Little Crake trapped and ringed – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 23 Febrayry 2018 I trapped and ringed an adult male Little Crake. This was a new ringing species for me and the first one we have trapped and ringed in Saudi Arbaia. The species is seldom recorded in the Eastern Province although is probably an uncommon migrant through the region. Previously it was regarded as a scarce but regularly recorded passage migrant in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, mainly in marshy areas or pools overhung by vegetation. Birds generally occur during spring migration from February to end of April with peak numbers in March where up to five birds were present in Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp in the wet areas by the percolation pond in February and March 2012. Birds occur during autumn migration from September to October with a peak in October so this bird fits in well with the records. The grassy irrigated areas of Haradh have previously been the best place to locate the species where surprisingly high numbers have been located. Few birders visit this area now in the spring and autumn mainly visiting in the winter months.

Little Crake at Al Kobar Corniche - Record by Arnold Uy

Whilst at Al Khobar Cornice Arnold saw and photographed a juvenile Little Crake feeding out in the open, possibly the same bird as seen by Mark see previous post). Birds occur during autumn migration from September to October with a peak in October so this bird fits in well with the records. I thank Arnold for sending me the details of his sighting and allowing me to use his photos on my website which are shown below.

Little Crake at Al Khobar – Bird record by Mark Jasimin

Whilst at Al Khobar Cornice on Friday Mark found a juvenile Little Crake feeding out in the open. The species is seldom recorded in the Eastern Province although is probably an uncommon migrant through the region. Previoulsy it was regarded as a scarce but regularly recorded passage migrant in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, mainly in marshy areas or pools overhung by vegetation. Birds generally occur during spring migration from February to end of April with peak numbers in March where up to five birds were present in Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp in the wet areas by the percolation pond in February and March 2012. Birds occur during autumn migration from September to October with a peak in October so this bird fits in well with the records. The grassy irrigated areas of Haradh have previously been the best place to locate the species where surprisingly high numbers have been located. Few birders visit this area now but we are going next week and would be very happy to see a Little Crake on our visit. I thank mark for sending me the details of his sighting and allowing me to use his photo on my website which is shown below.

A couple of good birds at Sabkhat Al Fasl – Bird records by Phil Roberts

Phil went birding to Sabkhat Al Fasl in the early morning of the weekend and saw a male Red-breasted Flycatcher. This is an unusual species for the Eastern Province but early October is the prime time for finding them. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get any photographs of the bird but had excellent views.  In addition he saw his first Greater Spotted Eagle of the autumn, plus 9 Western Marsh Harriers, 156 Grey Heron, 4 Western Great Egrets, 7 Daurian Shrikes, a juvenile Little Bittern and 3 Pied Wheatears. A Little Crake was also seen and photographed by Phil and he has kindly allowed me to use his photo below, the copyright of which remains Phil’s. It wasn't the greatest morning in terms of numbers of species and wader numbers were way down from previous weeks, but there were a few good birds around. Any day when you see Red-breasted Flycatcher and Little Crake rates as a good mornings birding for sure.

Little Crake

Excellent day – Sabkhat Al Fasl

The midweek trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl turned out to be a very good few hours birding. This is a good time in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with many migrants passing through and this is a good site for attracting them. As already posted it was excellent for shrikes with Mauryan (Steppe) Grey Shrike, Turkestan Shrike and Daurian Shrike all present. A few Large White-headed Gulls were present but much reduced from the previous visit. A number of gulls were dead in the area they have been using and I am not sure if they had been shot or died of something else. This was presumably putting the birds off from using the area now and all that was left were 20+ Steppe Gulls. The only other birds here were a few Caspian Terns sitting around and flying about looking for food.

Steppe Gull

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Just behind this area a Savi’s Warbler was in full song at first light. Further along where a few bushes flank one of the concrete bunded areas lots of warblers were flitting about. They appeared to be all Common Chiffchaffs until I caught sight of a larger warbler in a low bush. After a bit of time trying to get some decent views of the bird it turned out to be an Eastern Orphean Warbler which is the first time I have seen this species at the location.

Eastern Orphean Warbler

A close inspection of the reed beds and the wet areas nearby produced three male White-spotted Bluethroats and more Common Chiffchaffs. Here there were plenty of Clamorous Reed Warblers and Graceful Prinia in full song as their breeding season is now well underway. Eurasian Hoopoe was also feeding along the wet edges in this area.

