Breeding Striated Heron in Bahrain update – Bird record by Jehad Alammadi

Whilst birding in Bahrain on 13 May 2022 Jehad Alammadi was able to photograph a Striated Heron nesting on a boat with a nest containing four eggs. Surprisingly the bird had laid its eggs on a parked boat in a water channel (see previous post). Jehad continued to monitor the bird over the next days and on 28th May one of the four eggs hatched. Hopefully the bird will not be disturbed and can successfully raise its young in its unusual nesting location. I thank Jehad for sending me his photos and allowing me to use on my website.

Breeding Striated Heron in Bahrain – Bird record by Jehad Alammadi

Whilst birding in Bahrain on 13 May 2022 Jehad Alammadi was able to photograph a Striated Heron nesting on a boat with a nest containing four eggs. Surprisingly the bird had laid its eggs on a parked boat in a water channel. Jehad had also found a nest in 2017, approximately 350 metres south of the current nest site. Whilst birding the Jubail area I saw the Striated Heron again. In 2020 we had the first evidence of breeding in the Eastern Province where the species is a rare but increasing species. The increase in records in recent years shows that birds are spreading northwards and look likely to become a regular feature of the Bahrain and Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia avifauna, if not already. Jehad kindly gave me permission to use his photos and information on my website.

Striated Heron – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area I saw the Striated Heron again. Phil had seen two adults and two juveniles during the summer, thehis is the first evidence of breeding in the Eastern Province where the species is a rare but increasing species. They are common breeding residents on the coasts of the Red Sea but is rare in the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. The increase in records in recent years shows that birds are spreading northwards and look likely to become a regular feature of the Eastern Province avifauna.

Juvenile Striated Heron - Jubail

Phil Roberts and I found a juvenile Striated Heron near Jubail 10 July 2020. Phil had seen two adults in the same general area for a week or so before we located the juvenile. This is the first evidence of breeding in the Eastern Province where the species is a rare but increasing species. They are common breeding residents on the coasts of the Red Sea but is rare in the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. The increase in records in recent years shows that birds are spreading northwards and look likely to become a regular feature of the Eastern Province avifauna.

Striated Heron in Al Khobar – Bird Records by Paul Watson

Paul Watson found a Striated Heron along the seafront of Al Khobar near the Bahrain Causeway on 3 November 2019. This is a rare but increasing species in the Eastern Province. Striated Heron is a common breeding resident on the coasts of the Red Sea but is rare in the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. Eastern Province records include one remarkable inland record of a bird at Sabkha 40 on 30 May 2010 in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter. This is a species usually associated with the coast of Arabia and had never been recorded this far inland before and was the first record for eastern Saudi Arabia. It would have had to be a migrant, but its position at Shaybah raises the interesting possibility that it had travelled across eastern Arabia from the Arabian Sea en-route to the Arabian Gulf. Other Eastern Province records, were one in Al Fanateer marina, Jubail on 15 February 2014 and one on 7 June 2015 at Sabkhat Al Fasl, Jubail plus one 12 February 2016 along Dammam Seafront and another at Jubail farm in 2018. The increase in records in recent years shows that birds are spreading northwards and may soon be a regular feature of the Eastern Province avifauna. I thank Paul for kindly allowing me to use his photo of the bird on my website.

Striated Heron in Bahrain – Record by Jehad Alammadi

Below are some more photos of the Striated Heron that Jehad Alammadi found breeding in Bahrain. Birds are uncommon in Bahrain and are vagrants to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. I thank Jehad for kindly allowing me to use his photos on my website.

Striated Heron with Chicks in Bahrain – Record by Jehad Alammadi

Jehad Alammadi found the first record of breeding Striated Heron for Bahrain when travelling offshore. The bird was nesting between some poles in the seabed as shown previously. Jehad went back to the site and managed to photograph both the eggs and the eggs and chicks. Birds are uncommon in Bahrain and are vagrants to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. I thank Jehad for kindly allowing me to use his photos and for informing me of this very important record.

