Red-tailed Wheatear still present – Dhahran Hills

Birding the last week has remained slow although a few interesting birds have been seen. The Red-tailed Wheatear is still present on the large boulders and rocks behind the percolation pond but has moved a long way towards the perimeter fence. This birds is not a good model and never allows close approach, and this combined with the sun always appearing to be in the wrong place makes photographing it difficult. The pond itself has had a few Eurasian Teal, one Common Redshank and a Black-winged Stilt but not much else. The spray fields have produced a couple of interesting birds with the first Common Quail of the year on 2 February as well a Jack Snipe flushed at close range and giving good flight views. Up to ten Meadow Pipits are still hiding in the grasses and the NCT Stonechat is still present. Other birds have been fly over Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Western Marsh Harrier and 100’s of Pallid Swifts. The Settling pool has so much water it is almost overflowing, but 111 Western Cattle Egrets and three Common Moorhen are still present. Plenty of White Wagtails and Water Pipits are still using the edges to feed.

Red-tailed Wheatear 

White Wagtail

Adult winter plumaged male Citrine Wagtail – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 31 January I located a winter plumaged male Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola feeding around a wet area by some reeds and tamarisk bushes. This was the second male we had seen that day with the first being at the other end of the site and at some distance so no photographs were possible. This species is a scarce winter visitor to the Eastern province with most birds seen at either Dhahran or Sabkhat Al Fasl probably because these are the better-watched sites in the region. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia it is also a scarce winter visitor with records of summer plumage adults seen in late March but the majority of birds are first winters seen in August to October. Adult winter plumaged males are rarely seen and even more rarely photographed in Saudi Arabia so I was happy with my results.

Raptors in Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson a birder and photographer from Tabuk sent me a number of photographs of birds he saw in Tabuk over the last couple of weeks. I have never been to Tabuk, which is located in the north-east of Saudi Arabia, but it is obvious from the records Viv has recorded there that the birds species and numbers differ significantly from my area in the Eastern Province. Long-legged Buzzard, Black Kite and Eastern Imperial Eagles are all scarce birds in the Eastern Province in winter with Black Kite not seen be me in the winter at all since I have been in Saudi Arabia. Viv kindly sent me some of his photos and has allowed me to reproduce them on my website below. He saw three diferent Long-legged Buzzards passing over his compound on a single day in January and saw both Black Kites and Eastern Imperial Eagle the next weekend, both with prey items.

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Black Kite

Black Kite

Waders, Egrets & Herons - Dhahran Expro & Dammam Al Khobar Wader south roosts

The wader roost had plenty of birds on it during my last visit, but the light was poor and most of the birds were directly into the sunlight making them difficult to view. I did not see anything out of the usual during my three hours looking but saw a few reasonable birds including a good selection of waders, a Western Great Egret, Western Osprey and Indian Reef Herons of both white and grey colour morphs. The waders were mainly Ruff, Dunlin and Common Redshanks, although a few Eurasian Curlew, Black-winged Stilts and Little Stints were also around. Smaller numbers of Whimbrel, Marsh Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone and Eurasian Oystercatcher were also seen.

Common Redshank

Eurasian Curlew

Ruff

Although there were no Lesser Sand Plovers seen at Dhahran Expro there were approximately 100 at Dammam / Al Khobar along with ten Grey Plovers which again were not seen at the former site. A slightly oiled Western Great Egret was fishing in one corner of the roost and a few Western Reef Herons were in the same area. Several Greater Flamingos were far out as the tide was not fully in and a Western Osprey flew over with its catch of fish. Gulls were plentiful with most being Black-headed Gull including an adult in full summer plumage, put a good number of Slender-billed gulls was also present. The only Large White-headed Gull seen was a Heuglin’s Gull. A very large gathering of 50+ Gull-billed Terns and seven Caspian Terns were also seen.

Western Great Egret - slightly oiled

Indian Reef Heron

Greater Flamingo

Western Osprey

Slender-billed Gull

Pheasant-tailed Jacana north of Al Hair– bird records by Bader & Muhammad Al Mohatresh

I received an e-mail from Mansur Al Fahad, an active birder from Riyadh a few days ago with a very interesting photo attached. Mansur mentioned is friend Mohammed and his younger brother Yazeed had come to Riyadh to see what could be seen in the area. On 31 January 2014 Yazeed is new birder and photographer and he and his brother Muhammad found and photographed a Pheasant-tailed Jacana North of Al Hair before it flew off into the reeds. This is probably only the second record for Saudi Arabia with the previous record in Riyadh at Wadi Hanifah ‘Acacia Grove’ in the early 1990’s. This is another great record by the local Saudi Birders who have found plenty of good birds recently, when you take Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Penduline Tits and Cinereous Vulture all in a few months. I thank Mansur for obtaining permission for me to use the photo and Yazeed for allowing me to use it.

