More waders along AlKhobar Corniche – Bird records by Arnold Uy

Arnold Uy went again to AlKhobar Corniche the day after he saw good numbers of waders there. This time Arnold managed to find a few different waders including a very confiding Terek Sandpiper. Arnold also saw a few juvenile White-cheeked Terns, birds that will be departing the Saudi Arabian coast in the next week or so as well as a few Indian Reef Herons, resident birds that are commonly seen along the coastline. Arnold kindly allowed me permission to use his photos on my website some of which are shown below.

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

White-cheeked Tern

Indian Reef Heron

Metopoceras omar moth - Record by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur has recently sent me a few moths he has caught near Riyadh and managed to identify. One such moth was Metopoceras omar that has a number of subspecies, with the one occurring in Saudi Arabia Metopoceras omar felix. This subspecies also occurs in Cyprus, Egypt, Sinai, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi-Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and eastern Africa. Metopoceras omar is a moth of the Noctuidae family and is widespread through the Palearctic from northwestern Africa to the Near East and Middle East. Adults are on the wing from January to April. There is one generation per year and it is an exclusively “extreme desert” species.

Waders along AlKhobar Corniche – Bird records by Arnold Uy

Whilst birdwatching along the Khobar Coniche Arnold Uy found good numbers of waders. I was birding the Jubail area at the same time and although saw different species to Arnold it was obvious waders were on the move. Arnold took some amazing photos of various species including Ruddy Turnstones, Curlew Sandpipers and Common Redshank. All three of these species as=re common passage migrants with Ruddy Turnstone the least common but still plentiful at the correct time of year. The whole coastline of Taraut bay is excellent for waders but it is not so easy to get close up views like Arnold has managed. Arnold has allowed me permission to show some of his photos on my website which can be seen below.

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Common Redshank

Curlew Sandpiper

Pale Small-branded Swift - Record by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahad sent me a some photos of Pelopidas thrax from the Riyadh area that he has kindly allowed me to use on my website. It is known as the pale small-branded swift, millet skipper or white branded swift and is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Greece, western and south-western Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Africa, Kashmir (northern Pakistan) and the far east. In Greece, it is only known from Samos and Rhodos, where it is found at altitudes of sea level to 75 meters and where adults are on wing in June.

Migrants lacking - Jubail

Whilst birdwatching in the Jubail area I saw a few good birds but very few migrants. The Egyptian Nightjars that I saw a few weeks ago are still present with at least three birds seen. This site, like the one in Al Hassa, seems to hold Egyptian Nightjars throughout the summer now indicating birds may be breeding somewhere nearby. The only migrants seen were waders and hirundines including Barn Swallows and Sand Martins. Wader numbers were low with the best ones seen being a few Ruddy Turnstones. Tern numbers were very high in early August with thousands of White Cheeked Terns included plenty of juveniles indicating a good breeding season which is encouraging as there were not many when we went tern ringing in Bahrain a few weeks ago. Other terns in good numbers included White Winged Tern, Caspian Terns, Gull-billed Terns and Little Terns.

Egyptian Nightjar

Egyptian Nightjar

Ruddy Turnstone

White-cheeked Tern - juvenile

White-winged Tern

Encedon acraea at bottom of Raydah Escarpment - Abha

Encedon acraea Acraea encedon is also known as the Common Acraea or White-barred Acraea. It is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family found in tropical Africa and south-western Arabia. The wingspan is 40–50 millimetres with the female being slightly larger than the male, but otherwise similar in pattern and colour. The apex of the forewing is blackish and divided by a white bar. The rest of the surface of the wings are usually orange with black spots, however paler varieties with a greyish or yellowish base colour are also found. There are two subspecies Acraea encedon encedon which is found in Africa south of the Sahara and in Madagascar. In South Africa this species is absent from the dry western parts of the country, but common in KwaZulu-Natal coastal areas on the eastern side of the country. The second subspecies is Acraea encedon rathjensi and is the one found in Saudi Arabia as it is present in south-western Arabia.

