A very close encounter with an Arabian Red Fox – Dhahran Hills

After spending an evening out with my daughters looking for insects and birds we went to try to see if we could again see the Arabian Red Fox that lives nearby. When we arrived at the location where I have seen the fox previously I saw one running off in the distance. The girls did not see it so we stopped the car and got out to try to see if we could see it again. Once we were all out of the car I saw another fox this time much closer and amazingly the animal walked right up to us, to within a couple of metres and sat down watching us. This is easily the closest I have ever been to an Arabian Red Fox and although it was late in the evening I managed to get a few photographs with my 100 mm lens, as the animal was so close. We watched the fox for about 15 minutes until it became almost dark and then left it in the same place. This was an amazing experience and one we all enjoyed, including the Fox I assume as it seemed very happy watching us.

The Arabian Red Fox Vulpes vulpes Arabica is a widespread subspecies of the Common Red Fox Vulpes vulpes and is native to Arabia. It is highly adaptable and more adapted to desert life than its parent species. They can be found in cities, desert areas and mountains. It is brownish red in colour, similar to the Common Red Fox, possibly slightly more sandy in colour, but the Arabian Red Fox’s ears are much larger, and its body much smaller. The large ears have thousands of tiny blood vessels that help the fox maintain its body temperature. Another adaptation to living in the desert is the fur between its toes, to prevent burning its feet. Adults weigh between 2.7 – 4.5 kilograms, are most active at night and are mainly solitary with well-defined home ranges. They eat rodents, birds and fish which they actively hunt during the night, as well as some desert vegetation and even carrion.

Adult female Red-necked Phalarope – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst at Sabkhat Al Fasl yesterday I found another Red-necked Phalarope, this time a smart looking adult female. This is the second time I have seen the species at Sabkhat Al Fasl this spring/summer with the first sighting two male types 23 May. Unusually female Red-necked Phalaropes are brighter than males as the male sits on the eggs and is therefore duller in plumage. There are only a few species where this is the case and generally females have the duller plumage. All three birds have been on the same smallish flooded area by the water pumping station, although the water levels are falling fast here now. Bundy’s ‘Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia’ published in October 1989 states that they are regular in varying numbers on marshy pools in spring but very scarce and irregular in autumn. Records are regular in Kuwait to the north but from the Eastern Province are limited with one record from March, scare in April and regular in May with the peak inland count being 150 birds at Abqaiq in May 1976. Summer records are rare so this June bird is noteworthy. I managed to get a few better photographs this time than in May including one flight shot as the bird flew a short distance to stand on the mud rather than catching mosquitos as it had been doing previously.

Western Cattle Egrets double in number – Dhahran Hills

The spray fields have had very few birds in them recently but a late Western Cattle Egret was seen a week ago, which was a pleasant surprise. This week a second Western Cattle Egret joined it doubling the number of birds. I managed to get quite close to the birds last night and managed a few photos. Neither of the birds is in particularly fine plumage but they are good birds to watch stalking around the wet pool edge and the long grass looking for food.

Very little else of interest was seen except a single Sand Martin and one Little Tern over the percolation pond and three male Namaqua Doves at the edge of the spray fields. Although things are very slow at the moment bird wise I am still out each day to see if anything unusual turns up and, hopefully, my perseverance will pay off one day.

Lawn Beetle – Dhahran Hills

This Lawn Beetle (Pentodon algerinum) of the subspecies P.a. dispar, was found in our garage last night. They are found in oasis and grass filled wadies but has extended their range into gardens where they have become a pest as the larvae live underground and feed on the roots of grass.

Among the genus Pentodon species, P. algerinum has four subspieces: P.a. algerinum, P.a. bispinifrons, P.a. indicus and P.a. dispar. The subspieces seen in Saudi Arabia is P.a. dispar and this subspeices has a frontal suture which is mostly very fine but reaches the sides. The sides of the paramera are more curved with a triangular outer angle of apices that are mostly sharp. It is found in Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Arabian Peninsula, Jordon, Israel and Palestine.

Breeding Little Terns – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Little Terns have been showing quite well at Sabkhat Al Fasl this summer with numerous adults seen. Last weekend I saw quite a few more adults included pairs of birds and a single juvenile with two adults, showing breeding has either occurred at this site or somewhere nearby. From 1975 it became apparent the Little Tern was breeding in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia using the newly created freshwater marshes and other wetland habitats but it was not until the 1980’s it was confirmed. It is now a breeding summer visitor to the Eastern Province north of Hufuf arriving late February or March and has the possibility of expanding it’s breeding range as more wetland areas are established. Elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula breeding has been suspected in Kuwait where the species is a common passage migrant and summer visitor that is rare in winter. It may possibly breed in Kuwait’s part of the Mesopotamian Delta. In Bahrain it was proved breeding for the first time in 2007.

