Common Pochard – Dhahran Hills

On 13 October I saw a Common Pochard Aythya ferina on the Percolation Pond. This is an unusual species for the camp where they are less than annual. It was associating with the flock of eleven Ferruginous Ducks but was very timid and flew on severl occasions when it heard noise. The Common Pochard was once a common winter visitor to the Eastern Province but is now an uncommon winter visitor occurring from mid October to mid March normally as singles or in small groups of up to five birds. Previously it was regular at Abqaiq until the late 1980’s but prior to 1981 it was regular at Dhahran and in February of that year a maximum of 155 were recorded. Previously it was also regular at Hofuf lakes where a maximum count of 500 was made where they occurred from October to March but were also seen in April to early June and in August and September. Away from the Eastern Province it is also an uncommon winter visitor mainly to the Riyadh area and southwest near Jizan.

Birds from the Tabuk desert – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv spent a night out in the desert a couple of weekends ago in the same place where he had seen and heard an owl the last time. As a result he was on the lookout for the bird and heard it calling (with another) as it was getting dark. Viv managed a silhouette shot of the owl that looks like a Pharaoh Eagle Owl. Also on and over the rocks was a pair of Sooty Falcons. Other birds seen by Viv included a Red-throated Pipit, Common Chiffchaff and Scrub Warbler. All photos below taken by and used with permission of Viv Wilson.

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Sooty Falcon

Red-throated Pipit

Scrub Warbler

Wet ditch still producing – Dhahran Hills

The wet ditch is still producing a few waders which is good as the settling pond and percolation pond are now attracting little in the way of this group of birds. The ditch has been good for Redshanks this autumn with both Common Redshank and Spotted Redshank recorded. Yesterday there was another Common Redshank that was very flighty but after being joined by three Little Stints it settled down and allowed photographs to be taken of it. Also in the ditch were a Wood Sandpiper, a Dunlin and two Black-winged Stilts. Elsewhere there was little evidence of migration with only a few birds of interest being seen. The best bird was an immature Greater Spotted Eagle seen flying off from the trees around the percolation pond. This species is seen every year in varying numbers but they are never common and always nice to see. This is the first record for me in the camp this autumn although Phil saw one a few weeks ago. A western Marsh harrier was also seen over the spray fields but very little else. The percolation pond had four White-winged Terns, three Northern Shoveller, two Garganey and eleven Furruginous Ducks. The only passerine of note were a few Tawny Pipits.

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Common Redshank

Little Stint

Little Stint

Black-winged Stilt

Good numbers of Namaqua Doves – Dhahran Hills

Good numbers of Namaqua Doves are still around at the moment mainly in the spray field area with males, females and juveniles seen indicating breeding has occurred again in the vicinity. Eurasian Collared Dove numbers also seem to have increased so maybe some local migration is taking place? And juveniles are also about again indicating local breeding. At least twenty Western Cattle Egrets have now returned to Dhahran for the winter. I saw the first one about two weeks ago but numbers have built up quickly to todays count. The numbers normally peak at over 100 birds in the middle of winter so 20 in September is a good start. European Hoopoe numbers are still high with both local resident breeding birds and migrants around at the moment.

