Some Waders - Dhahran Hills

Birding is still slow on the patch but a few good birds are sill turning up to keep the interest alive. The lack of water on the percolation pond is still a major problem, as it was a magnet for passing birds but as it is still dry after four months these birds are not arriving or if they do they fly off quickly. One advantage is the birds that need water such as waders are easier to see as they are in the narrow wet ditches or sunning around on the sand, often near the settling pond. I found a Green Sandpiper and a Wood Sandpiper on a wet ditch and although the Green Sandpiper flew off before I could photograph it I did manage a photo of the Wood Sandpiper. The settling pond still has five Black-winged Stilts, a Common Greenshank, three Little Stints and a Marsh Sandpiper. A Common Ringed Plover showed very well on the sand near the pond but the light was very poor by the time I had found it. Birds on the patch are now mainly wintering species rather than migrants, but there is still time for one last good migrant before the season ends?

Wood Sandpiper

Common Ringed Plover

Scarce birds in the Al Hassa area (part 1) – Bird records by Shaheen

A recent environmental survey of Lake Al Asfar near Al Hassa has turned up a number of good birds for the Eastern province. The details below are from a local photographer Shaheen who apparently took all the photographs in the area of Al Hassa. I am trying to find out the exact details of some of the records as they are very important ornithologically, and will post further details if they become available. All the photographs below were taken by Shaheen who has given permission for me to use them on my website.

Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina is a vagrant in Saudi Arabia with four records of nine birds all I can find. They are as follows:

Three females and a male at Dhahran Hills percolation pond, Dhahran Saudi Aramco camp, 31 July 1985

Pair at Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, 16^th January 2004

Two males at Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, 9 - 19^th February 2004

An adult male at Lake Al Asfar, Al Hassa in 2013?

Red-crested Pochard - male

Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus is a scarce migrant and winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, probably annual especially at Haradh. It has occurred in widely scattered localities across the region with most records in March and October. The main passage periods are February to early May and from September to November. There is one July record. Up to seven have been found together but they are normally found singly. Birds have been seen in the Rub’ al-Khali desert in the Empty Quarter where a few birds winter in open sandy areas with the last one I know of being seen on 28 February 1990. The species is more common in the South-west of the country where they are uncommon but regular winter visitor in the Tihamah coastal plains. A flock of 100 were seen roosting on a plateau near Qarnayn 28 December 1991. It appears to have occurred quite regularly in winter in the Empty Quarter and Gulf earlier in 20^th Century.

Eurasian Stone-curlew

Eurasian Stone-curlew

Macqueen’s Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii is a migrant breeder and scarce winter visitor to the Eastern Provinceof Saudi Arabia. Elsewhere in the country it breeds in small numbers in northern Saudi Arabia and has been reintroduced to central Saudi Arabia. For much of the twentieth century, Macqueen’s Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii was treated as a subspecies of Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata, with them being treated as a polytypic species, comprising three subspecies: C. u. macqueenii in eastern Egypt (Sinai), Arabia and central Asia from northwest Kazakhstan east to Mongolia, wintering from the Persian Gulf to northwest India and in central China; C. u. undulata in northern Africa from Mauritania to western Egypt; and C. u. fuertaventurae on Fuertaventura, Lanzarote and Graciosa, in the Canary Islands. Recent studies of courtship behaviour, morphology, vocalisations, and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA have shown consistent differences between Macqueen’s Bustard and Houbara Bustard. Together with clear-cut plumage differences, these new data suggest that Macqueen’s Bustard and Houbara Bustard are best treated as separate species Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata (with the subspecies undulata and fuertaventurae) and Macqueen’s Bustard C. macqueenii (monotypic). The Macqueen’s Bustard is a traditional game bird found across the entire Arabian Peninsula; however, its population has decreased drastically during recent decades mainly as a result of human developments in the region, particularly new hunting techniques and an increase in livestock. In the 1930’s hunting parties could regularly kill 50 birds or more on a trip and in the 1960’s falconers were still taking up to twenty birds in a week, but by the 1980’s only a small population was still surviving in Harrat al-Harrah in the north of the country. It has been suggested that it may still breed in favourable years on the edge of the Danna. Recent sightings of the species in the Eastern Province are few, although some local Bedouins say it occurs sparingly from November to March.

The only other records are one over the sea at Half Moon Bay flying towards the Saudi coast (26°N 50°E) 31^st October 1976
One at Haradh for a week in early February 1980
One near Abqaiq in December 1980
One south of Al Khobar 27 December 1983.
A pair Ras Tanajib 13 November 1991
A male Safwa 28 November 1991
One caught by local falconers in an area just south of Jubail 10^th November 2011
One photographed at Al Asfar Lake winter 2013?