Pharaoh Eagle Owl – Bird record by Husain Alfraid

I received an e-mail from Husain Alfraid, who has an interest in photographing birds and wildlife. He mentioned that for the past couple of years a fellow birder and photographer and Husain have been closely watching a Pharaoh Eagle Owl nesting. This year there were two young but only one survived. The birds were photographed in the Jubail area and Husain has kindly allowed me to publish his photo on my website which is shown below. The Pharaoh Eagle Owl is distributed throughout much of North Africa and the Middle East, with two recognised subspecies. The subspecies Bubo ascalaphus ascalaphus occupies the northern part of the species range, being found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, northern Egypt and Israel east to western Iraq. By contrast, the smaller, paler and sandier coloured Bubo ascalaphus desertorum can be found in the Sahara Desert south to Mauritania & Niger and from Western Sahara, east, to Sudan, as well as in Eritrea, Ethiopia and much of the Arabian Peninsula, as far south as northern Oman and as far east as southern Iraq. They are found in arid habitats, including open desert plains, rocky outcrops and broken escarpments and jabals, mountain cliffs and wadis. Most records from Saudi Arabia have been attributed to the pale B. a. desertorum but there appear to be many birds resembling the sub-species B. a. ascalaphus. The bird photographed by Husain appears to be a typical ascalaphus desertorum.

Common Grass Yellow - Tanoumah

Whilst birdwatching in the Tanoumah area recently I came across a Common Grass Yellow butterflies Eurema hecabe. They are also known as ‘Large Grass Yellows’ or ‘Grass Yellows’ and are small to medium butterflies that are found in Africa, Arabia, Asia, South Pacific islands and Australia. They are bright lemon yellow in colour, and have black markings at the tips and bordersof the butterfly’s wings and a narrow black band on the hind wing, and the underside of the wings are paler yellow with brown speckles and a wingspan of 35 to 45 millimetres.  Common Grass Yellow butterflies like to fly quickly, close to the ground, are found in open grassy or bushy terrain, hence their name. They have different colouration in their wings depending on the season, known as ‘seasonal polyphenism’, resulting in generally darker wing colours in summer. They are often seen in large groups. The female is larger and a paler yellow, with broader black but diffused markings on the upper sides of both wings. There are typically two cell spots on the forewing – a characteristic that is mainly used to identify the lookalike species in the genus.

African Olive Pigeon – Raydah Esacarpment

Whilst birdwatching in the Raydah Esacarpment recently Phil Robrts and I saw two African Olive Pigeons. This was a species we had been looking for but had failed to see on many previous trips to the southwest of the Kingdom. It was only discovered as a new species for Saudi Arabia in the mid 1980’s by Mike Jennings. JENNINGS, M. C. 1986. The Olive Pigeon Columba arquatrix on Jebel Suda, Asir Province: a new bird species for Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula. J. Saudi Arab. Nat. Hist. Soc. (2)6:35-36. The birds we saw were seen just above the Raydah Farm where a number of other good birds were also seen including Yemen Thrush, Yemen Serin and Palestine Sunbird. We birded the entire valley seeing good birds in many places and plenty of Blackstart are the village near the bottom where African Grey-headed Kingfisher and Bruce’s Green Pigeon were also seen.

African Olive Pigeon

Yemen Thrush

Palestine Sunbird

Palestine Sunbird

Blackstart

Blackstart

Blackstart

Common Hairstreak - Raydah Escarpment

Whilst birding the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment near Abha I found and photographed an new butterfly for me in Saudi Arabia. This turned out to be a Common Hairstreak Hypolycaena philippus. They are also know as the the Purple-brown Hairstreak is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa and other areas including southwest Saudi Arabia. It has a wingspan of 22–28 mm for males and 23.5–31 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas with peaks in November and March or April.