Wintering Greater Spotted Eagles – near Jubail

At least twelve Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga were recorded at a wetland site near Jubail in late-October. Birds winter at a number of sites in Saudi Arabia with the Jubail area the best for the species in the Eastern province. In winter birds are almost always near wetland areas with large areas where they can hunt undisturbed. They occupy a fragmented range, breeding mainly in Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, mainland China and Mongolia. Passage or wintering birds occur in small numbers over a vast area, including central and eastern Europe, North Africa, East Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, south Asia and South-East Asia. The Greater Spotted Eagle is suspected to have undergone at least a moderately rapid decline over the last three generations as a result of habitat loss and degradation throughout its breeding and wintering ranges, together with the effects of disturbance, persecution and competition with other predators. The species is listed on the Red Data list as Vulnerable as the species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.

Short-eared Owl in Dhahran – Bird record by Paul Wells

Paul Wells found a Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus around the edge of the golf course on 3 November whilst doing his local patch. This is a species I have not seen in Saudi Arabia yet and a great find. The species is a scarce and sometimes rare passage migrant and winter visitor to all areas north of Jeddah, Riyadh and Hofuf. Birds of the Riyadh Region (Stagg 1994) says it is a rare winter visitor and mentions only two records of one collected near Khafs 24 February 1935 and one at Riyadh Air Base, 4 November 1979. The birds of the Eastern Province (Bundy et al 1989) says it is a winter visitor with the following records: one found dead at Abqaiq 12 December 1975, one on a ship in the Gulf 18 October 1979, one Haradh, 29 November 1979, one Abqaiq 3 December 1982 and a minimum of eight near Wari’ah, Diddibah 12-13 February 1987. The most recent record I know is of one near Zulfi 1 December 2016. Paul managed to get to within 15 metres of the bird and take the below photographs that he sent to me and has kindly allowed me to use on my website.

Immature male Crested Honey Buzzard in Dhahran – Record by Danny Orasa

Danny Orasa photographed the immature male Crested Honey Buzzard that has been around Dhahran for the last three weeks at least. He has kindly allowed me to use his excellent photos on my website which are shown below. The current status, of CHB in Saudi Arabia is a scarce passage migrant and winter visitor that also occurs rarely in summer. Most records are from the Eastern province in winter and spring with additional records in the west of the country in autumn, winter and spring. The first confirmed record of CHB for Saudi Arabia was in Asir province 11 October 1994, with another bird 5–10 km south on the same day. Whilst speculative, one reason for the dramatic increase in records of CHB is the recent availability of suitable habitat. Most records in the Arabian peninsula are from anthropogenic sites with extensive shade such as farmed areas, suburban parks, golf courses and plantations of mature watered trees (mainly ghaf Prosopis cinerea, but tall gum Eucalyptus plantations are also utilised). An investigation in Saudi Arabia found that hymenopteran nests are present every month of the year in the Eastern province, with searches revealing two to six nests each calendar month. As CHBs specialize in feeding on the larvae and honey of social bees and wasps potential food sources are clearly available year round. Such habitats (and densities of food sources simply did not exist in the Arabian peninsula until the early 1990s and have been created at an accelerating rate since.

Black Kites – Deffi Park

On the 27 October 2017, I saw five Black Kites in the very early morning perched in the trees and flying around Deffi Park in Jubail. I have not seen the species at this site before and five is a high number for the Eastern Province. Compare this to the hundreds seen in Tabuk in the northwest of the Kingdom recently and you can see how relatively poor for migrating raptors the Eastern Province is. Black Kites are normally seen singly in our area, although I have seen 15 together once only in the summer on Abu Ali Island, a site near to Deffi Park. As normal at least one of these birds showed signs of being a Black-eared Kite but this is yet to be proved conclusively.

Female Montagu’s Harrier – Haradh

Whilst birding the NADAC Farm area of Haradh 20 October I saw plenty of Harriers including at minimum of two Montagu’s Harriers over the pivot irrigation fields. Male Montagu’s Harriers are easily identified by their upperwing pattern amongst other details but Juvenile and female Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers are difficult to identify with certainty at times and good views are needed. Face pattern and neck collar amongst other features are useful for identification on perched birds where the underwing cannot be seen. The birds were mainly at some distance but luckily one was found under a bush resting from the still very high temperatures. Normally the birds fly well before getting close to them but this one stayed and allowed close approach but as it was in the shade the light was not too good for very good photos. Birds are uncommon passage migrants in the Eastern Province mainly from April to May and from September to October with a few birds apparently wintering and up to eight seen in a day at Haradh in September. Birds of the Riyadh Region by Stagg 1994, says they are a common passage migrant and increasingly frequent winter visitor that passes March and again late August to mid-October. Since 1988, winter visitors have taken up residence around alfalfa fields south of Riyadh during December and January. Other records have come from all areas from the southwest to the northeast of the Kingdom although the species is not common anywhere.

