Birds of Prey – Al Namas

Whilst birding the Al Namas area in July I saw three species of raptor within five minutes. First I saw a Long-legged Buzzard and Short-toed Snake Eagle together in the air. Long-legged Buzzard is a common species in the southwest mountains but Short-toed Snake Eagle is a scarce breeding resident, passage migrant and winter visitor that only breed in the southwest of the Kingdom. This is the second summer I have seen one in this region with the other in Tanoumah. The third species I saw was a female Crested Honey Buzzard a species that has only been seen eight times previously in the summer in the Kingdom. Most of these records have been seen along most of the Asir mountain range in summer and show a few birds may regularly summer there. As most birds seem to be females there is a chance birds could be breeding in the area and this additional record adds to the data but no males have been located in summer in the southwest. Later on I located a Common Kestrel in flight and another perched on some roadside trees.

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Common Kestrel

Common Kestrel

Birding Tanoumah

Whilst birding the Tanoumah area in the western mountains we saw a good number of Grey-headed Kingfisher. There had been plenty of rain so the birds were making the most of the new wet areas formed. A single Short-toed Snake Eagle was seen flying over and four Arabain Magpie were seen feeding and calling to each other. Several White-throated Robin were on passage and small groups of Arabian Babbler were seen. A few different pairs of Streaked Scrub Warbler were located as were small numbers of Yemen Thrush, Dusky Turtle Dove, dark phase Long-legged Buzzard, Palestine Sunbird and Yemen Serin. 

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Long-billed Pipit

Yemen Serin

Yemen Serin

 

Short-toed Snake Eagle - Sarrar

Whilst birding the Sarrar Pivot Irrigaton fields in March I saw a Short-toed Snake Eagle perched on top of a telegraph pole. The bird son flew however and I only managed the below poor photos as it flew away from me. The species is a scarce migrant and winter visitor and has only been recorded since 1979 although birds have been seen in all months of the year except July and August. Most records have occurred in March and October - November suggesting most birds just pass through the area as this one was presumably doing.

Winter Birding - Haradh

Phil Roberts and I went for our normal winter visit to Haradh. We saw a good number of winter visitors at the site including a large flock of 150 plus Kentish Plover feeding on the edge of a pivot irrigation field. We have seen the species here before but not in such a large flock. We always see good numbers of Desert and Isabelline Wheatears at this location and this visit was no different. An unusual sight was a Short-toed Snake Eagle, particularly as they are rare winter visitors, although more regular in the main migration season. Last year we saw a flock of over 60 Mallard in a spray field and had a similar sized flock in a similar location this year. Other birds seen included Tawny Pipit and Namaqua Dove.

Desert Wheatear

Isabelline Wheatear

Isabelline Wheatear 

Kentish Plover

Mallard

Namaqua Dove

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Tawny Pipit

Short-toed Snake Eagle remains in Al Hassa – Bird records by Arnold Uy

Whilst Arnold Uy was birding the Al Asfar Lake area of Al Hassa in late November he saw a Short-toed Snake Eagle. The following weekend he returned to the site and saw and photographed the bird again. This is the first time I know of a bird hanging around the same area for more than a day and it will be interesting to see if it satsy for the winter. This is a good record as in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia the species is a scarce migrant and winter visitor and has only been recorded since 1979 although birds have been seen in all months of the year except July and August. Most records have occurred in March and October - November suggesting most birds just pass through the area although single records in December to February show some birds may winter here. I thank Arnold for allowing me to use his photographs shown below on my website.

Short-toed Snake Eagle Al Asfar Lake – Records by Arnold Uy

Whilst Arnold Uy was birding the Al Asfar Lake area of Al Hassa he saw a Short-toed Snake Eagle. The bird was seen hovering and later perched on some power lines. This is a good record as in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia the species is a scarce migrant and winter visitor and has only been recorded since 1979 although birds have been seen in all months of the year except July and August. Most records have occurred in March and October & November suggesting most birds just pass through the area although single records in December to February show some birds may winter here. Birds have been seen from the Dibdibah, Nariya and Manifa in the north to Haradh and Jawb on the edge of the Rub’ al-Khali in the south. I have seen a few birds whilst being in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Province including a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 31st March 2011, two juveniles, Dhahran Hills, 22nd October 2011, a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 11th February 2012 and a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 26th March 2013 and one Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015. I thank Arnold for allowing me to use his photographs shown below on my website.

Short-toed Snake Eagle at Shubaily in Al Khobar – Bird records by Cenen Mendoza

I received an e-mail from Cenen Mendoza who is a photographer from Al Khobar. He often goes out with his friends to photograph birds at the weekend and this year he has bought a new telephoto lens (Tamron 150-600) that allows him to capture more details of birds especially those in flight. Whilst out on 13 November 2015 at Shubaily in Al Khobar he photographed a bird he had not seen before and took some photographs of it from directly underneath. The bird turned out the be a Short-toed Snake Eagle. This is a good record as in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia the species is a scarce migrant and winter visitor and has only been recorded since 1979 although birds have been seen in all months of the year except July and August. Most records have occurred in March and October & November suggesting most birds just pass through the area although single records in December to February show some birds may winter here. I have seen a few birds whilst being in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Province with the last one at Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015. Cenen has kindly allowed me to use his photographs on my website some of which are shown below.