The Little Tern is very similar to Saunder’s Tern but habitat preferences for breeding are different with Little Tern choosing freshwater or brackish water habitats and Saunder’s Tern marine habitats.

More Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizards – Dhahran Hills

There have been very few birds about recently but the number of Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizards seems to be increasing. Yesterday I saw four different animals and managed to photograph two of them. These two lizards show how the colour changes when they heat up turning from a blue grey colour to a bright yellow. Although I have seen plenty of the lizards recently I have yet to see one more than a metre away from its burrow, where they bolt to if disturbed. These burrows remain considerably cooler than the outside air temperature so they are also used as a refuge from the sun. The lizards enter the burrows headfirst, and the burrows have also been noted as refuges for a number of species of desert larks including Greater Hoopoe Lark although I have not seen this behaviour here in Dhahran.

Breeding Kentish Plover – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birdwatching my local ‘patch’ yesterday I can across a Kentish Plover performing a distraction display. I was fluttering about on the ground as if it had a broken wing and then running away from where I presumed it had young. I went away in the opposite direction after grabbing a single photograph of the bird and waited to see if the adult bird would come back. It immediately came back to where I had originally seen it and started calling to its chick that came out of hiding and joined the parent.

Shortly afterwards I found a second pair of breeding Kentish Plovers, this time inside the settling pond. This pair was calling loudly and I soon found three very small young chicks. A pair, possibly the same pair? bred in this same location in March this year and this is probably their second brood of the year.

There was little of note to be seen apart from the Kentish Plover with no migrants passerines at all and just one Little Ringed Plover on the settling Pond where they have bred this year. The only other interesting birds seen where two Western Cattle Egrets with the bird seen a few days ago now joined by another bird on the wet area of the spray fields.

Not much about – Sabkhat Al Fasl

A trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl produced very little of interest as migration is almost over. There were only three shrikes seen which were a very worn Turkestan Shrike and two adult male Red-backed Shrikes. Other migrants were very thin on the ground with only two Barn Swallows and 15 Sand Martins most of which were perched on the barbed wire fence of the water pumping station.

Turkestan Shrike (worn)

Red-backed Shrike - adult male

Sand Martins

Sand Martin

A few waders were still present including 20+ Black-winged Stilts, 30+ Kentish Plovers, one Little Ringed Plover and one Ruff. Plenty of herons were still about with 10+ Squacco Herons, 10+ Little Egrets, six Little Bitterns and 20+ Indian Reef Herons of both colour morphs being the best. An adult Caspian Gull was a late stayer as was a Black-headed Gull and at least 300 Greater Flamingos were also still in their normal place on the flooded sabkah. The only other birds of interest were a few terns including three Caspian Terns but the majority were Little Terns.

Kentish Plover

Little Egret

A few Insects – Dhahran Hills

As it has been relatively quiet bird wise recently I have been out looking for insects with the help of my two daughters who have much sharper eyes than me for small crawling insects. There are a number of species of Lygaeus Ground Bugs in Saudi Arabia with the one photographed below being very common in Dhahran at the right time of year. They are often seen running across the ground at the edge of the spray fields where there are plenty of plants to feed on.

Lygaeus Ground Bug

Moths are few and far between in the desert but there are currently quite a few of this micro moth in the grasses around the edge of the percolation pond. I have no idea as to its name but they are very pale when flying. Other insects using the same grasses include both Purple and Carmine Darters.

Micro Moth sp.

Purple Darter

Carmine Darter

Beetles are around in good numbers mainly being Pitted Beetles but we also found a single Rack Beetle Tentyrina palmeri crawling around on the edge of the scrubby desert. A small flowering plant hosted a number of Big-headed Dronefly Eristalinus megacephalus. Droneflys are really Hoverflys that mimic bee drones or male hive bees.

Rack Beetle

Big-headed Dronefly

Late Western Cattle Egret – Dhahran Hills

Things have slowed down considerably on the birding front in the last week with very few interesting birds to see. The summer in Saudi Arabia is very hot with daytime temperatures over 40 °C each day. Migrant birds will not start returning until August, with the exception of a few early waders in July so looking for the odd stray or out of place bird is the challenge now. During the last few days there have been a few interesting birds including a late Western Cattle Egret feeding on the wet areas of the spray fields. Western Cattle Egret is a winter visitor to the Eastern Province and summer records are scarce. The same wet area as the Western Cattle Egret was using also had an adult and well-grown immature Little Ringed Plover, indicating they had bred again in Dhahran Camp. The only other waders seen were six Black-winged Stilts and two Kentish Plovers, species that have also bred on the camp.

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Little Ringed Plover - juvenile

There has been little else to see recently with the exception of an adult Purple Heron that was seen on the percolation pond and again flying over the spray fields. Four Little Terns are still feeding around the percolation pond and one was seen to take a small frog. The Arabian Red Fox has also been seen on a number of occasions just as it is getting dark but not much else.