Birds of Saudi Arabia: Indian Reef Heron

Showing posts with label Indian Reef Heron. Show all posts

26 February 2023

Dhahran Wastewater Pond – Dhahran Hills

The pair of Tufted Duck are still happily residing on the Wastewater Pond in Dhahran Hills, where there have also been seven Mallard on a couple of occasions. The Great Crested Grebe is also still present where it has now been for almost a year. Great Crested Grebe is relatively common in the winter in the Half Moon Bay area but is not so easy to get close too, so this bird is a refreshing change. Although, like the Tufted Ducks, it always stays on the far side of the lake, it is nevertheless close enough to take some reasonable photos. Other birds using the pond are Great Cormorants, where birds spend the entire day with some roosting in the large trees around the edge of the water. They are joined by the three Glossy Ibis which have been around for more than a month now, but as it gets light the Glossy Ibis fly and start feeding, often out of sight in the pools behind the reed beds. Grey Heron, Indian Reef Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Western Great Egret and Little Egret are all common feeding mainly on frogs. Up to four Gull-billed Terns have been flying over the pond catching small fish for the last few weeks, but last time I visited in mid-February I did not see any.

Glossy Ibis

Great Cormorant

Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Little Egret

Mallard

Tufted Duck - female

Tufted Duck - male

Tufted Duck

Western Cattle Egret

Western Great Egret

Indian Reef Heron

14 February 2023

Various Herons – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

I visited the Dhahran Waste Water Lake at the weekend and found a lot of herons as always. The common herons are Western Great Egret, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Squacco Heron and Western Reef Heron. All of these species were present but also seen were a Purple Heron and two adult Black-crowned Night Heron. I see the Nigh Herons occasionally, but they normally stay well hidden in the reeds and pools so normally just see them in flight, as was the case this visit.

Western Great Egret

Purple Heron

Grey Heron

Indian Reef Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron - adult

17 September 2022

Typical late summer birds – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently I found some typical late summer birds. A White-throated Kingfisher was a little unusual, although they have become much more common in recent years and may possibly breed in the area. Great Crested Grebe is a not so common species but again a possible breeder in recent years with two adults with young seen last year in the summer. White-cheeked Terns breed on the nearby offshore islands and many worn looking adults are around onshore now as the breeding season is ending. Numbers have increased significantly in recent weeks with hundreds of birds present. They occur in large flocks often associated with Slender-billed Gulls. This is a species that now stays throughout the summer but breeding has not been proven yet. Thousands of birds are in the Jubail area with adults and first year birds together. These large flocks of gulls also often contain Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Caspian Tern and Common Tern in varying numbers. A few waders are now starting to move with the commonest being Little Stint and herons are increasing with hundreds of Squacco Herons and smaller numbers of Western Reef Heron and Western Cattle Egrets. Western Cattle Egret is another species that has started to stay all year in the area with seven seen throughout this summer.