Saudi Arabia’s largest ever gathering of Black-necked Grebe - Uqair

Whilst birding the Uqair area on the edge of the Arabian Gulf with Phil Roberts in late November, I came across a large group of Black-necked Grebes. Phil had is scope with him and after confirming their identification and number totaling over one hundred birds we scanned the entire visible bay. We found several more groups and smaller numbers scattered around and estimated the total to be well over 500 birds. The birds were very active feeding and diving so an accurate count was impossible. They were also mainly well offshore and did not approach the coast itself whilst we were present. Large numbers of fifty or more have been recorded in the Half Moon Bay area 50 kilometres north of this record, but no numbers as large as this have been noted. Our previous largest group was 192 birds at an inland lake at Dawmat Al Jandal, Jouf province in the northwest of the Kingdom in January 2019. This is the largest ever gathering of the species in Saudi Arabia and they may stay throughout the winter.

Robber Fly – Jabal Ibrahim

Whilst birding the Jabal Ibrahim area of the western mountains I found a Robber Fly on the ground. I have seen Robber Fly in Saudi Arabia previously but not this particular type. The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies and have 7000 described species. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects their notoriously aggressive predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and as a rule they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight. Many Asilidae have long, tapering abdomens, sometimes with a sword-like ovipositor. Larvae generally seem to live in soil, rotting wood, leaf mould and similar materials.

Saudi Arabia largest ever gathering of Lesser Flamingo - Jizan

Whilst birding the coast just south of Jizan we saw a huge flock of Lesser Flamingo’s totaling over 1600 birds. The species was a vagrant to Saudi Arabia until a year ago but with good numbers have been seen in the last two years, maximum flock size of 200 birds. With this enormous gathering, the largest flock ever to be recorded in the Kingdom, they are now a scarce visitor. There are a number of nests present in the area that were made by the Lesser Flamingos, the first breeding attempt for the Kingdom but no young or eggs have ever been seen so breeding has not be confirmed yet. The large numbers of birds may be due to the large-scale disturbances in Yemen pushing them into Saudi Arabia?

Ghost Crab – Farasan Islands

Ghost crabs are semi-terrestrial crabs of the subfamily Ocypodinae. They are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The name "ghost crab" derives from their nocturnality and their generally pale coloration. Characteristics of the subfamily include one claw being larger than the other, thick and elongated eyestalks, and a box-like body. The differences in claw sizes, however, are not as marked in male fiddler crabs. The subfamily includes 22 species in two genera. Ocypodinae is one of two subfamilies in the family Ocypodidae, the other being the fiddler crab subfamily, Ucinae. Both subfamilies have members in which one of the claw-bearing legs (the chelipeds) is much larger than the other. Both male and female ghost crabs have unequally sized claws with the carapaces of ghost crabs more or less box-like. The eyes of ghost crabs have large and elongated eyestalks, with the corneas occupying the entire lower part. Most ghost crabs have pale-colored bodies that blend in well with the sand, though they are capable of gradually changing body coloration to match their environments and the time of day with some species being brightly colored. Ghost crabs have elongated and swollen eyestalks with very large corneas on the bottom half. Their carapaces are deep and box-like, squarish when viewed from the top with straight or slightly curving sides. The regions of the carapace are usually not clearly defined. The "whip" of their antennules are small or rudimentary. They fold back into the body diagonally or almost vertically. The plate between them is broad. The third pair of mouth appendages completely cover the mouth opening. A small orifice with edges thickly fringed with hair is found between the bases of the second and third pairs of walking legs. Ghost crabs are generalists, scavenging carrion and debris, as well as preying on small animals, including sea turtle eggs and hatchlings, clams, and other crabs. They are predominantly nocturnal. They remain in their burrows during the hottest part of the day, and throughout the coldest part of the winter. Ghost crabs are swift runners, darting away at the slightest sign of danger. They either head back to their burrows or plunge into the sea to escape intruders. Ghost crabs also have the ability to change colors to match their surroundings by adjusting the concentration and dispersal of pigments within their chromatophores. They can even match the specific colors of the grains of sand in their habitats. However, ghost crabs are only capable of morphological color change, which occurs over a long span of time. Ghost crabs lay their eggs in the sea, which develop into planktonic marine larvae.

Black-winged Kite - Khafra Marsh

Whilst birding Khafra Marsh in December 2020 we found an adult Black-winged Kite, only the sixth record for the Eastern Province. Records previously from the Eastern Province were one at Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp spray fields 29 March to 17 April 2012 with another 20 April 2014, one Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili, near Jubail, 4 September 2015. A pair were at Khafrah Marsh in 2019 with a juvenile also seen, suggesting possible breeding. A single was at Mulayjah near Nayriyah 13 March 2019. All birds sub-specifically identified in the north and east of the Kingdom were of the eastern subspecies Elanus caeruleus vociferous a subspecies that occurs from Pakistan east to southern & eastern China, Indochina and the Malay Peninsula. Black-winged Kite is a scarce visitor to the Kingdom, but is becoming more common in recent years with birds seen in almost every month and from all parts of the Kingdom.