White-throated Kingfisher at Udhailiyah – Bird record by Douglas Horn & Rachel Abel

A White-throated Kingfisher was found at Udhailiyah Golf Clubhouse duck pond a couple of weeks ago by Rachel Abel who works there. She told Douglas Horn, who also works there, and he went down a couple of times to try to find and photograph the bird. Yesterday he successfully managed to locate the bird in a tree on the middle island of the duck pond and took a photograph with his 200mm lens and 1.7x converter. Douglas kindly allowed me to use his photo on my website which is shown below. White-throated Kingfisher is not a common bird in the Eastern Province and this is the most southerly record I know of for the Province. Most records come from more northerly areas such as Sabkhat Al Fasl but they have been seen as far south as Dhahran in previous years. The winter of 2013-14 has been a good one for the species in the Eastern Province with an overwintering bird at Sabkhat Al Fasl from 31 August 2013 until mid-January 2014 at least, a bird seen at Qaryat Al Ulya on 27 September 2013 and this bird from Udhailiyah in January 2014. Up until the end of the 1980’s there had only been two records from the Eastern Province, both from the Dhahran area but there have been more sighting since all from the Jubail to Al Khobar region.

A better days birding – Sabkhat Al Fasl

The winter has been very poor in Saudi Arabia for birds so far with my last few visits to Sabkhat Al Fasl producing very little. The trip Phil and I made last weekend was a better days birding, although we failed to find anything significant. We had six Greater Spotted Eagles which although a low number for recent winters is the highest number I have seen at the site this winter. Most birds were distant but one bird flew right overhead giving good views. Other birds of prey included two Eurasian Sparrowhawks and 10+ Western Marsh Harriers including a fine adult male.

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Clamorous Reed Warblers were singing loudly at every patch of reeds we passed and must have a very high breeding density here. Plenty of Common Chiffchaffs were seen and heard in the reeds and a male Daurian Shrike was also hunting from the tall reed stems. A few terns were flying over the reed beds with most Caspian Terns but one Gull-billed Tern was also seen.

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Daurian Shrike

Down by the scrape area we had a couple of Song Thrushes one of which stayed long enough for a distant photo. This is the first time I have photographed the species at this location as although I have seen them there before they are shy and retiring birds. In this same area a couple of European Stonechats and two North Caspian Taxon Stonechats were seen and hundreds of Water Pipits were also present. About four Bluethroats were seen with one being a fine Red-spotted male and all were seen above ground level in the red beds.

Song Thrush

North Caspian Taxon Stonechat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Water Pipit - coutelli

Other birds seen included a large number of Western Great Egrets (20+), two Common Kingfishers, four Common Snipe, twenty Squacco Herons, 14 Western Cattle Egrets, 20+ Little Egrets, one Kentish Plover, one Green Sandpiper and a couple of Little Grebes. Approximately 5000 Greater Flamingos were present on the flooded sabkha which is still at a very high level after all the winter rain. The Flamingos, as can be seen from the photograph below, are wading in the water up to their bellies which is an unusual sight.

Greater Flamingo

Spanish Sparrows – Jubail area

The Spanish Sparrow is a difficult bird to pin down in the Eastern Province. You will occasionally come across one in an unusual place only for them to disappear again and not be seen for some time. I found one on the ‘patch’ in 2010 and not since and again found a few at Sabkhat Al Fasl in winter 2011, where they stayed for a few weeks, but were not seen again until winter 2013/14 when a few have reappeared in almost the exact same spot as 2011. Some areas like Haradh have large numbers but I do not bird this site so locating single birds at Ash Shagiryah Development Farm the last two visits has been encouraging. Last week we again saw a single male in amongst a very large flock of House Sparrows but Phil located a small flock of ten birds on a waste mud mound near a reed bed on the way out of the site, that included both male and female birds. Hopefully this means they will stay in the area and breed, as it is always good to see this species whilst out birding in my area of Saudi Arabia. The status is Saudi Arabia was as a winter visitor rarely in the Eastern Province more regular in Tabuk and the northern Hijaz (western Saudi Arabia), but they now breed in the several scattered areas.

European Goldfinch Dhahran Hills – Bird records by Mats Ris

Mats Ris is a birder in the Dhahran Saudi Aramco camp who is originally from Sweden. He goes out birding quite frequently and has seen some good birds in his time in the camp. Yesterday morning he saw a European Goldfinch in the sprayfields in the corner close to the new ponds being constructed, on a small road going across the sprayfield, parallel to the same road, going to the big pond. This is a very good bird for Saudi Arabia and one I have not seen on the camp, or in Saudi Arabia for that matter. Records are mainly seen in the north of Saudi Arabia with them being common in the Tabuk area in some winters. I hope the bird stays around until this evening and I have the opportunity of seeing it on the 'patch'. Mats kindly sent me a couple of photos he took of the bird with a small camera and allowed me to add them to my website below.

Masked Shrike at Udhailiyah – Bird records by Nishan Xavier

Nishan Xavier is a birdwatcher and photographer who is currently living in Udhailiyah Saudi Aramco camp that is south of Shedgum and north on Haradh, quite a way inland. Nishan sent me two of his photos of birds at the camp, one was a Masked Shrike taken on 28 January 2014 and the other a White-eared Bulbul taken on 19 January 2014 both at Udhailiyah camp. Masked Shrike is regarded as an uncommon passage migrant that is scarce in summer and winter. Most winter records have come from the South-west of Saudi Arabia with a few from the Eastern Province. Passage occurs from late March to early May and again in September so a January record will be a wintering bird. White-eared Bulbul is a common bird of the Eastern Province that can be found in varied habitat including urban areas. I would like to thank Nishan for allowing me to use the photos below.

Masked Shrike

White-eared Bulbul