Namaqua Dove - female

Eurasian Collared Dove - juvenile

Sinai Agama - Wadi Juwwah, Jizan

This photo was taken in Wadi Juwwah in May where the animal was seen sitting on a roadside boulder. Although drab and inconspicuous throughout much of the year, during the breeding season the male Sinai agama becomes instantly recognizable for its vivid sky-blue colouration. This colouration can extend over the entire head and body or just the head and throat, while the tail and body remain brown. The females and juveniles retain the brown colouration throughout the year, but usually have a red crescent-shaped spot on the flanks, behind the forelimb. Other distinctive features of this species include a large ear opening behind the eye, long limbs and a thin, cylindrical tail that is over one and half times the length of the body. A fast and agile climber, the Sinai Agama is well adapted to its arid, rocky habitat where it is normally found amongst foothills and mountains. As hunting takes place during the day, this species relies on its long legs to raise its body off the hot substrate while waiting for insect prey to emerge. Ants and other small insects are commonly taken, often with large quantities of sand. The Sinai agama has a relatively large range extending from south-east Libya, east through Egypt, Sinai, Israel, Jordan and Syria, as far as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and south as far as east Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Savi’s Warbler trapped and ringed – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing on 26 September we caught a Savi’s Warbler. Savi’s Warbler has a status as a rare migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia but the number of records of birds seen, heard singing or trapped whilst I have been in the Eastern Province in the last four years makes the true status as an uncommon migrant in both spring and autumn. This is the second Savi’s Warbler trapped and ringed at this site in 2014 and we caught and ringed four birds in Bahrain in two years ringing there, where it previously had a status as a vagrant.  Although it was extremely hot for ringing we managed to catch a few birds including Yellow Wagtail, House Sparrow, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Little Bittern (Females & Juvenile), Graceful Prinia, Indian Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler and a Sand Martin. Yellow Wagtail and Sand Martin were new ringing species for us so although numbers were not particularly high we had a good mornings ringing before it became too hot to continue at 40 degrees Celsius.

Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Yellow Wagtail 

Sand Martin

Graceful Prinia

Great Reed Warbler

House Sparrow - adult male

Little Bittern - adult female

Short-necked Skink or Sudan Mabuya – Record by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahad sent me this photo of a Short-necked Skink or Sudan Mabuya Mabuya brevicollis that he took in Saudi Arabia. There is very little information on the species although Manusr said it is uncommon near Acacia trees in central and south Arabia to East Africa and has a local name Saoudah. The have a distribution from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman.

Plenty of migrants at Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv went out birding on Saudi Arabia national day on 23 September and saw a good number of migrants on his local patch. The first returning Greater Spotted Eagle of the winter was flying over as were Western Osprey, Western Marsh Harrier and Pallid Harrier. Viv also saw a few good shrikes with Arabian Grey Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrie and Masked Shrike. The wetland area held Common Snipe, White-tailed Lapwings and Squacco Herons and a European Roller added a flash of colour to the days birding. Viv has kindly allowed me to use his photos on my website which a re shown below.

Greater Spotted Eagle 

Western Osprey

Western Marsh Harrier

Pallid Harrier

Masked Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Common Snipe

Squacco Heron

White-tailed Lapwings

Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard – National Wildlife Research Centre at Taif

This Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard was seen at the National Wildlife Research Centre at Taif, in March, as were a few other individuals. Owing to its superficial similarity to its larger congener Acanthodactylus boskianus, the Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus opheodurus was only officially described in 1980. As its name suggests, this species has a particularly long tail and, in common with other Acanthodactylus species, the toes are fringed with scales adapted for running over loose sand. Like other lacertids, the body is long and cylindrical, and the legs are well developed, with the animal having a basic body colour of grey, with seven dark stripes running down the back and sides and a tail tinged red in immatures. They live in a range of arid habitats, including plains with relatively hard sand cover and low hills covered by dense bushes. It is a diurnal lizard and lives in burrows excavated out of hard sand where it remains concealed for all but a few hours of the day. Their burrows not only act as a shelter from predators but also provide refuge from extreme temperatures. The snake-tailed fringe-toed lizard is currently known from the Arabian Peninsula and several other countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.

Not much change – Dhahran Hills

Birding the patch the last few days has produced very little of note and not much change to the birds that have been around earlier in the week. Ferruginous Duck numbers have dropped to 16 birds, but White-winged Tern numbers have increased too seven, a very high number for the pond. A small number of yellow wagtails have been passing through, as have Pied Wheatears, Northern Wheatears and Isabelline Wheatears. Waders have been the majority of birds seen with Little Stints, Temminck’s Stints, Dunlins, Curlew Sandpipers, Marsh Sandpipers, Common Redshanks, Kentish Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers, Green Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers all recorded in the last week.

Little Stint 

Temminck's Stint

Little Ringed Plover

Green Sandpiper