Birds of Saudi Arabia: European Bee-eater

Showing posts with label European Bee-eater. Show all posts

17 May 2024

Common Whitethroat arriving – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The scrubby areas around the Waste Water Lake at Dhahran are attracting quite a few migrants. Barred Warblers are common and in early May the first Common Whitethroats appeared in Dhahran, some giving good views. The lake is a good place to see birds flying around catching insects with lots of Pallid Swifts, Sand Martins and Barn Swallows all in small groups. The below photo of the Pallid Swift shows a large full crop, full of insects it has caught. European Bee-eaters have been moving through in good numbers and are mainly seen in flight rather than perched. They sometimes use the overhead power lines for perching, but the light is never good when I see them there for photographs. Other birds seen in good numbers around the lake include Laughing Dove, Spotted Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, of which some of the latter will stay and breed.

Common Whitethroat

Barred Warbler

European Bee-eater

Laughing Dove

Pallid Swift

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Sand Martin

Spotted Flycatcher

11 May 2024

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

Tree Pipit

Crested Honey Buzzard

Crested Lark

Daurian Shrike

European Bee-eater

12 May 2023

Migration in full swing – Dhahran Hills

Birding the Dhahran Wastewater Lake in early May produced a good number of migrants. Shrikes were plentiful with up to ten Red-backed Shrikes and at least two Lesser Grey Shrike, a species not seen commonly in Dhahran. The birds were feeding on beetles on a grassy area but also in the scrubs beside the wastewater lake. A single large Acacia tree has a minimum of thirty warblers in it, most being Willow Warbler but at least two Barred Warbles, a single Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and a Common Whitethroat were also present. Other migrants included a flock of nine European Bee-eaters flying over calling and double figure numbers of Spotted Flycatchers. Whinchat, another scarce visitor to the Dhahran area was seen in the highest numbers since I have been here with at least seven birds recorded. Yellow Wagtails were seen in various locations in small numbers but totalled 26 birds in total with some nice male thumbergi seen at close range. A few pipits were seen flying over calling with all being Red-throated and one or two were also in the grassy areas feeding on insects.

European Bee-eater

Lesser Grey Shrike

Red-throated Pipit

Red-backed Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Willow Warbler

Yellow Wagtail - thunbergi

09 October 2022

Some different migrants - Jubail

Migration has been a little slow this autumn but a few birds are passing through. Last visit to Jubail produced good numbers of Barn Swallow and Sand Martins mainly in flight over the reed beds but a couple of Barn Swallows perched nicely in a stick allow the below photos to be taken. A single European Turtle Dove was in a small bush with three European Collared Doves. As I approached the three European Collared Doves flew off leaving the European Turtle Dove for me to try to get pictures. The trouble was that branches or leaves were always in the way but as I have not seen this species at all this year I took a few photos of the bird. Later a single Lesser Short-toed Lark was noted in amongst the bushes that were also holding two Egyptian Nightjar, the last ones of the year. A single European Bee-eater was perched in the reeds and the first few returning Greater Flamingo were noted out on the flooded Sabkha.