Northern Lapwing - Dhahran Hills Football Fields

The confiding Northern Lapwing found by Alma and Eric a week or so ago remained on the football fields for some days and allowed very close views and occasionally came close to the edge of the fields allowing good photos to be taken. This bird has behaved very differently to the previous birds seen on the same fields that flew even if another bird approached them. As mentioned in previous posts Northern Lapwing is a very scarce bird in the camp with this year being exceptional, with this bird possibly the eighth individual. All previous years they have been seen there has only ever been one. The Birds of the Eastern Province 1989 mentioned Northern Lapwing were a scarce and somewhat irregular visitor with records from November to early April but chiefly from November through January. In 1979-71 up to 15 wintered in Dhahran but this proved to be exceptional, showing how large this flock was at that time. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, high counts have been at 425 at Haradh 5 February 2016, at Al Safi Dairy farm, Central Province, where at least 111 individuals were seen 25 January 2001. Birds of Thumamah 1988-1994 said maximum numbers were 100 in the winter 1992/1993. Its status in the Kingdom is as an uncommon winter visitor to all areas north of a line from Hofuf, through Riyadh to Hail and onwards to the Red Sea coast. Good numbers are also now being seen in the extensive pivot fields in the Tabuk and Sakaka areas. 

Another Northern Lapwing - Dhahran Hills Football Fields

A different Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus was seen on the Football Fields recently where it stayed feeding for a number of days. This bird had longer crest and more yellow on the vent than previous birds and was also much less timid allowing closer approach and better photographs. The previous week I saw five birds fly over and land on the percolation pond and a single bird was seen in this location for a few days before disappearing. As we have seen a few Northern Lapwing in the camp this winter Phil and I went to Qaryat Al Ulya pivot fields to see if there were any there but we only managed to see two in this area despite looking at numerous pivot fields.

 

 

Now two Northern Lapwing - Dhahran Hills Football Fields

The Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus that has been seen on and off on the Football Fields for a week has been joined by a second bird, but they remain very timid and fly as soon as anyone or anything gets close to them. Last weekend I managed to get a few more photos but again the birds stayed at the far side of the football field and flew when a Western Marsh Harrier flew over. They disappeared in the direction of the percolation Pond / Lake Lanhardt, where I saw one of the birds at the back of the lake. We have been wondering where the birds goas they only spend a few minutes each day on the football fields, so maybe they go to the lake regularly, as Eric and Alma saw at least one there at a different time to me. The Golf course is another area they may send time as this is off limits and can’t be checked properly.

Northern Lapwing - Dhahran Hills Football Fields

Alma Swartz found a Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus on the Cricket/Football Fields a few days ago and although both Alma and Eric saw it again, I failed every time I visited. They told me the bird was skittish and did not like it when it saw anyone, which would make it difficult to photograph even if I did see it. On 31 October I finally manged to locate the bird on the football fields although it was at the very back, I managed to find a place where I could drive the car close to it and took the below photos. Even here with me in the car the bird flew once as a Eurasian Collared Dove landed near it and it took fright. Abd it did not tolerate anything near it. I have only seen the species three times on the camp in Dhahran, once very close to this location in November 2017 and twice flying over with one in winter 2020 and three in November 2023. The Birds of the Eastern Province 1989 mentioned Northern Lapwing were a scarce and somewhat irregular visitor with records from November to early April but chiefly from November through January.  In 1979-71 up to 15 wintered in Dhahran but this proved to be exceptional, showing how large this flock was. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, high counts have been at 425 at Haradh 5 February 2016, at Al Safi Dairy farm, Central Province, where at least 111 individuals were seen 25 January 2001. Birds of Thumamah 1988-1994 said maximum numbers were 100 in the winter 1992/1993. Its status in the Kingdom is as an uncommon winter visitor to all areas north of a line from Hofuf, through Riyadh to Hail. Small flocks of birds have been seen this November at a couple of sites near Jubail with the largest count being 26.

Northern Lapwings – Al Asfar Lake

An early morning trip to Al Asfar Lake in January produced a few good birds including about ten Northern Lapwings. This is a common wintering species in the correct areas, mainly large pivot fields but also occurs in small numbers in wetland areas such as Al Asfar Lake. Other waders included three Bar-tailed Godwits, and good numbers of Ruff and Common Redshank. This location is an excellent site for Western Marsh Harrier where more than twenty birds spend the winter. Most are juvenile/female types but one or two males can occasionally be seen. Eagles were seen in small numbers with three Greater Spotted Eagles and a single Bonelli’s Eagle, perched on the electricity pylons. Several Daurian Shrikes are wintering at the location and a Pied Kingfisher was also seen in flight and perched briefly, adding to the locations where this species has been seen this winter. Two Great Grey Shrikes and two Tawny Pipits were about the best of the other species seen. 