Maqueen's Bustard

Jack Snipe – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the ‘patch’ yesterday I came across a Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus. This is an unusual but annual occurrence in the area but normally they are flushed from the long grass of the wet spray fields in mid-winter. This bird was pretending to be a bit of grass in a small patch of cover by the side of a wet ditch next to the wet fields in Dhahran Hills. It remained in place until I was quite close allowing me to take photographs of this species for the first time in Saudi Arabia before it flew a short distance and landed back in the ditch where I left it in peace, as I did not want to frighten it again. The Jack Snipe is a winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is scarce in marshy areas away from the coast from early September to early April. In the rest of Saudi Arabia it has been recorded most frequently in the Riyadh and Tabuk area and rarely in the Tihamah in the south-west.

Re-trapped Red-spotted Bluethroat - Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

An early morning trip to Bahrain to go ringing proved quite successful for us with 22 birds caught of eight species. Quite a few re-traps were processes all of which had been ringed at the same site by us. The most interesting one was an adult male Red-spotted Bluethroat that was originally caught in November 2012 and again in January 2013 showing the bird was using Alba Marsh as a wintering site. The fact we then re-caught the bird in November 2013 shows it is probably going to use the same site to winter again after having moved off north to breed. Bluethroats are difficult to assign to race unless an adult male is seen or caught, but this one looks like a svecica that breed in Scandinavia and north Asia as well as north-west North America and Canada and winter in southern Europe, North and North tropical Africa, Arabia and south and east Asia.

Red-spotted Bluethroat - adult male

Red-spotted Bluethroat - adult male

Red-spotted Bluethroat - first year male

We also re-caught a Common Kingfisher that we had caught originally at the same site a few weeks earlier suggesting this bird is also going to use the site as a wintering location. Other re-traps were Clamorous Reed Warblers that are resident at the site. A few Graceful Prinias were also caught, a species we have not caught for almost a year. They are really beautiful as well as small birds weighing only 6-7 grams and are resident at the marsh.

Common Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Common Chiffchaff

European Reed Warbler

Graceful Prinia 

Water Pipit

Some common birds of Al Hassa – Bird records by Shaheen

The below photographs have all be taken in the Al Hassa area and show a selection of the commoner birds seen in the area. All photographs have been taken by Shaheen mainly around the Lake Al Asfar area of Al Hassa. I have been given permission to use the photographs on my website and as they are good quality and interesting I have reproduced them here. In a couple of later posts I will show some scarce and rare birds of this area that Shaheen also photographed, one a potential new species for the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia if it can be verified as having been taken at Al Hassa or nearby.

European Turtle Dove

Barred Warbler 

House Sparrow

European Roller

Indian Silverbill

Mallard - male

Namaqua Dove

First winter Isabelline Shrikes – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Here are two ‘Isabelline Shrikes’ caught and ringed at Alba Marsh Bahrain last weekend, but which type or species are they? There are two types that occur in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, The Daurian Shrike ‘isabellinus’ and the Turkestan Shrike ‘phoenicuroides’. These are treated as separate species by Panov 2009 and the latest IOC update v2.0, due to the spatial separation of breeding areas and the apparent absence of gene flow between them in allopatric/parapatric zones (Panov 2009).
Daurian Shrike is polytypic: in Panov's (2009) view, 3 sspp, isabellinus , (subsuming arenarius ) tsaidamensis, speculigerus . Winters much of South Central Asia, Southeast Iran and Afghanistan some reaching Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula as well as perhaps East Africa. Hybridises with Red-backed Shrike L collurio at range overlap.
Turkestan Shrike is monotypic Panov (2009). Winters Central Asia East & South of a line Aral-Southern Caspian including much Iran, Afghanistan,Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Kyrgyzstan L&W 1997; Winters Southeast Iran, Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula & East & Weast Africa.

This species pair is difficult to identify in the field as first years unless classic birds are seen. These two birds are far from classic although it looks like both species may be involved. There is still a lot to learn about the true identification features of them and more careful study will hopefully help. DNA has been taken of these birds and will, hopefully allow us to identify them to species. Martin Garner recently put together a brief outline of the difference of the two species on his website:

First winter Daurian Shrike - Overall gingery wash to the brownish upperparts with gingery orange colouring prominent on the flanks but extending from rear flanks all the way up to below ear coverts. The centre of the throat and central breast/ belly are white. The tertials are darker brown but not strongly contrastng with the upper parts. Mask slightly darker brown with gingery wash at some angles- not blackish brown. Rump brighter orange with only very weak dark marks on some feathers tips. Orange centred median coverts
First winter Daurian Shrike - Should have cold earth brown to grey brown upper parts with darker (almost blackish) mask and flight feathers. Upper parts contrasting strongly with mostly clean white underparts marked with blacker bars/chevrons. More often retained juvenile feathers in rump and mantle/scapulars with white or black centres to median coverts (not orange).