Arabian Gazelle – Farasan Islands

The Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica until recently, was thought to be synonymous with its ecologically and behaviourally very similar sister species the Mountain Gazelle Gazella gazella which occurs in the Levant. Historically, G. arabica occurred continuously through the Arabian Peninsula, from the Arava Valley in southern Israel, along the Hejaz and Asir Mountains in western Saudi Arabia through Yemen and Oman, and into the UAE. In Saudi Arabia, since the middle of the 20th century, G. arabica numbers have decreased dramatically throughout their range. Small relict populations of G. arabica occur in Al Khunfah and Harrat al Harrah Protected Areas in the north of Saudi Arabia and on the Tihama coastal plain. On the Farasan Islands a strong population of about 850 individuals survives, the largest natural population in Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Gazelle is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. On the mainland the species’ survival depends on a few remnant populations in the western mountains and coastal plains and on two reintroduced populations. The number of free-ranging gazelles on the Farasan Islands has remained approximately constant since the first counts in 1988, with an overall density of 0.64 km-2. The populations on two other islands, As Saqid and Zifaf, have not fared as well, possibly because of uncontrolled hunting pressure, competition with domestic stock or poor habitat conditions overall. The population on Qummah Island is extinct. Threats to this subspecies include uncontrolled hunting and uncoordinated development, although they are not major issue at present on the Farasan Islands. Continued protection of this apparently stable population of Arabian Gazelle in Saudi Arabia is imperative to ensure the survival of the species. The coat colour of G. arabica is very variable, but is always some shade of buff. The face-markings and flank stripe are generally well expressed, and the face-markings always show a broad, smudgy black nose spot making the animals fairly easy to identify. We went looking for the Arabian Gazelles with the help of the Saudi Wildlife Authority rangers. The weather had been very wet and the tracks to the area where the gazelles are most numerous were soft. Luckily the rangers know exactly hoiw to drive in such conditions and took us in their vehicle to see the animals. Here we saw 17 animals running over the rough ground or resting under the acacia bushes out of the heat. The best time to see them is early morning 06:00 hrs or in the afternoon after 16:00 hrs. 

Bridled Tern - Farasan Islands

Every year thousands of pairs of Bridled Terns migrate to Saudi Arabia to breed on islands in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. Most stay well offshore making it a difficult species to see, as most islands are not accessible to birders and boat trips are difficult to arrange. A visit to the Farasan Islands allowed me to see the species for the first time in the Kingdom and as I saw it from a boat, we were able to get very close to a few birds. It has a status in Saudi Arabia as a very common breeding migrant and breeds on uninhabited, low, rocky or sandy islands with shade and forages at sea. We saw quite a few birds flying around feeding as well as the ones perched on offshore islands.

African Giant Millipede - Thanoumah

Whilst birding the western Mountains of the Kingdom I saw several African Giant Millipede Archispirostreptus gigas, the largest extant species of millipede, growing up to 38.5 centimetres in length, 67 millimetres in circumference. It has approximately 256 legs, although the number of legs changes with each molting so it can vary according to each individual. It is native to southern Arabia, especially Dhofar but also Saudi Arabia where it lives in the mountains to at least 200 metres above sea level. It is a widespread species in lowland parts of East Africa, from Mozambique to Kenya, but rarely reaches altitudes above 1,000 metres. They have a life expectancy of about 5–7 years and have two main modes of defence if they feel threatened: curling into a tight spiral exposing only the hard exoskeleton, and secretion of an irritating liquid from pores on their body. 

Large gathering of Hypocolius - Uqair

Hypocolius is a species that many birdwatchers would like to see as it is a family on its own. They are quite difficult to see as they occur in regions that are not so easy to access like Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Hypocolius is a short-distance migrant. Small numbers remain in western Iran throughout year but the majority migrate south and east to their main wintering areas in southern Iran, Pakistan, western India, west and central Saudi Arabia, and Arabian Gulf States (notably Bahrain). Departure from the breeding areas mainly occurs in August with birds arriving back in April. In Saudi Arabia as a whole, they are an uncommon, but may be a locally common winter visitor to Central Arabia, Northern Hejaz, Hejaz and Northern Red Sea. Flocks of over 100 birds have been recorded in Riyadh each winter. This winter more than 150 birds are present near Uqair fort and I managed to take a few photos of the birds despite them being very flighty and not really allowing close approach. It was an amazing sight, seeing so many birds flying in all directions calling to each other and occasionally landing in palm trees to feed. This is easily the largest number I have seen together in Saudi Arabia and hopefully the birds will remain through the winter.