The boulder area still producing – Dhahran Hills

The area of large stone boulders is still producing good birds and has been the best location in the camp for birds in the past two weeks. During this week I have seen a minimum of three Blue Rock Thrushes, one Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, two Eastern Black Redstarts and plenty of wheatears. Eastern Black Wheatear is a rare visitor to the camp and two birds in a week is exceptional. On 4 March I found a vittata Pied Wheatear on the jebal behind the boulders which is the first time I have seen this sub-species in Saudi Arabia.  I made a real mess of trying to photograph the bird so hope it will stay around to allow some photos to be taken of this scarce subspecies for the Kingdom. Good numbers of pied Wheatears are now passing through and a few Isabelline Wheatears are also with them but signs of our winter visitors have almost completely dried up although I did manage to see a European Sparrowhawk during the week. This winter has been a strange one with relatively low numbers of birds but a few goods ones thrown in to keep the interest up.

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Eastern Black Redstart

Isabelline Whearear

Euraisian Sparrowhawk

Warblers returning – Sabkhat Al Fasl

A trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl last weekend was a little quiet with no sign of the previous weekends Lesser Spotted Eagle we had found. There were two Greater Spotted Eagles as well as a number of Western Marsh Harriers, but not much else in the way of raptor sightings. This was probably due to the cloudy and misty conditions that were not good for thermals. The normal selection of species were seen with the best being a few Purple Swamphens, several Western Great Egrets, a single immature Great Black-headed Gull, a really fine male NCT (Caspian) Stonechat and plenty of Daurian Shrikes. 5000+ Greater Flamingo made a beautiful sight out on the flooded sabkha where waders were few due to high water levels although a number of Kentish Plover and Green Sandpiper were using the flooded puddles next to the main track where there were also two male Citrine Wagtails. The best birds of the trip were two singing Savi’s Warblers and a brief sighting of a Moustached Warbler. Several European Reed Warblers were singing from the reeds often drowned out by the loud calls and song from the Indian (Clamorous Reed Warblers.

Purple Swamphen

Greater Flamingo

Kentish Plover

Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike

Some bird records from the Dibdibah Plains from the 1980’s - Bird records by Cliff Peterson

The following are some more bird records by Cliff Peterson who birded Saudi Arabia in the 1980’s. These are from the stony desert in the northern part of the Eastern Province. I personally have not seen any of these species with the exception of Bimaculated Lark, a species Phil and I found a flock of in a large Pivot irrigation field in spring 2013.

Bimaculated Lark – Seen on the Dibdibah during the winter, a good place to go to bag several of the unusual larks.  We counted 300 one December.  I did find this species once in Wadi Nisah in February.

Dunn's Lark - Again, the Dibdibah during winter has the highest probability of producing this species. However, this image is one of 60 that we located while camping at Hamra Judah.  They are nomadic: there had been good rains at Hamrah Judah that produced seeds.  This image is from November 1984.  Note the large bulbous bill and prominent eye set into a relatively large amount of white on the sides of the head.

Temminck's Lark - I have records from Haradh and the Dibdibah November to April.

Eurasian Dotterel - This species was only found on the Dibdibah (northern Eastern Province).  We did not see it every year but did locate flocks of up to 400 during December 1983.  By March their numbers are greatly diminished as they returned to high Arctic habitats in Eurasia to breed.

Wheatears returning –Dhahran Hills

Signs of migration have been increasing during the week with a few Blue Rock Thrushes and a nice male Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush seen. Other migrants have been several Common Quail calling from the spray fields as well as seven Red-rumped Swallows roosting in the reed bed on the settling pond. Daurian Shrike numbers are increasing slowly with a maximum of five seen on a single day and ten Black-winged Stilts and a Green Sandpiper arrived on the percolation pond. A small crake was seen but unidentified and a Lesser Whitethroat was also located in the bushes surrounding the pond. Apart from the Rock Thrushes the other species that has occurred in small numbers are wheatears. Some of these have wintered but others are migrants. The Red-tailed Wheatear remained on the boulders where it has spent the winter and was joined by at least three Pied Wheatears. A female Desert Wheatear was also seen in the boulder area and a few Isabelline Wheatears have been feeding around on the scrubby desert areas. Things are really changing bird wise now with most of the obvious winter visitors almost absent with just a few White Wagtails and one or two Water Pipits left.

Red-tailed Wheatear

Isabelline Wheatear

Pied Wheatear

Laura the Satellite tagged Baltic Gull update - Bird records by Per Hansson

Laura the satellite tagged Baltic Gull is still in the same area of Saudi Arabia, a bay to the south of Jizan on the Red Sea coast. She has been here all winter and Per Hansson has just sent me details of the last sightings of her which indicate she is still in the same area. It will be interesting to see when she starts moving back to her breeding grounds in Sweden as she should be moving in the next few weeks I would have thought. Although Laura has been close to the Yemen boarder for most of her stay she has not crossed the boarder from Saudi Arabia into that country the entire time she has been wintering in the area.

