Not much visible – Khafra Marsh

Whilst birding Khafra Marsh the last couple of weekends I have not really seen very much at all. The temperature is now very high, and birds are few and far between at most sites. I did see a few migrants in the form of Wood Sandpiper at a small pool formed by all the recent rain and a Red-backed Shrike and Common Whitethroat in the scrubby areas. A Blue-cheeked Bee-eater was present on the same place es the breeding birds from last hear so looks like it may well be breeding again. Eurasian Collared Dove and Graceful Prinia are resident breeders that were the only birds seen in good numbers.

Common Whitethroat

Eurasian Collared Dove

Graceful Prinia

Red-backed Shrike

Wood Sandpiper

Breeding birds and migrants – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area in mid-May it is becoming more obvious birds are starting to breed. Little Ringed Plovers and Black-winged Stilts are common, some with young already and others on nests. Caspian Reed Warbler and Clamorous Reed Warblers are in full song and Little Terns are back in good numbers at one site where they bred in last two years as are Pied Avocets, again breeding for the third year in succession. At this time of year good numbers of migrants are also passing through including Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Spotted Flycatchers, Shrikes, Yellow Wagtails, Tree Pipits, Common Redstarts, Sand Martins and Barn Swallows. Waders are passing in small numbers with good numbers of Wood Sandpipers and a single Spotted Crake was located in a small wet area. Unfortunately, the light was poor and I could not get in a good position for photos so the below shot is not very good. Birds of prey have now mainly left for their breeding grounds but Common Kestrel is a breeding resident and a single pair seem to be in residence this spring and will hopefully breed.

Common Kestrel

Pied Avocet

Spotted Crake

Wood Sandpiper

Large numbers of Shrikes – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail at end of April, a number of migrants were recorded including more than sixty shrikes. The majority of shrikes were Red-backed Shrikes although good numbers of Turkestan Shrikes were also seen along with five Lesser Grey Shrikes. These were my first records of the spring for Lesser Grey Shrike, one of the least common of the passage migrant shrikes through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Apart from shikes, the wader numbers were still quite good particularly for Wood Sandpiper with Ruff also seen in small numbers. A Common Nightingale was seen briefly along with Spotted Flycatchers, Yellow Wagtails and Common Redstarts. The Spur-winged Plover was still present in the same place, hopefully indicating breeding is taking place and plenty of Common and Clamorous Reed Warblers were singing. Resident Grey-headed Swamphens were seen in good numbers including well grown young. Slender-billed Gulls were still around and terns seen included Gull-billed, Little, Caspian, White-winged and White-cheeked. 

Grey-headed Swamphen - Juvenile

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike - male

Turkestan Shrike

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Some birds starting to breed – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently I saw quite a few signs of breeding behaviour. Some of the water birds such as Common Moorhen and Grey-headed Swamphen have young with other such as Little Tern showing courtship behaviour as shown in the below photos. Little Ringed Plovers are paired up for breeding and a Spur-winged Lapwing that has been about for a few weeks may have a mate sitting on eggs? A Black-necked Grebe was found in full breeding plumage but no mate was about and these birds do not breed in the kingdom. Many herons are still around in fine breeding plumage including Squacco Herons, Little Egrets and BBlack-cronwed Night Herons but proving breeding is difficult – with the first confirmed breeding of Squacco Heron and Little Egret last year and no confirmed records of the Black-crowned Night Herons.

Wood Sandpiper

Red-throated Pipit

Little Tern

Little Tern

Little Ringed Plover

Black-necked Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

Wetland birds – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently I came a cross a good selection of wetland birds. Waders were quite numerous with good numbers of Dunlin, Little Stint, Marsh Sandpiper, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper. Common Greenshank, Grey Plover and Little Stints were about in smaller numbers. The resident Grey-headed Swamphen was enjoying the large amounts of wet areas and where seen I a few places where they are seldom seen, as the water levels were very high inundating previously dry areas. Egrets were also around in varying numbers with Western Cattle Egret and Western Great Egret in small numbers and Little Egret in much larger numbers.

Common Greenshank 

Grey Plover

Grey Plover 

Little Stint

Dunlin

Little Egret

Marsh Sandpiper 

Ruff

Western Cattle Egret

Wood Sandpiper

Passage & Breeding Waders - Jubail

Wader numbers have started to increase again as passage of some species speeds up. Passage waders included good numbers of Wood Sandpiper and Ruff with smaller numbers of summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin and Little Stint. Terek Sandpiper, Common Ringed Plover and a single Broad-billed Sandpiper were also seen. Regular breeders were seen in good numbers with plenty of Black-winged Stilt around including many well grown juveniles. Kentish Plover were also seen with a few juveniles, another species that breeds locally.

Little Stint

Wood Sandpiper

Black-winged Stilt - juvenile

Curlew Sandpiper

Waders - Jubail

There was a good passage of Waders at the start of November with the largest number of Marsh Sandpiper I have recorded on a single day with well over 30 birds seen. Good numbers of the uncommon Temmincks Stint were recorded with a maximum of four seen on any one day. Most waders were either Dunlin or Little Stint but a few Wood Sandpiper and Common Snipe were also recorded. Normally Black-winged Stlts occur in large numbers but this winter numbers are significantly down on previous years.

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Temmincks Stint

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

Some late migrants– Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area in early June there were still a few migrants around including over 30 Red-backed Shrikes, five Spotted Flycatchers and a single late Pied Wheatear. Red-backed Shrike and Spotted Flycatcher are typical late migrants with many records in June but Pied Wheatear have normally passes by the end of May. I also saw a single Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin a summer breeder, but a species rarely seen by me in Jubail. Wader numbers have decreased markedly but a couple of Wood Sandpipers were still about among the breeding Black-winged Stilts, Kentish Plovers and Little Ringed Plovers.

Migrants finally arriving – Jubail

There were plenty of migrants around in early September with a Whinchat being the first bird we saw. A few shrikes of various species were also seen including Turkestan Shrikes, two Woodchat Shrikes, two Lesser Grey Shrikes and a Red-backed Shrike. Several Marsh Warblers and an Eastern Olivaceous Warblers were new in as was a couple of Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins. Fifty plus Sand Martins and tens of Bard Swallows were flying around as were up to ten European Bee-eaters. Two Yellow Wagtails and hundreds of Squacco Herons and Little Egrets were also present, with the Little Egret numbers being the highest I have seen at the site. Waders were made up almost entirely by Common Ringed Plovers but a few Little Stints, Black-winged Stilts and Wood Sandpipers were also present.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Woodchat Shrike

Common Ringed Plover

Wood Sandpiper