Jack Snipe - Jubail

Whilst birding in the Jubail area in November I found a Jack Snipe along the edge of a wet dyke. It was not easy to see but remained in place thinking its camouflage was good enough. The Jack Snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is normally found in marshy areas away from the coast from early September to early April. In the rest of Saudi Arabia it has been recorded most frequently in the Riyadh and Tabuk area and rarely in the Tihamah in the southwest and is a difficult species to see away from the three main areas. Due to the birds location it was difficult to get clear photographs of the whole bird but my photos did not turn out too badly.

Some winter birds – Bird records by Munzir Khan

Munzir photographed a few winter visitors recently including Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Common Redshank and RAed-spotted Bluethroat at a marsh about 20 kilometres before Khafra Marsh. Both these species are winter visitors to the Kingdom. Northern Lapwing is a very difficult species to get close to in Saudi Arabia and Munzir has done very well to get such a good photo of the species. It is certainly better than any photograph I have of this species in the Kingdom. I thank Munzir for sending me the photos and allowing me to use them on my website. Northern Lapwing is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province occurring in varying numbers. This year appears to be a good year for the species however. Jack Snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province, with Red-spotted Bluethroat being a common winter visitor. It is very difficult to get a photo of the quality of Munzir’s of the species, however.

Jack Snipe

Northern Lapwing

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Common Redshank

Jack Snipe a new ringing species for the site – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January I trapped and ringed a Jack Snipe, a species that we had not ringed previously at the location. The Jack Snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is normally found in marshy areas away from the coast from early September to early April. In the rest of Saudi Arabia it has been recorded most frequently in the Riyadh and Tabuk area and rarely in the Tihamah in the southwest and is a difficult species to see away from the three main areas. These birds are very gentle birds to handle and are very beautiful as well making them one of my favourites.

Jack Snipe in the ditch - Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the ‘patch’ 12 November I came across a Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus. This is an unusual but annual occurrence in the area but normally they are flushed from the long grass of the wet spray fields in mid-winter. This bird was pretending to be a bit of grass in a small patch of cover by the side of the wet ditch. Initially it was feeding out in the open but at some distance so eventually I tried to move closer to it when it took up it hiding posture, even though there was virtually nothing to hide behind. I took a couple of photos, although the light was not very good, and then left it still hiding in the same place. The Jack Snipe is a winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is scarce in marshy areas away from the coast from early September to early April. In the rest of Saudi Arabia it has been recorded most frequently in the Riyadh and Tabuk area and rarely in the Tihamah in the southwest.

Jack Snipe – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the ‘patch’ yesterday I came across a Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus. This is an unusual but annual occurrence in the area but normally they are flushed from the long grass of the wet spray fields in mid-winter. This bird was pretending to be a bit of grass in a small patch of cover by the side of a wet ditch next to the wet fields in Dhahran Hills. It remained in place until I was quite close allowing me to take photographs of this species for the first time in Saudi Arabia before it flew a short distance and landed back in the ditch where I left it in peace, as I did not want to frighten it again. The Jack Snipe is a winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is scarce in marshy areas away from the coast from early September to early April. In the rest of Saudi Arabia it has been recorded most frequently in the Riyadh and Tabuk area and rarely in the Tihamah in the south-west.