Birds in around & over – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

The last few visits to the Waste Water Lake during April and early May have produced a few new birds. A number of breeding Little Ringed Plover have been seen and heard calling and flying around suggesting they have young about. House Crows are now being seen in good numbers around the pond and nearby Cricket Fields. At least two Crested Honey Buzzards are still present and may well stay for the summer as they have done in the past few years. Migrants include Daurian and Red-backed Shrikes the later of which were not seen until late April which is quite late as they are normally seen early April and very occasionally in March. European Bee-eaters have been flying over in reasonably good numbers with flocks of twenty plus birds seen on many occasions. They are often heard calling before they are seen. Another migrant seen in larger numbers than normal this year has been Northern Wheatear, whilst Tree Pipit has been recorded less frequently than in recent years. 

Little Ringed Plover

Northern Wheatear

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Tree Pipit

Crested Honey Buzzard 

Crested Honey Buzzard 

Crested Lark

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Good numbers of birds of prey - Jubail

My recent trip to Jubail produced good numbers of birds of prey. We saw fifteen Greater Spotted Eagles, one Steppe Eagle and an immature Eastern Imperial Eagle. Well over twenty Western Marsh Harriers were present with at least two immature males amongst the female birds seen. One Common Kestrel, one Osprey, at least three Eurasian Sparrowhawks, three Crested Honey Buzzards and a male Pallid Harrier were also seen. Migrants remained low in. numbers with a few Daurian Shrikes, one Turkestan Shrike, many Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters and White Wagtails, a single Desert Wheatear and two Tree Pipits. Greater Flamingo and Great Egret numbers have increased markedly over the last couple of weeks with Great Egrets now numbering over a hundred birds with more Great Egrets than Little Egrets.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Little Egret

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

Pipits & others – Dhahran Cricket Field

Due to the number of good birds on the Dhahran Cricket fields recently I have spent more time than normal down there. This has allowed me to get good views of several unusual species for the fields. I have seen at least three Tawny Pipits of which a couple gave extremely close views. A single Tree Pipit was also noted on two occasions, although this bird was not so confiding, and the photographs were not great. An Isabelline Wheatear has been present for the last few weeks and this also kept its distance but luckily a Northern Wheatear was close enough for photography. The Whimbrel numbers are decreasing and now only two birds are present, but again these birds do not allow close approach and fly as soon as they see anyone. European Hoopoe numbers however are still high, and these birds are relatively tame. Trying to photograph the birds is relatively easy on the ground but in flight is a different situation and it’s not easy to get good photos.

Gull-billed Tern

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear

Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit

Tree Pipit

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

A few migrants - Aqua Park

Last weekend in Jubail, I saw a few migrants at Aqua Park. I arrived at first light and as the park was being watered spent the first hour looking at the birds on the grassy areas. Here I noted a few migrants like a couple of Spotted Flycatcher and three Tree Pipit with up to ten Yellow Wagtail. The park is neat to a water area and here there were a few waders such as Eurasian Whimbrel, Dunlin, Kentish Plover and Black-winged Stilts. Egrets were numerous with most birds being Indian Reef Herons and a few Slender-billed Gulls were also present. A single duck noted at some distance turned out to be a female Northern Pintail on closer inspection. The trees held a few birds with a Masked Shrike noted along with a Lesser Whitethroat and birds flying over included good numbers of both Barn Swallow and Sand Martin.

Northern Pintail

Spotted Flycatcher

Tree Pipit

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Migrants - Jubail

A steady trickle of migrants have been passing through the Eastern Province in the last couple of weeks with several Red-backed Shrike appearing. Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Pied Wheatear, Tree Pipit and Western Siberian Stonechat were also seen in small numbers. Very few Yellow Wagtails have been around recently compared to recent years but small flocks of European and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters have been passing over mainly in the early morning.

Red-backed Shrike 

Red-backed Shrike

Common Redsatart

Pied Wheatear

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Tree Pipit

Western Siberian Stonechat

Red-throated and Tree Pipits – Jubail

A trip to Jubail in late April was very productive for Red-throated Pipits and Tree Pipits. The majority were Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus with up to thirty in small flocks in a couple of places. Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis was also seen but in much smaller numbers of twos or threes. Red-throated Pipit is also a common passage migrant to all areas of the Kingdom. Recorded from mid-March to May in spring, with a noticeable peak in middle of April. Lower numbers are seen in autumn between early-October and late-November when it is generally uncommon with a few wintering in Central and eastern areas as well as Tabuk. A large flock of 250 were seen at TADCO farm, 20 February 2009 in the north of the country that may have been wintering birds or early migrants. Tree Pipit is a common passage migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia that are recorded in spring mainly from mid-March to late-April, in numbers up to 20 birds, and in much lower numbers, during autumn between September and October and also occasionally November. Early birds are sometimes seen in January and February and numbers fluctuate widely each year with sometimes very few and other years hundreds.

Tree Pipit