Spring is here at last – Dhahran Hills

Spring finally appears to have arrived with climbing temperatures and few good and brightly coloured birds to liven up the birding. It is very difficult to work out how many Rock Thrushes have been present in Dhahran hills over the last week but there has been a minimum of four Blue Rock Thrushes (two males & two females) and two Rufous-tailed Rock Thrushes (A male and a female). A Eurasian Sparrowhawk and two Western Marsh Harriers, an adult male and female/immature have been present over the spray fields and pond. My first Mauryan (Steppe) Grey Shrike of the spring was seen in the scrubby desert area where a few Pied Wheatears are also present. The percolation pond has only a handful of birds on it but the Great Crested Grebe has retuned and is looking in very fine plumage. Let’s hope it attracts a mate and breeds again this year. Six Little Grebes and three Eurasian Coot are also in residence along with ten Black-winged Stilts and a Green Sandpiper and Indian (Clamourous) Reed Warblers are singing again from the reed beds.

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush - male

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush - male

Blue Rock Thrush - female

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Great Crested Grebe

Sand Partridge, Sinai Rosefinch & Trumpeter Finch near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv was out birding in the desert recently north of the 8784 road to the west of Tabuk and managed to find a couple of the desert specialities whilst there. Sinai Rosefinch has a restricted range in Saudi Arabia and can only be found in the northwest of the Kingdom, where it is a breeding resident of the Northern Hejaz south to Wadi Sawawin. The Sand Partridge has a larger range but is mainly found down the western side where it is a common breeding resident of the Northern Hejaz, Central Arabia and the desert fringes of Asir and Hejaz. Locally common on the Tuwaiq Escarpment where groups of up to 70 have been seen together at waterholes it does not occur more far east of Riyadh and has not been seen in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Trumpeter Finch is another desert speciality but this species is found in the Eastern province but is scarce. As these species are either not found or are scarce in the Eastern Province I have not seen any and would like to visit Tabuk one day when time permits. Viv kindly allowed me to use his photos on my website which are reproduced below.

Sand Partridge - female

Sand Partridge - female

Sinai Rosefinch

Trumpeter Finch

Trumpeter Finch

Sandfish at Ad Dahna Sands – Record by Cliff Paterson

The Sandfish Scincus scincus is a species of skink that burrows into the sand and literally swims through it. The sandfish is found in northern Africa east into Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. The animal is also found in the Omani deserts. Adult sandfish usually reach about 20 cm in length, including the short tail that tapers to a point and have developed a peculiar way of dealing with the desert heat; it possesses the ability to dive into soft sand where it closes its bead like eyes to prevent sand entering them. It does this to prevent overheating (as it is cold-blooded) and whenever it feels threatened. The name originated because of its ability to move through sand like a fish and is also known as the Sand Swimmer. It has a wedge-shaped snout with very small nostrils to keep out the sand, long tapered body covered with smooth, shiny scales, legs that are short and sturdy with flattened and fringed feet. The sandfish is primarily nocturnal and is an insectivore that can detect nearby vibrations cause while moving. This beauty was found in the Ad Dahna sands during a winter camping trip. Though generally placid, if provoked, it will deliver a strong bite.

Some common birds from Udhailiyah – Bird records by Nishan Xavier

Nishan, a birder from Udhailiyah Saudi Aramco camp has sent me a few more of his excellent photos. These show a range of species that are common in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in the winter months. It is interesting to see Eurasian Hoopoe in Udhailiyah in winter as this is south of their know wintering range at present. Birds now could be early migrants so it will be interesting to see if Nishan sees the species throughout the year as we do in Dhahran. Other common birds include House Sparrow, which are found in all types of habitat even far from habitation as well as Eurasin Collared Dove and White-eared Bulbul. I thank Nishan for allowing me to reproduce his photos on my website.

Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Hoopoe

House Sparrow

White-eared Bulbul

Plenty of Rock Thrushes – Dhahran Hills

Yesterday I went back to the rocky area where I had seen the male Blue Rock Thrush the day before, as I have not seen too many of these on the ‘patch’ and wanted to get more views of the bird. When I got to the first section of boulders I saw a Rock Thrush sitting on top of a rock. This bird looked a little different from a distance and when I put my binoculars on the bird it became obvious it was a female and not the male from yesterday. I watched the bird for a while and when some runners came past the bird flew further down to the boulders where I had seen the bird the day before. There it settled with the male Blue Rock Thrush and as I was watching them both I saw a male Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush on a bank behind them. This bird also flew across the track and landed near the two Blue Rock Thrushes. This was unprecedented for me in the camp and I was very happy made more so when another male joined them and started singing to a second female making four Blue Rock Thrushes in total. I stayed watching these birds for over an hour and as it was getting dark a fine male Hen Harrier flew over the jebals and off. Unfortunately as it was getting late I had put the camera in the car and the views although close and good were too quick to allow me to get back to the car, collect the camera and take a photo. Hen Harrier is a new bird on the ‘patch’ for me making it two within a week. It is only the second time I have seen Hen Harrier in Saudi Arabia with the first a male at Jebel Nayriyah in the winter two years ago.

Blue Rock Thrush - female

Blue Rock Thrush - female

Blue Rock Thrush - second female

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Blue Rock Thrush - male

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush - male

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush - male