Fourth Striated Heron for the Eastern Province at Dammam – Bird Records by Arnold Uy

Arnold Uy found the fourth Striated Heron for the Eastern Province along the seafront of Dammam cornice on 12 February 2016. Striated Heron is a common breeding resident on the coasts of the Red Sea but is a vagrant to the northern part of the Arabian Gulf including the Eastern Province. Eastern Province records include one remarkable inland record of a bird at Sabkha 40 on 30 May 2010 in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter. This is a species usually associated with the coast of Arabia and had never been recorded this far inland before and was the first record for eastern Saudi Arabia. It would have had to be a migrant, but its position at Shaybah raises the interesting possibility that it had travelled across eastern Arabia from the Arabian Sea en-route to the Arabian Gulf. The only other Eastern Province records, were one in Al Fanateer marina, Jubail on 15 February 2014 and one on 7 June 2015 at Sabkhat Al Fasl, Jubail. The increase in records in recent years may mean that birds are spreading northwards.

Flock of Pallid Swift - Jubail

Whilst birdwatching the Jubail area in early February we came across a number of small flocks of Pallid Swifts Apus pallidus. The species is a common passage migrant and breeder with a peculiar pattern of occurrence. The species is common from late January to May, scarce after this and only recorded again in good numbers from November. Breeding takes place in the winter months from November to April. Pallid Swift are always good to watch but rarely come down low and allow photography. On the occasion we saw the birds in Jubail there were a number of birds that put on a good aerial display and allowed a few reasonable photographs to be taken.  

Wintering White-throated Kingfisher still present – Deffi Park, Jubail

Phil and I went to Deffi Park, a large municipal park in Jubail on 12 February 2016. The park is an area of mature trees and nice grass areas but is popular with locals during the day. As a result we always arrive just before first light and look around and have found a few good birds over the years. The last time we visited on 22 January we found a White-throated Kingfisher in some trees next to a small stream and the bird was still present and calling loudly on 12 February, so appears to be wintering in the park. White-throated Kingfisher is a scarce bird to the Eastern Province of the Kingdom although they breed at Al Hair, Riyadh and appear to be coming more common in recent years. Other birds seen in the park included Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kingfisher, two Common Greenshanks and five Indian Reef Herons. Looking around the trees and grass areas of the park produced a number of wintering Chiffchaffs as well as a single Lesser Whitethroat.

White-throated Kingfisher

Common Greenshank

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area 12 February, Phil Roberts and I saw a Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus. This was a new species for the Eastern Province for me although Phil had seen one previously. They are a common and widespread breeding resident on the Tihamah and southern Red Sea coastlands, less common in the Northern Hejaz north to Rabigh with all records below 1000 metres. The species is, however, rare in Central Saudi Arabia and had not been recorded in the Eastern Province until 2013 when I was sent a photograph showing a number of birds (unfortunately) shot, apparently near Al Hassa in 2013. Phil Roberts then saw a single bird at Sabkhat Al Fasl in 2014 and this record from Jubail is only the third for the Eastern Province. Unfortunately the bird flew before we could get any photos so the photograph below is of one I saw at Sabya Waste Water Treatment Pools, near Jizan in the southwest of the Kingdom. They are a relatively small species, with elongated central tail feathers, dark underwing, blackish belly and unmarked head. The male has a narrow pectoral band and chestnut brown belly darkening towards rear, whereas the female is more mottled above and shows a tricoloured ventral pattern. Races differ mainly in tone of upperpart coloration with the Arabian population P. e. erlangeri sandy coloured. They typically inhabit bare semi-desert, often with scattered thorny scrubs or trees including Acacia. They feed during the cooler hours of morning and afternoon and drink 2–3 hours after sunrise, while in very hot weather some individuals drink again before sunset.

Birds of prey – Haradh

One of the reasons for going to Haradh pivot irrigation fields recently was to see if any birds of prey were present. This is a know area for small numbers of Eagles and Harriers to spend the winter with others passing on migration. Early February is the start of the migration season here in Saudi Arabia and we were hopeful of seeing a few good birds. We were not to be disappointed with the first bird seen being an Eastern Imperial Eagle. It was sitting on a pivot irrigation spray bar but would not allow us to approach it at all and on four different occasions flew off well before we were within range for photographs. Whilst walking through the spray fields trying to get good views of the eagle we came across a group of 17 Lesser Kestrels and saw more throughout the day making a total of at least 35 birds. We also saw three Common Kestrels in different fields. Harriers were also seen in good numbers with two Pallid Harriers seen over the desert just as it was getting light. We saw a further three Pallid Harriers and five Western Marsh Harriers in various pivot irrigation fields throughout the day including one that I photographed below that flew right by the car giving the opportunity of full frame photographs.

