Sykes Yellow Wagtail – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birdwatching the Dhahran Cricket Field in mid-September I came across a small group of Yellow Wagtail with a couple of nice Sykes Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava beema amongst them. The Yellow Wagtail is a common passage migrant through the whole of Arabia with many thousands passing through the Eastern Province alone. Birds are common in the spring migration period but less common in autumn and nice plumaged birds like the one in the photo below are not common during this period. As the birds are constantly on the move looking for food they are not so easy to get good photos of, although this bird was quite obliging as it walked very close collecting insects from the wet grass that had just beed sprayed with water. This bird has a longer, larger and bolder white supercilium than most individuals giving it quite a striking appearance. 

Whimbrels – Dhahran Cricket Field

Below are a few photos of Whimbrel I have taken over the last two weeks. I have been trying to get photos of birds on the ground as well as in flight to check the wing pattern, especially the underwing for signs of Steppe Whimbrel. I failed to find any birds looking like this subspecies but managed to get a few decent photos. Trying to take photos of the birds in flight was quite difficult when on my own, as the birds just run away and keep their distance. On occasions a runner or dog walker would flush the birds and if very lucky they would sometimes fly over me or circle around allowing some photos. Up to eight birds were on the cricket field and nearby grass football fields for the entire period mentioned with others joining and leaving after a day or so, making at least twelve birds in total.

Black-crowned Night-Heron – Dhahran Hills

I have been seeing Black-crowned Night Heron around the Waste Water Pond in Dhahran over the last few months, but numbers have been increasing in August and September. The last visit I saw approximately thirty birds with about half adults and half juveniles. Black-crowned Night Heron is an uncommon migrant to most areas of Saudi Arabia but in the Riyadh area is a common spring and autumn passage migrant passing early February to early June and again from late July to early November and rarely as late as December with birds now regularly breeding in the area. In the Eastern Province it is an uncommon migrant noted more often in autumn than spring. Juveniles occur from September through November and sometimes into February. Spring occurrences are irregular from April to May. I believe birds now breed near Dhahran as adults and juveniles have been seen throughout the year, and they are becoming a commoner sight. This is easily the largest number I have seen in Dhahran in as single visit.

Ruff – Dhahran Hills

I visited the cricket and football fields in Aramco Dhahran compound in early September and located at least two Ruff Philomachus pugnax feeding on the grass. These birds were very confiding and even though I was on foot I got very close to the birds. They only flew if someone came very close and then only a few metres before landing and feeding again. The Ruff is a common migrant and uncommon winter visitor with high counts of over a thousand being recorded occasionally in the Riyadh area during the spring. In the Eastern Province they are often common on pools inland and recorded in all months but mostly in October through March. High counts of 600 at Dammam Marsh in winter 1980 and similar counts from inundated fields at Dammam Second Industrial City in late 1980’s are the biggest counts for the province with numbers normally amounting to tens rather than hundreds.