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing

Western Marsh Harrier

Western Marsh Harrier

Greater Spotted Eagle

Winter birding – Haradh

Haradh is an excellent site with many pivot irrigation fields that attract a lot of wintering birds. We visited recently and were quite disappointed to find many of the pivots have stopped being used to grow crops. This is probably as a result of the Kingdoms requirement for farmers to stop growing fodder crops from November 2018 to save precious underground water supplies. The fields were mainly there to feed the large herds of cows owned by NADEC and they have probably stopped growing the crop. There were a few fields with what looked like potatoes growing that had a few birds but numbers were significantly down on previous years due to lack of irrigated fields. We did manage to see a few good birds such as a male and female Pallid Harrier, good numbers of both Greater Short-toed Lark and Lesser Short-toed Lark and hundreds of White Wagtail. Several Desert Wheatear were also scattered around the fields. One field with crops held a flock of over thirty Northern Lapwings but nothing else of note could be seen with them. A flock of thirty Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse flew over at one point only the fifth record for the Eastern Province but the second in two years from Haradh. A Greater Hoopoe Lark gave good views as did a few Spanish Sparrows.

Desert Wheatear

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Greater Hoopoe Lark

Greater Hoopoe Lark

Greater Hoopoe Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing

Pallid Harrier

Spanish Sparrow

Lapwings of various species – Haradh

Haradh is a well known wintering location for Northern Lapwing, with flocks of several hundreds seen in recent winters. This trip we located many birds scattered around the fields, but no large flocks and probably saw more than 100 Northern Lapwings in total. The species is an uncommon winter visitor to the northern areas of the Kingdom where they favour the large pivot irrigation fields. Interspersed amongst them were a few Spur-winged Lapwings. This species was a vagrant to the Eastern Province of the Kingdom until a few years ago but is now established as a resident at Haradh where birds probably breed. In the west of the Kingdom Spur-winged Lapwing is a common resident breeder. The last Lapwing we saw were 14 Sociable Lapwings, a critically endangered species worldwide and a rare winter visitor to Tabuk (in the north-west of the Kingdom) and now Haradh. This is the fourth winter in succession we have found wintering birds at this location making it an extremely important location for its continued survival.

Northern Lapwing

Sociable Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing

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

Northern Lapwing in Dhahran Hills – Bird record by Paul Watson

Paul Watson sent me an e-mail kindly informing me of a Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus present on a bit of grassland in Dhahran Hills. I had not seen the species before on my local patch but was unable to look for the bird until the next day when luckily it was still present in the same area. It lingered for over a week until late November as Mats Ris also alerted me to the birds presence a few days later. Northern Lapwings have been seen at least once whilst I have been on the camp but I was away and did not see it so this was a nice addition to my local patch list. The Birds of the Eastern Province 1989 mentioned Northern Lapwing were a scarce and somewhat irregular visitor with records from November to early April but chiefly from November through January.  In 1979-71 up to 15 wintered in Dhahran but this proved to be exceptional, showing how large this flock was. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, high counts have been at 425 at Haradh 5 February 2016, at Al Safi Dairy farm, Central Province, where at least 111 individuals were seen 25 January 2001. Birds of Thumamah 1988-1994 said maximum numbers were 100 in the winter 1992/1993. Its status in the Kingdom is as an uncommon winter visitor to all areas north of a line from Hofuf, through Riyadh to Hail. Small flocks of birds have been seen this November at a couple of sites near Jubail with the largest count being 26.

Winter visitors and passage migrants – Haradh

Phil Roberts and I went to Haradh recently and found plenty of good birds despite the temperature being 1 degrees Celsius the coldest day for many years in the region as well as a bitingly cold northerly wind. Some birds were winter visitors such as Mallard, Northern Lapwing, Desert Wheatear, Eastern Imperial Eagle and Tawny Pipit whilst others were spring migrants such as Common Redstart, Common Chiffchaff, Mauryan Grey Shirke. We also saw a few interesting resident species such as Long-legged Buzzard, Spur-winged Plovers that appear to have colonized the pivot irrigation and farm areas of Haradh in recent years as well as Spanish Sparrows and Namaqua Doves. A few winter harriers were still present including Marsh Harrier and Pallid Harrier and there were plenty of Common Kestrels as well.

Mauryan Grey Shrike

Desert Wheatear

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Greater Hoopoe Lark

Mallard

Northern Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing

Tawny Pipit