Lesser Short-toed Larks – Dibdibah near Qaryat Al Ulya

Whilst looking for migrants at the weekend Phil and I drove off-road looking for Bar-tailed Desert Lark or anything else we could find. Birding the Dibdibah, which are large expanses of gravel/stone sandy areas is hard work with very few birds seen. If you do see something, though, it is often a good quality bird. We found a small group of larks that kept us busy trying to identify them and it turned out that they were mostly Lesser Short-toed Larks with two Greater Short-toed Larks in amongst them. Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizards are common in this habitat and an Arabian Toad-headed Agama was also seen. The only other birds of note seen in the Diddibah were an adult male Lesser Kestrel and a few Pied Wheatears. 

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Whilst driving over the stony desert we came across a very large set of pivot irrigation fields where I noticed what appeared to be a large flock of Plover in flight that quickly landed. Views were poor due to distance but we decided to go and check them and the field they landed in out for birds. Any large plover in the Eastern Province is a good bird, but unfortunately the birds turned out not to be plovers but a group of 20+ Ruff. A wet pool in the field and others along the road produced ten species of waders which is very good for a desert area many kilometres from the nearest coast. Waders seen included ten Black-winged Stilts, two Common Ringed Plovers, 30 Ruff, eight Kentish Plovers, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, six Common Redshanks, two Common Greenshanks, two Marsh Sandpipers and ten Little Stints. The pivot field held numerous species of birds many in good numbers including 100+ Black-headed Wagtails, 10+ Red-throated Pipits and 100+ Eurasian Skylarks. Some larger and bulkier larks also flew over in small groups of up to ten and these birds turned out to be my first records of Bimaculated Lark for Saudi Arabia. We saw a minimum of 40 birds in total. A small group of eight Spanish Sparrows were my first ones of the year and whilst walking out of the field Phil and I flushed a Grasshopper Warbler. This acted like a typical Grasshopper Warbler in only flying a short distance and ditching down in the cover. We walked to where it had landed but I knew they ran fast on the ground and it would be some way off and likely running through the cover. We luckily found the bird again doing as I had suspected before losing it in the greenery. This is a good bird for Saudi Arabia and one Phil had not seen before, but which I had fortunately seen in Dhahran in March 2012. They are presumably reasonably regular in the region just very difficult to see. On the way home we stopped at Jebal Nayriyyah produced Desert Lark, Pied Wheatear and Desert Warbler. We ended up seeing 55 species of birds on our trip, in 15 hours in the field, and had an excellent days birding.

Tawny Pipit

Asian Desert Warbler

Collared Pratincole – Hanidh

A days birding was organized with Phil Roberts to go to a few sights to the north and west of our normal birding locations. We set off very early to arrive at Hanidh at first light in the hope of locating passage migrants and a few passing birds of prey. The weather was set to be fine with little wind and with good numbers of migrants in at Sabkhat Al Fasl and Dhahran over the last week we were hoping for a good day out. We checked a number of pivot irrigation fields in the area of Hanidh and saw a variety of good birds. One very large pivot field was fenced off and we were unable to get in to view but a look though the fence with a telescope produced a Steppe Buzzard and Eurasian Hoopoe, Turkestan Shrike, Southern Grey Shrike and Pied Wheatear were all around the area. We found another large field on the opposite side of the road and proceeded to walk around the field. It had plenty of species in the field including four Meadow Pipits, 10+ Tawny Pipits and a few Eurasian Skylarks. Walking across the field I flushed a Pratincole from in front of me which took flight but landed again quickly allowing us to get views of the bird on the ground and in flight showing it was a Collared Pratincole. I am still awaiting my first Black-winged Pratincole but, hopefully, will see one this year.

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole

A dry rough area behind the field held a flock of 30+ Greater Short-toed Larks, 20+ Tawny Pipits including one very yellow coloured bird and a few Northern and Isabelline Wheatears. The wire fences around the pivot fields had a few doves including Namaqua Doves, Eurasian Collared Doves and Laughing Doves and a leaking water tank had a Grey Wagtail on top. An adult male Marsh Harrier was seen hunting over one of the fields and a female was seen flying along the road at one point and a couple of Common Kestrel where also hunting the grassy areas.

Namaqua Dove

Pied Wheatear

Some Herons – Dhahran Hills

The percolation pond has been relatively quiet for a few days with only a few herons to be seen. Two Squacco Herons have been on the pond for a few days and on one occasion I saw them in and beside the wet ditch where I was able to get a couple of decent photographs. A good number, up to 40, Western Cattle Egrets are still roosting in the reed bed of the pond and gather in the trees surrounding the pond prior to flying into the reed beds for the night. A single adult Grey Heron was sitting on one of the floating platforms and ten Garganey were on the pond, six males and four females, but not much else. Eurasian Coot now have young, and Little Grebes are paired up ready to start breeding as well. Clamorous Reed Warblers are constantly singing to claim territories and are well into the breeding season now.

