly again after being quiet for a few months. Two Western Marsh Harrier are using the reeds for resting in and a minimum of three Eastern Stonechat are around, all in one small area with the regular Eurasian Sparrowhawk busy trying to catch any of the unwary birds. The lake itself has a few water birds with a juvenile Purple Heron, Western Cattle Egrets and Western Great Egret present. A few Gull-billed Tern are still present and Common Black-headed Gull drop in in very small numbers each day. Eurasian Collared Dove are again common in the area after reducing in number during the summer months.

Daurian Shrike

Eastern Stonechat

Eastern Stonechat

Eastern Stonechat

Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Purple Heron

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Western Great Egret

Western Great Egret

Western Great Egret

Western Marsh Harrier

Black-winged Kites again – Khafrah Marsh

Whilst birding Khafra Marsh recently we saw a few interesting birds, but photography was poor due to the weather and strong winds. The best bird was a ‘fulvescens’ Greater Spotted Eagle, but we also saw the normal pair or Black-winged Kites in the favoured area. These birds are now breeding residents at this location and amazing change in status considering they were a vagrant less than ten years ago. Grey-headed Swamphen is now seen at this location on every visit and possible more will arrive soon due to the decline in status of the nearby Sabkhat Al Fasl wetland. We found one amazing set of small fields being used as a market garden growing area that had well over 300 Kentish Plover, 100 Black-winged Stilts, 25 White Wagtail and two Squacco Herons.

Black-winged Kite

Squacco Heron

Daurian Shrike

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

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Spanish Sparrow

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Birds in around & over – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The last few visits to the Waste Water Lake during April and early May have produced a few new birds. A number of breeding Little Ringed Plover have been seen and heard calling and flying around suggesting they have young about. House Crows are now being seen in good numbers around the pond and nearby Cricket Fields. At least two Crested Honey Buzzards are still present and may well stay for the summer as they have done in the past few years. Migrants include Daurian and Red-backed Shrikes the later of which were not seen until late April which is quite late as they are normally seen early April and very occasionally in March. European Bee-eaters have been flying over in reasonably good numbers with flocks of twenty plus birds seen on many occasions. They are often heard calling before they are seen. Another migrant seen in larger numbers than normal this year has been Northern Wheatear, whilst Tree Pipit has been recorded less frequently than in recent years. 

Little Ringed Plover

Northern Wheatear

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Tree Pipit

Crested Honey Buzzard 

Crested Honey Buzzard 

Crested Lark

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Wintering Daurian Shrike – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

I have been seeing the same Daurian Shrike throughout the winter in the scrubby areas at the edge of the Waste Water Lake. The bird has been seen catching insects, lizards and once a small bird and normally sits on top of the trees that Saudi Aramco have planted in the area. Many of these native trees are now growing well and are tall enough to give the shrike a good lookout post to sit on. Its main hunting method is to drop down on any unsuspecting insect or lizard and then fly back up to its perch to eat its prey. Daurian Shrike is a common passage migrant and common, but local, winter visitor to central and coastal areas of Saudi Arabia. They prefer bushy areas near wetlands, farmland and parks and gardens.  

 

A scattering of Migrants – Al Uqayr

A trip to Al Uqayr in late September produced a scattering of migrants, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were a good number of shrikes of various species around with five Woodchat Shrike, twenty Daurian Shrike, four Great Grey Shrike and a Lesser Grey Shrike. Two Spotted Flycathers were busy along the side of a small tree lined farm with several Barn Swallow in flight over the same area. Eurasian Hoopoe and Brown-necked Raven were flying over with the commonest birds House Sparrow and White-eared Bulbul. Brown-necked Raven, although a common resident is not seen very often in this area. I later went to the coast to try to see if any waders were in a good position for photography but the area was wet and muddy and it was not possible to pass without a high chance of becoming stuck so I headed home a little earlier than normal.

Brown-necked Raven

Brown-necked Raven

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

Great Grey Shrike

Great Grey Shrike

Great Grey Shrike

House Sparrow

Spotted Flycatcher

White-eared Bulbul

Woodchat Shrike

Woodchat Shrike