Kentish Plover Breeding

Today I saw a Kentish Plover with very young chick on the waste treatment pond and was able to get a photograph of it and the adult. The youngster was very well camouflaged and is the second time I have seen young here, the first being in March. They obviously have a number of broods or different birds breed at different times of the year?

Juvenile Namaqua Dove & Water Rail

Today at my local patch I saw a juvenile Namaqua dove sitting in a tree with an adult bird. This is further evidence that they have bred in Dhahran Camp this year. I also saw two Water Rail feeding around the muddy edges in the reeds of the percolation pond. This is a rare bird for Dhahran with only one previous record and is a new species for me on my local patch and the first there since 24th May. Water rail breed in Saudi Arabia in suitable habitat but is currently a migrant a very rare migrant to Dhahran percolation pond. Other good birds present included six Green Sandpiper, two Ruff, adult summer Little Stint, fifteen Little Ringed Plover and four Kentish Plover with Black-winged Stilt numbers significantly lower today.

Namaqua Dove (juvenile)

Water Rail

Greater Hoopoe Lark, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark & Cream-coloured Courser - Dammam

Yesterday at some waste land behind the Dammam - Al Khobar Wader Roost South we had three typical desert species in the form of Greater Hoopoe Lark, a female Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark and a single Cream-coloured Courser. The Cream-coloured Courser will be a migrant and was very timid and did not allow close approach but the other two species I managed to photograph. The land here does not look anything special, and is being laid out to build housing on, but still held a number of good birds. This is another good indication that migrants can turn up almost anywhere in Saudi Arabia.

 Greater Hoopoe Lark

 Greater Hoopoe Lark

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (female)

Dammam - Al Khobar Wader Roost

Yesterday at the Dammam - Al Khobar Wader Roost we arrived early to catch the birds being pushed up the creek as the tide came in. A good number of waders were seen but there was slightly lower numbers, and slightly less species when compared to last week.

 Lesser Sand Plover (adult summer)

 Greater Sand Plover

 Broad-billed Sandpiper

 Black-winged Stilt (adult)

 Curlew Sandpiper (adult summer)

 Little Stint (adult summer)

White-cheeked Tern (adult summer and juvenile)

Birds seen included:-
Curlew Sandpiper - 50+
Little Stint - 100+
Lesser Sand Plover - 50+
Greater Sand Plover - 2
Kentish Plover - 20+
Broad-billed Sandpiper - 20+
Terek Sandpiper - 2
Ruddy Turnstone - 11
Black-tailed Godwit - 2
Eurasian Curlew - 1
Little Tern - 8
White-cheeked Tern - 2
Slender-billed Gull - 8
Indian (Western) Reef Heron - 2
Grey Heron - 1

Arabian Red Fox

An Arabian Red Fox was seen this evening between the spray fields and the Percolation pond. I managed to get a quick photograph of it before it disappeared. They are seen quite regularly on the camp but I have not seen one for a month or so, so this was a pleasant surprise. More information on this species can be found under the Wildlife tab at the top of the page.

Egyptian Nightjar - Sabkhat Al Fasl

Today at Sabkhat Al Fasl (Jubail) Phil Roberts and myself saw two Egyptian Nightjars roosting on a sandy bank next to the reed beds. Phil has been to Sabkhat Al Fasl many times and mentioned before we went that it was a good place to see Egyptian Nightjar, which is a scarce bird in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by Bundy, Connor & Harrison 1989 has only six records of the species, but Phil has seen them regularly on migration at Sabkhat normally in August and almost always along the same bank as our sightings. I also saw one in the winter of 2011 (February and March) in Dhahran Camp hawking insects at night.

Egyptian Nightjar is a passage migrant to Saudi Arabia, with the birds occurring here probably breeding in Central Asia, although their range extends from Western Europe across to Far Eastern Russia, Mongolia and China. The nominate race which occurs in Saudi Arabia aegyptius is migratory in much of range, and leaves its breeding grounds by September and migrates on broad front, SE across the Arabian Peninsula (September - November). Small numbers overwinter in Arabia, but their main wintering range is in E Sahelian zone of Africa. Return movements occur from late February to early June (mainly mid-March to mid-May). The species is not as scarce as once thought in Saudi Arabia but these birds are very early compared to other sightings seen at Sabkhat as well as other Arabian country records where sightings are generally not noted until September.