Graceful Prinia

Eurasian Hoopoe

The scrubby desert area behind the main reed beds also held plenty of birds including Siberian Stonechat, Tawny Pipit and Red-throated Pipit. Three Greater Spotted Eagles were seen in flight over the area as was a Collared Pratincole, which is the first one of these I have seen this spring. Barn Swallow was quite numerous hunting the insects here with a few Pallid Swifts to keep them company.

Siberian Stonechat

Red-throated Pipit

Travelling further around the site to the main wet area was very rewarding with a good number of both adult and juvenile Purple Swamphens showing well. At one point I was watching a Purple Swamphen wading across an open area of water when a movement in the nearby grass caught my attention. It turned out to be a Little Crake that had just jumped into the water and was following the Swamphen to a small clump of nearby reeds out in the water. It allowed me a chance to photograph this difficult to see species, which was a bonus.

Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen

Little Crake

Little Crake

The flooded sabkha area is still full of water with little to see there except for large numbers, maybe 3000, Greater Flamingo. Waders are thin on the ground here with just a couple of Common Greenshank and Common Redshanks and two curlew Sandpipers present. Water Pipits were present in small numbers now showing off their summer plumage and about ten Black-headed Yellow Wagtails were also feeding on the numerous insects. A few wheatears were there as well including Northern, Pied and Isabelline Wheatears.

Black-headed Wagtail

Water Pipit

Little Crake - Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst at Sabkhat Al Fasl on Thursday I found a juvenile Little Crake feeding along the edge of the reeds. Eventually after waiting some time the bird came out into the open and gave good views before returning to the reeds and disappearing. The species is seldom recorded in the Eastern Province although I suspect it is an uncommon migrant through the region. This year has been exceptional for the species with up to five present daily in Dhahran Hills during the spring. I have only seen one at Sabkaht Al Fasl before and it was also an immature in autumn, but I am sure records are more common at the site but the extensive reed beds makes it very difficult to locate the species.

Little Crake is a scarce but regularly recorded passage migrant in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, mainly in marshy areas or pools overhung by vegetation. Birds generally occur during spring migration from February to end of April with peak numbers in March where up to five birds were present in Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp in the wet areas by the percolation pond in February and March 2012. Birds occur during autumn migration from September to October with the grassy irrigated areas of Haradh being the best place to locate the species where surprisingly high numbers have been located. A few birds have wintered at Abqaiq and Al-Uyan and an immature was at Sabkhat Al Fasl (Jubail) on 24^th November 2011.

A review of my 2011 birding year in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (Part 1)

Another year has passed and another country has joined our list of places to live and my places to bird and as a result 2011 was a busy year for me. I was not really able to get out birding properly until early March as we were trying to get our feet on the ground in a new country and new job. Saudi Arabia has turned out to be a better than expected country for birding, as well as for living, from my point of view with many good birds seen and the chance of finding rare or unusual species. I have bird-watched at my local ‘patch’ of Dhahran almost every day and made frequent visits to Sabkaht Al Fasl at weekends as well as visiting a few other local sites. This combined with my ringing training in Bahrain on Fridays has taken up a fair amount of time and I have to express my thanks to my wife Lidia and children Julianna and Kerensa for allowing me so much time in the field.

Here are a few highlights of my birding year in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia:-

An immature Black Stork Ciconia nigra was at the Dhahran on 4^th May. An immature & adult female Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus were over Dhahran on 13^th March with an adult male in trees & in flight at Dhahran on 5^th & 6^th May and another adult female on 7^th May. An immature Short-toed Snake Eagle Circaetus gallicus was over Dhahran on 31^st March. Adult male Little Crake Porzana parva was at Dhahran on 29^th March and 29^th April.

Little Crake (adult male)

An adult Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus was at Dhahran on 12^th & 13^th May. An adult summer Great Black-headed Gull Larus ichthyaetus was well inland at Dhahran on 16^th February. An Egyptian Nightjar Caprimulgus aegyptius was hunting at night on 17^th January & 12^th February at Dhahran. A male Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis was at Dhahran on 12^th May. Flocks of Pale Rockfinch Carpospiza brachydactyla were at Dhahran, on 22^nd March (17), 31^st March (80+) and 1^st April (8).

Pale Rockfinch

A female / immature Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus was at Dhahran on 14^th May.