Winter Birds in Deffi Park - Jubail

During the winter there were up to five Crested Honey Buzzards in Deffi Park. This location is becoming a regular wintering site for the birds but they often move off just after first light and have been seen sitting on street lights on the roads close by. Other regular wintering birds not seen commonly elsewhere in the Eastern Province include Lesser Whitethroat, Song Thrush and Masked Shrike. Common birds such as Indian Myna, House Sparrow and White-cheeked Bulbul make up the majority of bird sightings in the park but it is always a good place to look for the unusual winter birds and some scarities such as Black-throated Thrush.

Crested Honey Buzzard

Crested Honey Buzzard

Lesser Whitethroat

Song Thrush

Song Thrushes and more at Deffi Park - Jubail

Whilst birding Deffi Park I found a large group of at least 25 Song Thrush the first time I had seen this species at the location. They were not easy to get close to as they kept flying up into the trees but were great to watch feeding around even if at a distance. The wet stream held both Indian Reef Heron and Little Egret as well as Common Kingfisher and Greenshank. Several Common Chiffchaffs were calling from the threes and a Masked Shrike was seen wintering for the third year running.  Photography was difficult due to the early morning time and lack of light.

Song Thrush

Song Thrush

Song Thrush

Common Kingfisher

Common Greenshank

Winter birds & Residents – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Last weekend’s birding trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl produced quite a few winter visitors as well as resident species. One of the most unusual was a juvenile Long-legged Buzzard. This species is rarely seen at the location although presumably the same bird has been around for a few months. It is never easy to photograph and I managed to grab a single flight shot as it flew over the car. Other winter species seen included Red-spotted Bluethroat that have been common at the site this year as well as Common Kingfisher. Most Common Kingfishers have been females but a couple of males have been seen recently possibly showing the males and females winter in different areas and males are now starting to pass back through on migration? Western Osprey is a resident and is also not regularly seen at the site although sightings are much commoner than Long-legged Buzzard. A single Western Osprey was seen over the wetlands near the power station and three Greater Spotted Eagles were also seen. Although Purple Swamphen is resident and common at this site it is the only place where seeing the species is guaranteed and double figures were encountered on this trip. A good number of Common Starlings were also seen in the reeds, a species that winters at the location but is often not seen as they spend much of their time feeding inside the reed beds and out of view. Various Eastern Stonechats were also located during the mornings birding as were plenty of herons including Western Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Indian Reef Heron, Little Egret and Grey Heron. A couple of other good wintering birds included a Mauryan Grey Shrike and four Song Thrushes.

Long-legged Buzzard

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Western Osprey

Purple Swamphen

Squacco Heron

Mauryan (Steppe) Grey Shrike

Song Thrush

Sallal al-Dahna near Tanoumah Southwest Saudi Arabia – Bird records by Phil Roberts

Whilst in the southwest of Saudi Arabia Phil visited Sallal al-Dahna a upland valley at 1955 metres above sea level on the outskirts of Tanoumah 11 December 2014. This is a favoured location to see Arabian (Asir) Magpie that is generally regarded as a sub-species of Eurasian Magpie but sometimes treated as a separate species. They are becoming increasingly rare with the total population estimated to be between 135-500 birds. The valley holds mature acacia and Juniper trees and has a permanent water supply at one end. Here Phil managed to see and photograph te following species: Arabian Magpie, Little Rock Thrush and Song Thrush. A very unusual record was a Steppe Eagle was taken along the road from Tanoumah to Abha around 30km from Tanoumah. This species is a passage migrant to the country and is particularly common in this region on migration but is not a winter visitor. As this record was mid-December it appears to have decided to winter in the area rather than continue its migration onwards to Africa.

Arabian Magpie

Arabian Magpie

Little Rock Thrush

Song Thrush

Steppe Eagle

A better days birding – Sabkhat Al Fasl

The winter has been very poor in Saudi Arabia for birds so far with my last few visits to Sabkhat Al Fasl producing very little. The trip Phil and I made last weekend was a better days birding, although we failed to find anything significant. We had six Greater Spotted Eagles which although a low number for recent winters is the highest number I have seen at the site this winter. Most birds were distant but one bird flew right overhead giving good views. Other birds of prey included two Eurasian Sparrowhawks and 10+ Western Marsh Harriers including a fine adult male.

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Clamorous Reed Warblers were singing loudly at every patch of reeds we passed and must have a very high breeding density here. Plenty of Common Chiffchaffs were seen and heard in the reeds and a male Daurian Shrike was also hunting from the tall reed stems. A few terns were flying over the reed beds with most Caspian Terns but one Gull-billed Tern was also seen.

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Daurian Shrike

Down by the scrape area we had a couple of Song Thrushes one of which stayed long enough for a distant photo. This is the first time I have photographed the species at this location as although I have seen them there before they are shy and retiring birds. In this same area a couple of European Stonechats and two North Caspian Taxon Stonechats were seen and hundreds of Water Pipits were also present. About four Bluethroats were seen with one being a fine Red-spotted male and all were seen above ground level in the red beds.

Song Thrush

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Water Pipit - coutelli

Other birds seen included a large number of Western Great Egrets (20+), two Common Kingfishers, four Common Snipe, twenty Squacco Herons, 14 Western Cattle Egrets, 20+ Little Egrets, one Kentish Plover, one Green Sandpiper and a couple of Little Grebes. Approximately 5000 Greater Flamingos were present on the flooded sabkha which is still at a very high level after all the winter rain. The Flamingos, as can be seen from the photograph below, are wading in the water up to their bellies which is an unusual sight.

Greater Flamingo

The Jebals - Dhahran Hills

A trip to the jebals to see if any interesting wheatears or rock-thrushes had turned up produced very little. These sites are devoid of birds for most of the year but under the right conditions and at the right time of year good birds can be seen here. They are excellent for wheatears when big numbers are moving through although I only managed to see a single Isabelline wheatear and also shrikes of which I failed to see any. Large numbers of rock-thrushes can also be seen here but again I failed in my attempts. The only birds of note I saw were a single Song Thrush feeding under the row of trees on the way to the jebals and two Western Cattle Egrets in the same place. Five Common Chiffchaff were feeding on the grass in a nearby area and two Eurasian Hoopoe were on the Jebals but little else.

 Song Thrush

 Song Thrush

Common Chiffchaff