These two birds are interesting records as it is very early for a returning migrants and very late for a migrant moving from its wintering grounds to breeding areas. Phil has checked this site at Sabkhat throughout the last six summers and not seen birds there in July before so these birds are presumably early migrants and the fact that they leave their breedingounds in September may need to be reviewed.

Purple Swamphen, Eurasian Spoonbill, Namaqua Dove & Common Moorhen - Sabkhat Al Fasl

At Sabkhat Al Fasl yesterday a number of good birds were seen. I saw three species of bird that I had not seen in Saudi Arabia before, Eurasian Spoonbill, Pied Avocet and Black-crowned Night Heron. The water level was quite low, so the low lying water reas were mainly dried up and waders were scarce. The main pools still held good amounts of water though so birds were still plentiful. Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by Bundy, Connor & Harrison 1989 stated that Eurasian Spoonbill was a rare and irregular visitor with twelve records, mainly of immature birds. I know of a few other records since then in the Dhahran / Dammam areas and this species may well be more regular than records suggest.
Birds seen included:-
Eurasian Spoonbill - 3 (adult)
Pied Avocet - 4
Common Greenshank - 2
Green Sandpiper - 1
Little Stint - 16
Greater Flamingo - 176
Eurasian Coot - 35
Little Grebe - 25
European Turtle Dove - 1 (juvenile)
Greater Spotted Eagle - 1 (2nd calendar year)
Barn Swallow - 6
Purple Swamphen - 35
Common Morehen - 100+
Little Tern - 38
White-cheeked Tern - 5
Namaqua Dove - 8
Black-crowned Night Heron - 1
Little Bittern - 2
Squacco Heron - 12
Indian Reef Heron - 20
Black-winged Stilt - 20
Kentish Plover - 20

 Purple Swamphen

 Purple Swamphen

 Purple Swamphen

 Eurasian Spoonbill (adult)

 Namaqua Dove

Common Moorhen (immature)

European Turtle Dove

At the local patch European Turtle Dove are still in evidence in reasonable numbers. These birds are of the race arenicola and in the flight shot the central tail feathers can be seen to be brown rather than blackish brown as would be the case in nominate turtur. Barn Swallow numbers had increased to eight and waders were still present with one hundred and fourty two Black-winged Stilt, eighteen Little Ringed Plover and two Green Sandpiper.

 European Turtle Dove

   European Turtle Dove

 Barn Swallow

Immature White Phase Indian Reef Heron

Another new heron today in the shape of an immature white phase Indian (Western) Reef Heron. Yesterdays grey bird had gone and been replaced by this white phase bird, showing new birds are again passing through the area each day.

Other birds of note were:
Grey Heron - 1
Ruff - 2 (including one male in partial summer plumage)
Green Sandpiper - 2
Little Ringed Plover - 6
Kentish Plover - 3
Black-winged Stilt - 100
Little Grebe - 33 (including two pairs with three young each)
Clamorous Reed Warbler - 4

 Indian Reef Heron (Immature White Morph)

 Indian Reef Heron (Immature White Morph)

Grey Heron

Indian Reef Heron - Grey Morph

New migrants continue to pass through the local patch in small numbers, and like normal only stay for only a very short time. Today's new bird of note was a grey morph Indian (Western) Reef Heron happily fishing on the percolation pond indicating that some life must still be in the pond after the draining of the place last year. This is only the second Grey phase Indian Reef Heron seen by me in Dhahran camp, which was in early May and was present with a single Little Egret. Also and a single white phase Indian Reef Heron was seen by me in March 2011 all these birds being on the percolation pond.

Other birds of note were five Green Sandpiper, two Ruff, five Little Ringed Plover and a Little Grebe with three young. Little Grebe numbers were fifty two and one hundred and fourteen Black-winged Stilts were still present. A juvenile and adult European Turtle Dove was also seen in the Tamarix trees at the edge of the pond along with three Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins.

 Indian Reef Heron (Grey Morph)

European Turtle Dove (Adult)