Desert White in Dammam – Record by Vinu Mathew

Vine Mathew photographed Desert White Pontia glauconome in Dammam recently and has kindly allowed me ti use his photos on my website two of which are shown below. The range of this butterfly is quite extensive and goes from Somalia north to Libya, in Africa and east to Arabia and Central Asia including Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia this species is found almost anywhere where rocky outcrops occur, particularly on rocky plains and hills around Dhahran, Al Khobar and Al Hassa Oasis. It favours rocky wadis and areas and surrounding gullies preferably with the perennial Cruciferae or Brassicale zilla present. The Desert White is a very fast, zig-zagging low flying species often settling on Cruciferae flowers or other vegetation.

A new birding site - Abqaiq Wetlands

Saudi Aramco Abqaiq and Saudi Aramco Environmental Protection Department, especially Abdullah Alsuhaibany, have helped clean up and create a fenced off area for birds at Abqaiq called Abqaiq Wetlands. This area was previously very good for birds in the late 1980’s but has had little effort in recording species there in recent years as it had become a dumping ground for waste. Phil Roberts and I went there on Sunday 1 May to undertake a survey of the birds present and were very impressed by the site. A lot of work has been done and the area is fenced with a locked gate to restrict access and protect the area. There are a number of wet areas including small lakes some with phragmites reeds and small areas of Tamarisks. Surrounding two sides is an extensive woodland belt, again with restricted access that has many mature trees and is an excellent habitat for birds. Two bird hides have been built by Saudi Aramco Abqaiq, one overlooking a large lake and the other overlooking the entire site. The idea is to eventually open part of the location of the people of Abqaiq at certain times as an educational aid to helping encourage environmental awareness, especially among the children of the area. This location is and will continue to be attractive to birds and Saudi Aramco and Abdullah Alsuhaibany and his colleagues should be thoroughly commended for their effort with this project. In the next post I will show some details of what we saw in our time there. I thank Abdullah Alsuhaibany and Chris Boland for getting me access to the location and for passing on the key to the gate to me.

Bosk's fringe-toed lizard – Haradh

Whilst birdwatching in Haradh, Phil Roberts found a lizard in a small area of trees and hard sandy ground. The lizard was clearly a fringe-toed Lizard, but one I had not seen before and thus did not know its identity. Luckily a local birdwatcher, Mansur Al Fahad, whi is very knowledgeable on insects, lizards and other wildlife identified it from my photos as a Bosk's fringe-toed lizard Acanthodactylus boskianus, This is the most widespread species of its genus as well as the largest Acanthodactylus species throughout its range, measuring 16-23 centimeters in total length, which includes all of Saharan North Africa and the Middle East including Arabia, the Levant and Mesopotamia (including the Turkish border), as well as north- western Iran. It frequents a range of stony and sandy environments and is sometimes common in rocky areas with some shrubs.

Yellow Wagtail - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area I found two Yellow Wagtails. I am not certain of their subspecies but they may have been poorly marked beema or flava? Yoav Perlman a very experienced birder from Israel, although currently living in the UK, has siad the bird looks good for flava and as he has far greater knowledge than me on this group of birds, this is presumably the subspecies. The Yellow Wagtail is a common passage migrant with various subspecies occurring with the most common being Black-headed Wagtails of the race Motacilla flava feldegg which are the most southerly breeding birds seen in Saudi Arabia breeding from the Balkan countries, through Turkey to eastern Kazakhstan and Sykes's Wagtail Motacilla flava beema, from the northern Kirghiz steppes. They often form flocks of mixed races but just as often are found in single race groups.

Common Sandpipers passing through the Eastern Province

There have been a number of records from various birdwatchers of Common Sandpipers passing through the Eastern Province in the last week or so. The Common Sandpiper is a common migrant and winter visitor to all areas of the Kingdom including inland with large migrant flocks of up to 250 birds have been present in Riyadh from June to August. Birds of the Riyadh Region (Stagg 1994) mention it as a passage migrant and winter visitor in variable numbers; has been recorded in every month of the year. Passage mainly March to May and again from July to late October when numbers markedly reduce. In the Eastern Province of the Kingdom it is a common passage migrant and uncommon winter visitor: Small numbers winter along the littoral and pools nearby. Migrants occur in April and September and there are three June records but it is usually absent between early May and late July. It has even occurred in the Empty Quarter with one migrant at Jawb, Rub’ al-Khali in early September. The below photos were taken in Jubail in late April.

