Birds of Saudi Arabia: Slender-billed Gull

Showing posts with label Slender-billed Gull. Show all posts

02 September 2023

Large numbers of Slender-billed Gulls – Jubail

In late August, as was the case in September last year, large numbers of Slender-billed Gulls were seen in the Jubail area. Over 2000 birds were seen on the area of flooded sabkha I birdwatch which is a very high number. Most birds were adults although a few first-year birds were also present. The species does not breed in Saudi Arabia but must do somewhere close by based on these numbers. This species is partially migratory, with birds wintering around the Arabian Peninsula but others staying year around. Its status in Saudi Arabia is a common year-round visitor but is almost entirely found on the coasts where it prefers shallow coastal waters and intertidal areas. Birds are gregarious and almost always found in groups. Although almost all large groups of gulls contained only Slender-billed Gull, some groups also had the occasional Caspian Tern sitting with them, with the number of this species building through September to reach several hundred.

02 February 2023

Birding Aqua Park – Jubail

Phil Roberts and I went to Aqua Park to see if the cold weather had brought any birds down. We arrived at first light and walked to the end of the park where we saw a Eurasian Sparrowhawk in an aerial battle with a Common Kestrel. We also saw a Western Marsh Harrier in the same area along with two Common House Martins. We then went to the waterside where I saw a Pied Kingfisher flying down the estuary as well as a Striated Heron, an unusual bird in the Eastern Province. Also flying over the water were a few Slender-billed Gulls, a Squacco Heron and a Western Great Egret. On the water itself were three Greater Flamingo and three Eurasian Spoonbill. Further down the park in a tree on the edge of the water we found four Pied Kingfisher along with presumably the same Striate Heron as seen earlier in flight. A small group of Spanish Sparrow were in the reeds along with Clamorous Reed Warbler. At least one but probably two Masked Shrike was in the park as were two Eurasian Hoopoe.

Western Great Egret

Slender-billed Gull

Eurasian Sparrowhawk - juvenile

Eurasian Spoonbill

Eurasian Spoonbills

Greater Flamingo

10 December 2022

Some winter species – Jubail

The last couple of visits to Jubail have produced a number of wintering Daurian Shrikes. This is a good area to find this species in winter, where they like to keep close to the dense reedbeds. Squacco Heron and Little Egret numbers are again building with birds seen in good numbers almost always out in the flooded areas in reeds or shrubs. The flooded areas are now becoming wetter and Greater Flamingo numbers are increasing although still at a relatively low level of less than 50 birds. Slender-billed Gull numbers have also decreased markedly over the last few weeks dropping from thousands to less than a hundred. These species will all stay around for the entire winter in varying numbers. Other good birds seen included a single Black-necked Grebe and a single White-throated Kingfisher, a species which is now certainly resident in very small numbers in the area.

Daurian Shrike

Greater Flamingo

Squacco Heron

Slender-billed Gull

03 October 2022

Huge numbers of Slender-billed Gulls – Jubail

In September huge numbers of Slender-billed Gulls were seen in the Jubail area. Numbers of over 4000 birds were seen along the coast in a number of different locations, with these numbers being the largest I have ever seen. Most birds were adults although a few first-year birds were also present. The species does not breed in Saudi Arabia but must do somewhere close by based on these numbers. Most birds sit a little offshore or out on the flooded areas of Sabkha and getting close is not so easy but some can be seen along the coast line making photography easier. This species is partially migratory, with birds wintering around the Arabian Peninsula but others staying year around. Its status in Saudi Arabia is a common year-round visitor but is almost entirely found on the coasts where it prefers shallow coastal waters and intertidal areas. Birds are gregarious and almost always found in groups.

17 September 2022

Typical late summer birds – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently I found some typical late summer birds. A White-throated Kingfisher was a little unusual, although they have become much more common in recent years and may possibly breed in the area. Great Crested Grebe is a not so common species but again a possible breeder in recent years with two adults with young seen last year in the summer. White-cheeked Terns breed on the nearby offshore islands and many worn looking adults are around onshore now as the breeding season is ending. Numbers have increased significantly in recent weeks with hundreds of birds present. They occur in large flocks often associated with Slender-billed Gulls. This is a species that now stays throughout the summer but breeding has not been proven yet. Thousands of birds are in the Jubail area with adults and first year birds together. These large flocks of gulls also often contain Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Caspian Tern and Common Tern in varying numbers. A few waders are now starting to move with the commonest being Little Stint and herons are increasing with hundreds of Squacco Herons and smaller numbers of Western Reef Heron and Western Cattle Egrets. Western Cattle Egret is another species that has started to stay all year in the area with seven seen throughout this summer.