Carmine Darter – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birding the Dhahran Waste Water Lake recently I came across a few Carmine Darter Crocothemis erythraea. The Carmine Darter is a common dragonfly throughout the Middle East, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. The male is carmine red, while the female is a significantly drabber yellow-buff colour with two paler marks on top of the thorax. It is a medium-sized dragonfly approximately 52mm in length. The abdomen is wider than other members of the family, flattened and tapering to the end. It is widespread in the Arabian Peninsula where it prefers a habitat of rocky areas and dry watercourses as well as shallow, still, eutrophic waters such as small ponds, paddy fields, and desert pools, but it avoids oases. Adults only live for up to two months. Adults spend much of their time perched on vegetation although they have a fast, darting flight and hover frequently.

Various subspecies/types of Yellow Wagtail – Dhahran Hills

Whilst birding the Dhahran Hills football fields in the spring I came across a number of different subspecies/types of Yellow Wagtails. The main numbers were Sykes Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava beema amongst them, which is an early migrant with March and April being the best months for seeing them. They are more often seen in spring then autumn. A single thunbergi, also known as Grey-headed Wagtail was seen. This subspecies occurs from Scandinavia eastwards to northwest Siberia and they winter mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and across South & southeast Asia. Yellow Wagtails are common in the Eastern Province throughout the spring with various subspecies passing but thunbergi appears to be one of the late passing subspecies with most records occurring in late April and May, so this bird was an early migrant. As always with wagtails they were difficult to get good photographs of as they are always moving and in areas with lots of vegetation. My best shots are shown below. The other common Yellow Wagtail seen was Black-headed Wagtail feldegg which along with melanogrisia are often the first subspecies to occur. They are then followed by bema, flava and thunbergi. The Black-headed Wagtail is part of the Yellow Wagtail complex a group of birds that are common spring and autumn passage migrants, sometimes in hundreds. Thy pass from mid-February to May and again from early August to mid-November with many races identifiable in the field including feldegg, melanogrisia, lutea, flava, thunbergi and bema. By April, flocks of more than a hundred birds are regularly recorded in cultivated areas. Sykes's Wagtail and Blue-headed Wagtail are sometimes difficult if not impossible to separate in the field.

Black-headed Wagtail - feldegg

Blue-headed Wagtail - flava

Sykes's Wagtail - beema

Grey-headed Wagtail - thumbergi

Sykes's Wagtail - beema

White Wagtail

 

Doubleday’s Acraea – Raydah Escarpment

Whilst birdwatching at the bottom of the Raydah escarpment in the southwest of the Kingdom I came across a very bright butterfly with orange-red upperwings but much paler underwings and a distinctive white abdomen. The butterfly would settle and immediately close its wings so I could only photograph the underwing. This butterfly turned out to be a Doubleday’s Acraea Acraea doubledayi a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family that are the largest family of butterflies with about 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Many hold their colourful wings flat when resting and are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies, this is because they are known to stand on only four legs which often have a brush-like set of hairs. Many species are brightly colored and include the emperors, Monarch butterfly, admirals, tortoiseshells, and fritillaries. However, the underwings are in contrast often dull or much paler, producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterfly disappear into its surroundings. The larvae feed on Adenia species a genus of flowering plants in the passionflower family distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The genus name Adenia comes from the Greek aden "gland", and is inspired by the prominent leaf glands of most species. It is found in Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen with the subspecies azvaki found only in southwest Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

 

Red-throated Pipits – Dhahran Hills

Birding Dhahran Hills, where I live, last week produced good numbers of Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus on one of the grass football fields. Some of the birds were coming into nice breeding plumage showing why they are called the name they are. Red-throated Pipit is a common passage migrant to all areas of the Kingdom. Mainly recorded from mid-March to May in spring, with a noticeable peak in middle of April, so these birds fitted the pattern nicely. Lower numbers are seen in autumn between early-October and late-November when it is generally uncommon with a few wintering in Central and eastern areas as well as Tabuk.

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins – Al Uqair

Whilst birding Al Uqair at the end of March we saw at least four Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin Cercotrichas galactotes in a small date plantation. The species is an uncommon migrant and widespread breeding summer visitor throughout Saudi Arabia with birds arriving in late March and staying until October. They appear to be most common during the first week of May, with more than 10 recorded in one day. Birds of the Riyadh Region by Stagg (1994); mentions the species is a common breeding summer visitor, widespread throughout the region. Numbers have increased significantly in recent years in the wake of expanding cultivation. The species has been seen in the huge desert of the Empty Quarter with one at Sabkha 40 on two days in suitable breeding habitat although this individual was more likely to have been a migrant as no song was heard. 

Eastern Cinereous Bunting – Al Uqair

An early morning trip to Al Uqair looking for migrants proved very fruitful with a nice Eastern Cinereous Bunting. Seen feeding on the ground outside the small farm. The yellow underparts make it the eastern form semenowi from SE Turkey rather than Western form cineracea with its greyish coloued underparts that comes from western Turkey. This is only the third time I have seen the species in Saudi Arabia. It is a scarce passage migrant & rare winter visitor and migrates across the Kingdom from March to May and again from August to September. There are scattered records from the Eastern province, near Riyadh and Tayif of birds travelling to or from their northern breeding grounds.

Encedon acraea – Raydah Escarpment

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.

 

 

Six Garganey – Dhahran Percolation Pond

Whilst birding the Dhahran Percolation Pond at the end of March looking to see what ducks were present, I came across three pairs of Garganey Anas querquedula. The only other duck seen were seven Shoveler with the majority of ducks already departed. Garganey is a common migrant to all areas of the Kingdom with often hundreds seen together. In the Eastern Province, it is a common passage migrant, rare summer and scarce winter visitor. Generally, they occur during spring migration from mid-February to late May with peak numbers in early March. Numbers are much more common during autumn migration which occurs from late August to mid-October with a peak in September when flocks of twenty plus birds are quite frequent. Records are rare between late May and late August and only small numbers are seen in the winter months of November to early February. Birds normally occur on freshwater lakes, pools and lagoons away from the coast although in autumn birds are sometimes seen on the shoreline and occasionally, they have even been seen on the sea. 

Red-throated Pipits – Dhahran Hills

Birding Dhahran Hills football fields recently I came across a large flock of Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus. Some of the birds were coming into nice breeding plumage showing why they are called the name they are. The birds were actively feeding, particularly in areas that had just been sprayed, and many were close the the edge of the field allowing close approach and good photos to be taken. Red-throated Pipit is a common passage migrant to all areas of the Kingdom mainly recorded from mid-March to May in spring, with a noticeable peak in middle of April. Lower numbers are seen in autumn between early-October and late-November when it is generally uncommon with a few wintering in Central and eastern areas as well as Tabuk.

Charaxes bernstorffi – Raydah Escarpment

Birding the large valley near Raydah Village area at 1300 metres ASL we came across a Charaxes bernstorffi a new butterfly species in Saudi Arabia for me. These occur in dry savanna, riverine forest containing Ficus spp. and Acacia spp and wooded narrow gorges to about 1000 m.  Charaxes bernstorffi is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae and is found in Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia. Charaxes means "to sharpen" or "to make pointed", referring to the pointed 'tails' on the hind wing of this butterfly. This location is close to Abha in the southwest mountains.