Pallid Harrier

Pallid Harrier

Pallid Harrier

Common Kestrel

Yemen Agama – Tanoumah

The Anderson's Rock Agama Acanthocercus adramitanus is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula, where it is found in west and south Arabia, from Taif in Saudi Arabia southwards through Yemen to Dhofar in Oman. It is a common reptile and is the most common species of Agama in Yemen. It is a rock dwelling lizard mainly present in mountainous areas and is found to around 2,000 metres above sea level but the one photographed below was at 2200 metres above sea level at Tanumah Park in south-west Saudi Arabia. Populations can be found on vertical rocks, rock steps and amongst boulders often in the vicinity of water. They can occur in precipitous wadis surrounded by dense vegetation, with the animals usually seen on the top of boulders. They do not however require water, obtaining moisture from their insect prey. Mansur Al Fahad has kindly pointed out my mistake in the identification of this agama and it is in fact a Yemen Agama and not an Anderson's Rock Agama.

Spanish Sparrow breeding and much more – Haradh

Whilst birding the area of Haradh recently where we concentrated on looking in the pivot irrigation fields we also saw a few other good birds around the filed edges and surrounding areas. The first good birds we saw were just outside the main entrance to the huge HADEC farm complex where a nesting colony of Spanish Sparrows were found with at least 200 birds. Plenty of old nests were also in evidence but whether they were breeding at the time I could not confirm. Also amongst the Spanish Sparrows were several House Sparrows. Around the edge of the spray fields we saw a number of Steppe Grey Shrikes and Daurian Shrikes as well as a few Isabelline and Desert Wheatears as well as a single Red-tailed Whatear on some rocks on a bank. Only a couple of Barn Swallows were flying around and Eurasian Skylarks were thin on the ground with only five seen all day. The lack of Eurasian Skylarks was partially made up for by the hundreds of Greater Short-toed Larks with well over 300 birds seen in various flocks. One of the better birds seen were a few Black-crowned Sparrow Larks. Although not an uncommon species they are always nice to see and some of the birds gave excellent views in good light, allowing some good photos to be taken, a rare situation for this species. I would like to thank Yoav Perlman for correcting some misidentifications by me recently including the lark which is in fact a Crested Lark and not a Greater Short-toed Lark as I originally posted.

Spanish Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow

House Sparrow

Desert Wheatear

Crested Lark

Black-crowned Sparrow Lark

Black-crowned Sparrow Lark

Black-crowned Sparrow Lark

Spur-winged Lapwing – Haradh

Whilst biding the Haradh area on 5 February 2015 Phil Roberts and I found a Spur-winged Lapwing in a pivot irrigation field next to the NADEC dairy farm. The species is still scarce in the Eastern Province with all records shown below:

Haradh 24th October 1986

Dhahran 22nd November 1986

Sabkhat Al Fasl 30th October & 6th November 2009

An adult Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 12th & 13th May 2011

An adult Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 8th August 2012

Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 27th September to 2nd October 2012

An adult Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili) 12th October 2012

Two adult were at Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili 31 January 2013

15 birds were at NADEC dairy farm in Haradh 7 February 2013 showing the species is expanding its range eastwards into the Eastern Province

In Saudi Arabia as a whole the Spur-winged Lapwing is a common breeder in the southwest from Yemen boarder up the Red Sea coast to near Jeddah as well as the extreme northwest and the area around Riyadh.

At least five Pied Kingfishers wintering - Jubail

The weekend of 29 January Phil and I saw five Pied Kingfishers perched together in the reed-beds. There were two groups of two and another single, with all five birds being females. These birds appear to be wintering at the site as they are presumably part of the influx that happened late last year. Initially a female Pied Kingfisher was found by me on 23 October 2015 with numbers increasing to twelve by 5 December 2015, the largest gathering of the species ever recorded in the Kingdom. At least four staying until the year end with five seen 29 January 2016. These birds were part of a significant influx of Pied Kingfishers into the eastern part of Arabia in late October and early November 2015 with birds seen in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait as well as Saudi Arabia where other birds have been seen at Al Hair, near Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia largest flock of Northern Lapwings - Haradh

As mentioned in a previous post Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran and found some access to some very good looking fields in various stages of growth from ploughed to fallow to newly growing. We eventually came across two very damp newly ploughed fields that had a single Northern Lapwing in it, but as we got closer more and more birds flew out. The birds turned into a flock of over two hundred and at one stage we saw an even bigger flock in flight over the second field making a total count of at least 425 birds. This is the largest flock ever in the Kingdom and is probably due to the exceptionally cold weather we have had recently with temperatures at 4 degrees Celsius the day we were at Haradh and even colder in the Hail area where it was minus three degrees Celsius. The Birds of the Eastern Province 1989 mentioned they were a scarce and somewhat irregular visitor with records from November to early April but chiefly from November through January.  In 1979-71 up to 15 wintered in Dhahran but this proved to be exceptional, showing how large this flock was. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia high counts have been at Al Safi Dairy farm, Central province, where at least 111 individuals were seen 25 January 2001. Birds of Thumamah 1988-1994 said maximum numbers were 100 in the winter 1992/1993. It status in the Kingdom is as an uncommon winter visitor to all areas north of a line from Hofuf, through Riyadh to Hail.