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Ringing some migrants – Jasaer (Bahrain)

An early morning ringing trip saw me going to Jasaer rather than our normal site of Alba Marshes. As migration has picked up in Saudi Arabia, I thought it would be a good idea to try for a few migrants as this site is on the coast of Bahrain. It is a site with a few trees and a place where Brendan and Abdulla have ringed in the past. One very nice thing about the site was it was dry and I did not need to wear waders, another was it did not smell like a sewer. We set up all five nets in various places and although the place was not full of migrants there were a few birds about. We caught 12 birds including four House Sparrows, three Common Chiffchaffs, two Daurian Shrikes, one Turkestan Shrike, an eastern Lesser Whitethroat and a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin. We had one retrap Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin which Abdulla had ringed at the same site three days before. The Eastern Lesser Whitethroat is an interesting bird as it is a dark individual with a long wing and may be of the race althaea sometimes treated as a searate species Humes Whitethroat? although the races of Lesser Whitethroat are very complex and intergrades are common.

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Humes Whitethroat

Humes Whitethroat

Humes Whitethroat

Turkestan Shrike

Turkestan Shrike

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

House Sparrow - female

House Sparrow - male

Common Chiffchaff

Common Chiffchaff

Ringing site

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear – Dhahran Hills

There have been plenty of migrants through the camp in the last few days with my first Eastern Black-eared Wheatear for the ‘patch’ being a nice adult male bird. This was in close proximity to a Pied Wheatear giving a nice comparison. A mixed group of Pallid and Common Swifts were in the air together and six Barn Swallows were roosting in the red beds of the percolation pond. Two Squacco Herrons were on the pond sitting on one of the floating platforms that were the first ones I have seen this year. The female Western Marsh Harrier was still hunting over the reed beds and I saw it catch a frog which was a interesting sight.

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift

The wet ditch had two Grey Wagtails and a Green Sandpiper and the trees around the pond had a Humes Whitethroat and a Common Redstart that was also new for the year. A Woodchat Shrike was near the pond and two Eurasian Sparrowhawks were also in the same area. Phil has seen both Meneteries’s Warbler and Upcher’s Warbler in the last few days on the ‘patch’.

Grey Wagtail

Woodchat Shrike

Excellent day – Sabkhat Al Fasl

The midweek trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl turned out to be a very good few hours birding. This is a good time in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with many migrants passing through and this is a good site for attracting them. As already posted it was excellent for shrikes with Mauryan (Steppe) Grey Shrike, Turkestan Shrike and Daurian Shrike all present. A few Large White-headed Gulls were present but much reduced from the previous visit. A number of gulls were dead in the area they have been using and I am not sure if they had been shot or died of something else. This was presumably putting the birds off from using the area now and all that was left were 20+ Steppe Gulls. The only other birds here were a few Caspian Terns sitting around and flying about looking for food.

Steppe Gull

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Just behind this area a Savi’s Warbler was in full song at first light. Further along where a few bushes flank one of the concrete bunded areas lots of warblers were flitting about. They appeared to be all Common Chiffchaffs until I caught sight of a larger warbler in a low bush. After a bit of time trying to get some decent views of the bird it turned out to be an Eastern Orphean Warbler which is the first time I have seen this species at the location.

Eastern Orphean Warbler

A close inspection of the reed beds and the wet areas nearby produced three male White-spotted Bluethroats and more Common Chiffchaffs. Here there were plenty of Clamorous Reed Warblers and Graceful Prinia in full song as their breeding season is now well underway. Eurasian Hoopoe was also feeding along the wet edges in this area.

Graceful Prinia

Eurasian Hoopoe

The scrubby desert area behind the main reed beds also held plenty of birds including Siberian Stonechat, Tawny Pipit and Red-throated Pipit. Three Greater Spotted Eagles were seen in flight over the area as was a Collared Pratincole, which is the first one of these I have seen this spring. Barn Swallow was quite numerous hunting the insects here with a few Pallid Swifts to keep them company.

Siberian Stonechat

Red-throated Pipit

Travelling further around the site to the main wet area was very rewarding with a good number of both adult and juvenile Purple Swamphens showing well. At one point I was watching a Purple Swamphen wading across an open area of water when a movement in the nearby grass caught my attention. It turned out to be a Little Crake that had just jumped into the water and was following the Swamphen to a small clump of nearby reeds out in the water. It allowed me a chance to photograph this difficult to see species, which was a bonus.

Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen

Little Crake

Little Crake

The flooded sabkha area is still full of water with little to see there except for large numbers, maybe 3000, Greater Flamingo. Waders are thin on the ground here with just a couple of Common Greenshank and Common Redshanks and two curlew Sandpipers present. Water Pipits were present in small numbers now showing off their summer plumage and about ten Black-headed Yellow Wagtails were also feeding on the numerous insects. A few wheatears were there as well including Northern, Pied and Isabelline Wheatears.

Black-headed Wagtail

Water Pipit