Spotted Toad-headed Agama at Lake Al Asfar – Record by Vinu Mathew

Vinu Mathew sent me a photograph of a Spotted Toad-headed Agama, identified due to its colouration, size and shape, transverse bars on the body and tail and the fact it was in Sabkha habitat rather than sandy habitat. Vinu has kindly allowed me to use his photo om my website. The Spotted Toad-headed Agama Phrynocephalus maculatus, also called the Blacktail Toad-headed Agama, is a member of the Agamidae family, and has a body colour that is highly variable, but typically has distinct brown bars across the body and tail. It also tends to match the colour of its background and lizards found on pale coastal sands tend to be paler and less patterned than those on red, inland sands. The agamid lizards are also known as the chisel-teeth lizards due to the compressed, fused teeth being firmly attached to the upper jaw, unlike most other lizards which have loosely attached teeth. The head is short and broad, with a deep forehead and snub nose, and the flattened body is wide and strong and covered in rough skin with overlapping scales. The long, flattened tail is rounded at the base and has a black tip on the underside which, when raised, is used in visual signals. The spotted toad-headed agama is known from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Oman, northern Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The species inhabits harder sandy surfaces where it is often associated with coastal salt flats known as ‘sabkhas’ ad rocky islands. The Arabian Toad-headed Agama prefers sandy desert areas. They are active in all but the hottest hours of the day looking for insect prey and during the hottest periods, they will stand high on extended legs to limit contact with the sand, balancing on fingertips and heels while using the tail as a prop. They are able to sink rapidly into the sand by vibrating the body in a process called ‘shimmy burial’, and it uses this behaviour to escape from predators or create a nocturnal shelter. They lay eggs, producing a clutch of one to seven which are incubated for around six to eight weeks in a burrow.

Birding the pivot irrigation fields - Tabuk

Whilst in Tabuk we spent an entire day birding a few very large pivot irrigation fields and the surrounding scrub. This proved very rewarding with many species seen some in good numbers. Red-back Shrike was one of the most common species seen with over 75 recorded including adult males and juveniles. Pallid Harriers and Marsh Harriers were recorded as were Steppe Eagles and Common Kestrels. Spanish Sparrows and House Sparrows were common and several Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and Graceful Prinias were seen. Five Corn Buntings could be hear singing at first light and a single Ortolan Bunting was located in a tree. A European Roller was in one large field along with 50+ Spur-winged Lapwings. Collared Dove, Namaqua Dove and Laughing Dove were all seen as were large numbers of Greater Short-toed Larks, Red-throated Pipits, Crested Larks and a couple of Tawney Pipits. We also saw two species of bird that according to the 2011 edition of "Birds of the Middle East", were not meant to be in the area. This is probably due to lack of observer coverage of the area as I know Viv Wilson who lived there recently saw both species. These birds were White-eared Bulbul that is not shown to be within 250 kilometres of Tabuk and Common Myna that is shown about 450 kilometres south near Yanbu.

Corn Bunting

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Spanish Sparrow

Spur-winged Lapwing

Tawny Pipit

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Dark Grass Blue – Tabuk

Whilst birding the large and extensive pivot irrigation fields near Tabuk I came across a huge number of Dark Grass Blue Zizeeria karsandra. Dark Grass Blue is a small butterfly found in the Southern Mediterranean, in a broad band to India, Sri Lanka, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia. It belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family. Most information does not have the speies range in Saudi Arabia but it has been recorded in the north of the Kingdom from the west side to the east side.

Black-eared/Black Kites - Tabuk

Whilst birding the pivot irrigation fields near Tabuk in early October we found hundreds of Black Kites. Many birds will be on passage at this time of year but many more will saty throughout the winter. Some birds looked like typical Black Kites and others like the very similar subspecies Black-eared Kite. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. The two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite are uncommon to rare migrants, mainly in the spring, and winter visitors to Saudi Arabia. European Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Black-eared Kite Milvus migrans lineatus - Siberia to Amurland South around Himalaya to Iran, Northern India, Northern Indochina and Southern China; Japan. Northern inland birds migrate to East Persian Gulf coast and South Asia in winter. Recent DNA studies (Jeff A. Johnson, Richard T. Watson and David P. Mindell (2005) Prioritising species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? Proc. R. Soc. B 272:1365–1371) suggests that the Black-eared Kite (M. m. lineatus), is not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status. As molecular information is much more reliable in this species than in the Red Kite, the Black-eared Kite should be regarded a distinct allopatric subspecies. Another reason why lineatus and migrans are probably distinct sub-species is there is a large interbreeding zone in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia. These intergrades may well also occur in Saudi Arabia and as a result the Black Kite situation in Saudi Arabia is very complicated and many birds are often best left as unidentified to sub-species level.

Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard - Tabuk

Whilst birdwatching near Tabuk I found a Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus opheodurus. Owing to its superficial similarity to its larger congener Acanthodactylus boskianus, the Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard was only described officially 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. I thank Mansur Al Fahad for help with the identification of this record.