Breeding Striated Heron in Bahrain – Bird record by Jehad Alammadi

Jehad Alammadi found the first record of breeding Striated Heron for Bahrain when travelling offshore. The bird was nesting between some poles in the seabed. Birds are uncommon in Bahrain a vagrant to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Eastern Province records include one remarkable inland record of a bird at Sabkha 40 on 30 May 2010 in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter. This is a species usually associated with the coast of Arabia and had never been recorded this far inland before and was the first record for eastern Saudi Arabia. It would have had to be a migrant, but its position at Shaybah raises the interesting possibility that it had travelled across eastern Arabia from the Arabian Sea en-route to the Arabian Gulf. The only other Eastern Province records, were one in Al Fanateer marina, Jubail on 15 February 2014 and one on 7 June 2015 at Sabkhat Al Fasl, Jubail. The increase in records in recent years may mean that birds are spreading northwards and the breeding record in Bahrain strongly supports this theory.

Fourth Striated Heron for the Eastern Province at Dammam – Bird Records by Arnold Uy

Arnold Uy found the fourth Striated Heron for the Eastern Province along the seafront of Dammam cornice on 12 February 2016. Striated Heron is a common breeding resident on the coasts of the Red Sea but is a vagrant to the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. Eastern Province records include one remarkable inland record of a bird at Sabkha 40 on 30 May 2010 in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter. This is a species usually associated with the coast of Arabia and had never been recorded this far inland before and was the first record for eastern Saudi Arabia. It would have had to be a migrant, but its position at Shaybah raises the interesting possibility that it had travelled across eastern Arabia from the Arabian Sea en-route to the Arabian Gulf. The only other Eastern Province records, were one in Al Fanateer marina, Jubail on 15 February 2014 and one on 7 June 2015 at Sabkhat Al Fasl, Jubail. The increase in records in recent years may mean that birds are spreading northwards.

Hundreds of African Collared Doves – Either Mangorves

Birding at Either Mangroves and narrow mangrove belt surrounding a large inlet west of Sabya produced a number of good birds. It also produced an almost continuous stream of African Collared Doves flying over with hundreds of birds involved. Most were going in a northerly direction and were presumably going to find suitable feeding locations? This is easily the largest number of birds of this species I have seen in the country and shows they have a very good population. Other good birds seen included two Mangrove White-eyes, a possible new species to science and many Mangrove Reed Warblers that breed at the location in good numbers. Herons included Striated Heron, Purple Heron, Grey Heron and Indian Reef Heron all of which were dark phase birds. Interestingly on the west coast, where Either Manroves are located the majority of Indian Reef Herons are dark phase whilst on the east coast the majority are White phase. Another very good and unexpected species here was a pair of Collared Kingfishers. A number of visits to this location have been made over the last few years since Phil and I rediscovered Mangrove White-eye here in 2013, looking for the White-eye with no records of Collared Kingfisher to my knowledge. This may be because people visit the site briefly or possibly because birds have just moved to the location. This is the most southerly site in Kingdom where the species has been seen, although they may occur in mangroves closer to the Yemen boarder and have not been seen yet as people do not generally visit these locations due to difficult access. Other species seen included Greater Hoopoe Lark, Kentish Plover and Caspian Tern.