Short-toed Snake Eagle – Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm

Whilst birding Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015 I saw a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle over one of the spray fields. The bird dropped down behind the horizon and looked like it may have landed in the field. We drove around and saw the bird take off and fly away but it then circled around and flew closer before drifting off and being lost from sight. This is a good record as in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia the species is a scarce migrant and winter visitor and has only been recorded since 1979 although birds have been seen in all months of the year except July and August. Most records have occurred in March and October & November suggesting most birds just pass through the area although single records in December to February show some birds may winter here. Birds have been seen from the Dibdibah, Nariya and Manifa in the north to Haradh and Jawb on the edge of the Rub’ al-Khali in the south. I have seen a few birds whilst being in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Province including a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 31st March 2011, two juveniles, Dhahran Hills, 22nd October 2011, a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 11th February 2012 and a second calendar year, Dhahran Hills, 26th March 2013.

Looking for Blanford’s Short-toed Lark - Azezza

A trip to a stony plateau area of Azezza in the hope of seeing Blanford’s Short-toed Lark, formally Red-capped Lark, provided a few birds but didn’t turn up any larks unfortunately. We were at the location in the late morning which was not the best time to bird as it was very hot and as a result the only birds we saw at the site were several Little Swifts, a Long-billed Pipit and a Short-toed Snake Eagle. The Short-toed Snake Eagle is quite interesting as I saw a similar bird in exactly the same place last year in mid-July, suggesting th bird may be reeding nearby?

Yemen Linnet

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Some birds of prey from Tabuk area – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv sent me a number of excellent photos of a few birds, taken in the Tabuk area, that are not easy to see in the Eastern Province. Short-toed Snake Eagle is seen occasionally but is scarce whereas Sooty Falcon and Barbary Falcon  are rare. I have seen all these species in Saudi Arabia but have only seen one Barbary Falcon in Tanoumah, Asir Province in the southwest. Sooty Falcon I have seen on the Farasan Islands as well as at Ragasat near Al Ula in Madina Province. Short-toed Sanke Eagle Ihave seen more often in various parts of Saudi Arabia including twice on the ‘patch’. I thank Viv for allowing me to use his photos on my website.

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Barbary Falcon

Barbary Falcon

Barbary Falcon

Barbary Falcon

Sooty Falcon

Sooty Falcon

Birding Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area – Near Taif

I went birding at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, a 2244 square kilometre Protected Area, managed by the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA) and situated in Central Saudi Arabia on the Najd Plateau on 22 March. The Protected Area is entirely fenced and it is not possible to entre without permission. Birding was fairly slow with not many birds seen, but some very good ones included. We saw both the scarce reintroduced species, North African Red-necked Ostrich and Macqueen’s Bustard. We saw several groups of North African Red-necked Ostrich in different parts of the Protected Area including from the watchtower of one of the ranger stations. Most groups had both males and females in them but were very wary of us and never allowed close approach. The rangers even showed us an old nest of the Ostrich with a number of infertile eggs in that are twenty times bigger that a chicken egg. A single Macqueen’s Bustard was seen in flight and on the ground at great distance that was an amazing sight but unfortunately my photos are quite poor. Both of these species were new birds in Saudi Arabia for me and were soon joined by a third new species Lappet-faced Vulture of which we saw ten birds including six together thermalling of a small jebal within the Protected Area.

North African Red-necked Ostrich

North African Red-necked Ostrich

Abandoned North African Red-necked Ostrich Nest

Macqueen's Bustard

Lappet-faced Vulture

Other birds seen included a good number of House Sparrows around the ranger station along with two White-spectacled Bulbuls. An Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear and Pied Wheatear were all seen in very small numbers along with two Southern Grey Shrikes. Two Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse were seen flying over in the early morning and three more later in the day only the second time I have seen the species in Saudi Arabia. A few Greater Short-toed Larks and tens of Crested Larks were also scattered over the Protected Area and a single close view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle was also an amazing sight. A single Common Redstart and a Blackstart were located in the vegetation but otherwise birding was slow. Brown-necked Raven was one of the commonest sight in the Protected Area with birds seen in many areas.

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Short-toed Snake Eagle – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the ‘patch’ last night I found a Short-toed Snake Eagle just taking to flight from the large boulders behind the percolation pond. I was in the car with my camera at the time so jumped out of the car and grabbed a few photographs, some of which turned out reasonably well. The species is scarce in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, but I have now had four different sightings of five birds.
A second calendar year 31st March 2011
Two juveniles 22nd October 2011
A second calendar year 19th February 2012
A second calendar year 26th March 2013
The bird was a very pale one on the underside with very few markings typical of a second calendar year but the head pattern and primary pattern were typical.