Birds of Prey (Tabuk) – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson has taken a few nice photos of Birds of Prey in Tabuk during the last few weeks. He travelled out west from Tabuk and found an animal carcass on the side of the road that was attracting the attention of Steppe Eagle and Eastern Imperial Eagle. Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis is a common migrant and winter visitor to the south-west, northern Hejaz and Central Arabia where up to 1000 birds have been recorded in a small area. It is an uncommon winter visitor to other regions such as the Eastern Province but is commoner in the north than the south of this region. Birds are normally seen between late -September and mid-April. Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca is an uncommon but regular winter visitor to Central Arabia, Tabuk and the Gulf with up to four birds seen together. Records are mainly between mid-October and late March.

Steppe Eagle (left) & Eastern Imperial Eagle (right)

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Steppe Eagles

Steppe Eagle

Steppe Eagle

Other birds of prey he saw included a nice male Pallid Harrier, Common Kestrel and Black Kites, a species which can be seen in very large numbers in the area at the right time of year.

Black Kite

Common Kestrel

Pallid Harrier - male

Black Kite

Black Kite

Western Marsh Harrier

Winter visitors building in numbers – Dhahran Hills

Birding is still quite slow this autumn and it is now getting late in the season. As a result winter visitors are still building in numbers with daily increases in the numbers of both Water Pipits and White Wagtails. Most of these birds are seen around the perimeter of the settling pond, in the spray fields and on the grassy playing fields. Over 100 birds of each species can now be seen whereas a month ago the first returning birds had not arrived. Mixed in with these birds are a few lingering Yellow Wagtails, birds that will depart soon to other areas.

Water Pipit

White Wagtail

Very few other migrants / winter visitors were seen with the exception of waders. Five Ruff are still on the settling pond with six Little Stints. Three Sand Martins were still catching insects over the settling pond and two Turkestan Shrikes were on the spray heads in the spray field.

Pharaoh Eagle Owl at Sabkhat Al Fasl – Bird records by Dave Kilminster

Dave Kilmister found a Pharaoh Eagle Owl in poor condition at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 1 November. The bird was very thin and looked like it had been in the water with the local Marsh Harriers not happy with it, but the owl would ignore them. Pharaoh Eagle Owl is rare at Sabkhat Al Fasl with only one other record I know of. They may be more common but are difficult to see due to their secretive nature. Dave also took a great photo of a Western Marsh Harrier the week before at Sabkhat Al Fasl, feeding on a dead Purple Swamphen. Western Marsh Harrier is a very difficult bird to photograph on the ground making Dave’s picture even better. Dave has kindly allowed me to use his photos on my website the copyright of which remain with Dave.

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Western Marsh Harrier

 Dave also had a photo of a Eurasian Scops Owl brought to him at work for identification. Dave works at Ras Al-Khair and mentioned they are still getting new birds arriving this week it was Bluethoats.

Irina a Satellite Tagged Sociable Lapwing - Tabuk

Irina (meaning peace) is an adult female Sociable Lapwing, who was tagged 4 June 2013 at Izendi (50.10435, 70.54905), near Korgalzhyn in Central Kazakhstan. She was colour ringed by the RSPB and ACBK with a ring combination of green over blue on her left leg and orange over white on her right leg and has a satellite tag number 123088. Irina’s amazing journey is indicated by a tourquoise pin on the map. Irinia was a breeding adult and successfully fledged her young before departing on her migration. She was caught on the nest which was located near Lake Tengiz, in central Kazakhstan, this summer. One fascinating aspect of Sociable Lapwing migration is that these birds make their journeys in a series of hops rather than in one jump. The last review of the satellite-tagged birds’ movements was made on October 28th and at that point we found Irina had pushed on south and she is now in North West Saudi Arabia near Tabuk and appears to be in an area of irrigated, agricultural pivot fields. This site has become a regular stopover/wintering site as last year Rob Tovey found a flock of ten birds nearby at Abaj in mid-November 2012 and a Satellite tagged bird from 2011 aslo stopped nearby.

Irina (turquoise line) Movemnets - Taken from the BirdLife Amazing Journey website

Previous historical records of Sociable Lapwing flocks in Saudi Arabia include 25 in 1934 and 45 in 1988. Irina’s arrival in Saudi is only the seventh record since 1950. Amazingly Rob also found a large winter flock of 35 birds near Jizan in February 2013 that may  have been wintering? Hopefully these satellite tagged birds will help us understand the status of the species in Saudi Arabia as currently it is regarded as a scarce migrant and possible winter visitor to western regions that is rare in Riyadh with only one record from the Eastern Province  of an adult at Haradh  farm 25 February 1982. Birds are also regularly see at nearby Bahrain. It will be interesting to see if Irinia stays and winters in Saudi Arabia or perhaps pushes on again and heads across the Red Sea into Africa? You can follow her progress at the excellent Amazing Journey website http://www.birdlife.org/sociable-lapwing/?cat=8 by BirdLife, RSPB and Swarovski Optik where the data reproduced here was taken from.