African Collared Dove

African Collared Dove

Caspian Tern

Indian Reef Heron

Indian Reef Heron

Striated Heron

Striated Heron

Striated Heron

Striated Herons and more – Al Qahma Mangroves

Whilst birding Al Qahma Mangroves on 28 – 29 June 2015 I saw plenty of good resident water birds. Al Qahma is between Al Shuqaiq and Al Birk on the Red Sea coast and is north of Jizan. The area is an extensive mangrove forest and is a place where I have previously seen Collared Kingfishers. This time was no different with a minimum of six birds seen as well as heard calling. Birds call from the mangroves at the side of the bay just as it is getting light but continue calling intermittently all through the day. Birds also fly inland and can be seen sitting in the tall mangroves away from the lagoon at times. The other bird of note seen were two Mangrove White-eyes, a new location for this as yet name bird that is either a mangrove dwelling version of Abyssinian White-eye or a new species to science. A few other interesting birds were seen in the mangroves including Mangrove Warblers, Clamorous Reed Warblers, Ruppell’s Weavers and African Collared Doves and Yellow-billed Kite and Black-crowned Sparrow Lark were seen on the Sabkha nearby. Along the water edge I also saw six Crab Plovers, Common Redshanks, Sooty Gulls, Pink-backed Pelicans and Striated Herons including adults and juveniles.

Striated Heron - adult

Striated Heron - adult

Striated Heron - juvenile

Crab Plover

Pink-backed Pelican

Sooty Gull

Sooty Gull

Yellow-billed Kite

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark

Third Striated Heron for the Eastern Province – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 7 June 2015 I found a Striated Heron Butorides striata along the edge of the central track feeding out in the open on the edge of the wetland area. Unfortunately before I could take a photograph of it the bird flew off but luckily came closer to me over the track and into the wetland area on the other side of the road where I could not relocate it. Striated Heron is a common breeding resident on the coasts of the Red Sea but is a vagrant to the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. Eastern Province records include one remarkable inland record was a bird at Sabkha 40 on 30 May 2010 in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter. This is a species usually associated with the coast of Arabia and had never been recorded this far inland before in our region and was the first record for eastern Saudi Arabia. It would have had to be a migrant, but its position at Shaybah raises the interesting possibility that it had travelled across eastern Arabia from the Arabian Sea en-route to the Arabian Gulf. The only other Eastern Province record, I know of, was one was in Al Fanateer marina, Jubail on 15 February 2014 seen by Lou Regenmorter and Brian James. Hopefully the increase in records in recent years means that birds may be spreading northwards and will become more frequent in the Eastern Province in the near future.

Either Mangroves

Either Mangroves are an area of mangroves north-west of the small village of Either. They are not very thick only a few trees wide but extend for several kilometres along the sheltered embayment. The surrounding land is sabkha protected by a bund and the mangroves are behind this bund, so it is worth stopping and looking as you drive along the track. The very start of the mangroves was the best site for waders and herons but further down was where the warblers and white-eyes were found.

Striated Heron

It is possible to walk to the mangroves and water edge in several places, down raised embankments, and this is well worth doing as you get close to the trees and can see some of the smaller birds such as African Reed Warbler and Abyssinian White-eye. There were five Striated Herons along the water edge and the mangroves themselves had two African Collared Doves perched on the mangroves and in flight over them and several passerines were seen flitting around in the mangroves themselves including three African Reed Warblers or Mangrove Warbler as well as two Clamorous Reed Warblers of a different sub-species to the ones we see in the Eastern Province.

African Collared Dove

African Reed Warbler

Striated Heron

Striated Heron

The Abyssinian White-eye is a very interesting bird and it looked very out of place in the mangroves and may eventually turn out to be a different species as its habitat choice; call and biometrics are very different from the normal ones seen at higher elevations. This would be a great species to study in more detail if anyone gets the time and permission to ring at the site as few people have recorded seeing this mangrove dwelling White-eye recently and its status and numbers are poorly known. On the way out of the site, just as you come to the end of the bund we turned right and followed the bund to the sea and saw five Eurasian Spoonbills, 20+ Pink-backed Pelicans, three Crab Plovers, two Common Redshank, one Common Greenshank, three Kentish Plovers, two Indian Reef Herons, two Sooty Gull, 20+ Slender-billed Gulls, six Gull-billed Terns, two Little Terns and a fly over Yellow-billed Kite which was the only one we saw all trip. We failed to locate the recently sighted Goliath Heron here, however. Other interesting birds included six African Palm Swifts, six White-throated Bee-eaters and four Greater Hoopoe-larks.

Yellow-billed Kite

White-throated Bee-eaters