Starred Agama near Tabuk – Record by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson recently sent me some photos of a Starred Agama from near Tabuk that were identified to species by Mansur Al Fahad. I would like to thank both Viv and Mansur for the identification and use of the photos respectively. The starred Agama Laudakia stellio, also known as Rough-tailed Agama, is a large with a flattened, spiny body, a wide, triangular head, long legs and a long tail. The neck is particularly spiny, and rows of spines run across the body, flanks and tail. They are generally light or dark brown to grey or charcoal-coloured with a series of yellowish, diamond-shaped markings along the back. However, the Starred Agama is quite variable in appearance across its range and has a length of up to 30 centimetres. Like many other members of the Agamidae family, the starred agama is capable of quite rapid colour changes, with individuals typically becoming lighter when warm and darker when cold. They are usually active during the day and often hides in holes and crevices. The starred agama ranges from Greece and Cyprus in south-eastern Europe, through Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and into the Middle East, northern Saudi Arabia and northern Egypt. It is found in a variety of arid and semi-arid habitats, including rocky hillsides, scrubland, grassland, and cultivated areas.

Little Terns - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area I came across a few Little Terns. Some were resting on the muddy edge of some sabkha and other flying around. I took the opportunity to try to get e few flight shots of the birds as they flew about with the best photos shown below. In the Eastern Province the Little Tern is a common passage migrant and summer visitor that is scarce in the winter. Care must be taken not to confuse it with the very similar Saunder’s Tern that also occurs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in the summer and breeds on offshore islands. It has bred in freshwater and brackish areas of eastern Saudi Arabia and possibly the Red Sea also. Birds are scarce inland but have been recorded in all areas including Riyadh.

Pea Blue Butterfly – Record by Vinu Mathew

Vinu Mathew found and photographed a Pea Blue Lampides boeticus recently near Dhahran and kindly snet me his photos and has allowed me to use them on my website. The Peablue, Pea Blue, or Long-tailed Blue is one of the most widely distributed lycaenids and is a small butterfly found in Europe, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia that belongs to the lycaenids or gossamer-winged family. Due to its utilization of pea spp. as host plants, it is considered as a pest of pea crops in certain places. The adults are strong flyers with a jerky and rapid flight. The wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 24–34 mm for females. The larval foodplants include cultivated legumes such as Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea, Narrow-leaved Everlasting-pea and also Broom and Lucerne.

Land birds around Jubail

This spring has been a very good one for Common Redstart with hundreds of birds seen throughout the region including many very smartly plumaged males. My last visit to Jubail provided more than 50 sightings of this species roughly divided 50/50 between males and females. Another couple of migrants that have occurred in good numbers this spring were Red-throated Pipit and Tree Pipit with tens of each of these species seen. The last few Daurian Shrikes were seen amongst a larger number of Turkestan Shrikes, with two male Red-backed Shrikes and a couple of hybrid type birds also seen. A good ‘fall’ of Willow Warblers had occurred as birds were seen everywhere including many in the reeds themselves instead of their favourite tamarisk as these were already full of birds.

Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Red-throated Pipit

Daurian Shrike

Pallid Swift

Willow Warbler

Tree Pipit

Kerelini type hybrid shrike? – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area I found an interesting looking ‘kerelini’ type shrike. Unfortunately once I saw it I grabbed two photos and then it flew off and although I saw wher it landed I could not relocate it despite extensive searching. The problem with my below photos is that the lighting is very strong from one side (the right), which is burning out the underparts to some extent while the upperparts are in shadow, which suppresses the true colours. Alan Dean who’s opinion was sought on this bird mentioned “While the images have a rather ‘karelini’ look at first sight I have some reservations that this might be a photographic artefact. There is quite a rich pinky-peach hue on the less brightly illuminated rear flanks. This does not match a classic karelini but, also, I wonder whether this colour may in fact have extended further across the underparts but has been ‘burnt out’ by the bright light. A further concern is the level of black apparently displayed in the tail. Again, to what extent this is real or a result of heavy shadow supressing rufous/russet, is difficult to judge. Finally, there is virtually no supercilium at all. Some of these features tend to raise thoughts of hybrid influence from collurio and there is something about the appearance of the originals that somehow ‘ghosts’ this species to my mind. Overall, however, I find it impossible to decide what is ‘real’ and what is photographic artefact, so I wouldn’t put a firm diagnosis on this individual. My gut instinct is towards a hybrid but that’s very tentative”. Brian Small who also helped with the identification said “Alan has summed up the salient features of the first bird nicely and the possibilities, but I would fall on the side of it being a karelini”. The shirkes we get in Saudi Arabia are variable in plumage and contain many hybid type birds making conclusive identification of many unwise.