Adult Indian Roller – Dhahran Hills

An Indian Roller was found on 19 November 2020 at the Dhahran Waste Water Lake and has returned each winter for the last five years and has been seen again this winter. The bird is very elusive and we have not found the area where it stays for most of the day, which may well be the out of bounds golf course. The bird is often seen flying into the trees or perching on the floodlights of the cricket field and football fields in the late evening before flying off to roost. As a result, I have not obtained any good photos of the bird, but in late November Eric kindly sent me a close-up photo of it, so I asked where he had seen it. He said Alma and he had seen it a few minutes before and the bird was frequenting a small park next to the football fields. As it was the weekend and I live very close to this area, I went down and saw the bird after a while. It was not very obliging and although I saw it on a post close to the road with a car passing very close by the time I got there it had flown. I stayed for a couple of hours trying to locate it again and obtain good photos as it was mid-afternoon and light was good. Eventually I saw it again and managed to get a few photos of it in a palm tree and on a light post and once some good photos of it in flight as it flew close to me from a post where I had crept up to it on foot behind a palm before it saw me a flew. These are easily the best photos I have of the bird so was happy with my afternoon trip. Indian Roller has a status as a rare winter visitor, with the only recent records I know being an adult, Mansouriyah, Riyadh, 21 December 1989; an adult, Thumamah, Riyadh, 8 October 1999 until 17 February 2000 and an adult at Ras Tanura 12 February 2021.

Adult Indian Roller – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

I visited the Dhahran Waste Water Lake at first light in late December and saw the Indian Roller perched on the overhead power lines. Unfortunately, it did not stay long before flying off, but I got a couple of photos shown above. This bird has been around since 22 September 2023 but I have only seen it a few times, mostly on the Dhahran Cricket Field or nearby. I assume it spends most of its time on the out of bounds golf course, but this has not been proven yet. Indian Roller has a status in Saudi Arabia as a rare winter visitor, with the only recent records I know being an adult, Mansouriyah, Riyadh, 21 December 1989; an adult, Thumamah, Riyadh, 8 October 1999 until 17 February 2000 and the wintering bird in Dhahran from 2020 returning each year. 

Adult Indian Roller – Dhahran Hills

I finally managed to get a couple of photos of the Indian Roller that has been around for a while on 23 October. I found it hiding under the cover of a power generator, the same place where I originally located the bird, but it quickly flew and landed on a post before flying off again. I could not get close to the bird but hopefully will get lucky one day. Indian Roller has a status in Saudi Arabia as a rare winter visitor, with the only recent records I know being an adult, Mansouriyah, Riyadh, 21 December 1989; an adult, Thumamah, Riyadh, 8 October 1999 until 17 February 2000 and the wintering bird in Dhahran from 2020 returning each year. The bird is difficult to find and most times it is not seen but I have seen it four times, always on the cricket field, since I first found it on the Cricket Field on 22 September. It was also seen on the overhead power lines neat the Waste Water lake 19 October. Assuming this is the same bird returning again for another winter it should stay around until early spring.

Terns & Indian Roller again – Dhahran Hills Lake

A trip to the Dhahran Hills Lake in early November produced many of the normal herons, egrets and cormorants but three fly over Eurasian Sparrowhawk were good and a continuation of a small movement of these birds over the last week. The slightly different birds than normal seen included a Common Kingfisher, two Pied Wheatear, a Daurian Shrike, several Graceful Prinia and three Whiskered Terns. The normal Gull-billed Terns were still present but they had been joined by the smaller and more agile Whiskered Terns. This is a species which is occasionally seen in the camp but is far from common. The Indian Roller was seen again but again it only came in at the end of the day and perched on its favourite yellow danger signs. I managed to get a little closer this time but the photos I took are still far from the best as the light is poor at this time of day.

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Great Cormorant

Grey Heron

Gull-billed Tern

Indian Roller

Indian Roller

Indian Roller

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern

Adult Indian Roller returning for winter? – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the Dhahran Hills Lake area on 27 October I came across the Indian Roller again, which has been around since 21 October. This is probably the same bird as was found on 19 November 2020 and spent most of the winter in the same area. This time it again arrived late and did not allow close approach and was on top of its favourite post from last winter the yellow danger sign. The species status in Saudi Arabia is a rare winter visitor, and I hope it remains for the remainder of the winter and next time allows me the chance to get some decent photos. Below is the only photo I managed to take of the birds before it flew off and landed on one of the street lights before flying off again and out of view.

Adult Indian Roller – Dhahran Hills

A friend of mine, Sebastian Henderson, found a Roller on 19 November in the Dhahran Hills area of Dhahran Aramco camp, and let me know. I suggested that due to the date it was probably an Indian Roller and went several times to look for the bird, which only appeared to arrive just before dark, before flying off to roost. Every time I visited, the bird was not present, until 4 December when I finally caught up with it. It did the same thing Sebastian said and flew in from the direction of the golf course and perched on top of yellow danger signs, before flying off after a few minutes. As the light was very poor, I did not manage to get and good photos, but could at least prove it was indeed an Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis. This was a new species for me in Saudi Arabia, where they have a status as a rare winter visitor, with the only recent records I know being an adult, Mansouriyah, Riyadh, 21 December 1989; an adult, Thumamah, Riyadh, 8 October 1999 until 17 February 2000. I visited several times during the last week and saw the bird only once in the evening again just as it was getting dark on top of a street light. I think the bird may be sending its time around the golf course bit it is not possible to access this area for birdwatching.