Breeding Egyptian Nightjars in Bahrain – Records by Jehad Alammadi

Jehad Alammandi a birdwatcher from Bahrain sent me details recently of breeding Egyptian Nightjars in Bahrain. This is the second year running the species has bred in the country and these are the first breeding records for Arabia although they have also been suspected of breeding in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. These are also probably the first photos of a chick from Arabia also. The photo of the egg and chick were taken in May and the chick alone in June showing that breeding occurs from late April/early May onwards. Jehad has very kindly allowed me to use his photographs on my website but the copyright of them remains with Jehad.

Puprle Swamphens - Sabkhat Al Fasl

The Purple Swamphen is a locally common resident breeder at Sabkhat Al Fasl with a few pairs maximum breeding at nearby Khafrah Marsh. The first record for Saudi Arabia was at Sabkhat Al Fasl core area on 8 August 2003 but numbers have expanded rapidly with 73 birds seen in May 2015. The species favoured habitat is large Phragmites australis reed-beds with associated water which is available at all the sites the species has been seen at in Saudi Arabia. Breeding was confirmed at Sabkhat Al Fasl in 2007 with numbers increasing each year since this date. A new breeding site for the species was found in August 2011 at Khafrah Marsh where six adults and a juvenile were seen. This site is located 30 kilometres southwest of Sabkhat Al Fasl. Other signs of the species expanding its range include a record from Dhahran percolation pond, 130 kilometres to the south of Sabkhat Al Fasl in October 2009 a recent sighting of one and possible two birds at Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili 31st January 2013 and two further birds at Dhahran percolation pond in winter 2015. The Purple Swamphen that occurs in Saudi Arabia is of one of the grey headed eastern / Asian subspecies from the Porphyrio porphyrio poliocephalus group which are either Porphyrio porphyrio caspius or Porphyrio porphyrio seistanicus. P. p. poliocephalus is found from India and Sri Lanka to south China and north Thailand. It has cerulean blue scapulars, face throat and breast. P. p. caspius is from the Caspian Sea area, and is like P. p. poliocephalus, but is larger whereas P. p. seistanicus occurs from Iraq to Pakistan, and is like P. p. poliocephalus, but larger although smaller than P.p caspius. As mentioned previously DNA evidence from two Saudi Arabian birds I trapped and ringed indicate they are Grey-headed Swamphens P. p. poliocephalus and further samples have just been sent from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for DNA analysis that may throw some more light on the situation here.

Blubber Jellyfish - Half Moon Bay

Whilst at Saudi Aramco Half Moon Bay beach recently we saw a few Blubber Jellyfish. Half Moon Bay is a shallow and warm coastal area near Dhahran in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where the species is often found in swarms. Blubber Jellyfish have a translucent sub-hemispherical bell up to 35 centimetres across and eight conical arms and are quite common in the shallow coastal waters southwards to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates at certain times of the year, mainly the spring and summer. During the day the Blubber Jellyfish swims close to the water surface to obtain sunlight that it converts to energy. They come in various colours from translucent greyish white, like the ones at Half Moon Bay, to blue-green or even bright blue and reddish.

Collared Kingfisher – Red Sea Mangroves

The Collared Kingfisher Todirhamphus chloris is a common breeding resident of Mangrove stands in the Red Sea coast from Amaq south to Sabya. Birds probably occur further north and south but have not been proved there as of yet. Recently I checked a number of good mangrove areas between Either, west of Sabya, and Amaq, north of Al Birk, and found Kingfishers in all of them. This is very encouraging as this is a habitat and range restricted species in Saudi Arabia. Collared Kingfisher is a common breeding resident in southwest Saudi Arabian Mangrove forests, but has a restricted range and a preference for habitat that is under serious threat in the Kingdom. The subspecies occurring in Saudi Arabia is currently recorded as T. c. abyssinicus that occurs from the southern Red Sea coasts from north-east Sudan to north-west Somalia and in to western Arabia. It is a medium-sized kingfisher with variable plumage pattern with the male showing a white supraloral spot and a black mask extending in a narrow band across hindneck, white collar, greenish-blue crown and upperparts, brighter blue rump, blue wings and tail and white underparts. The upper mandible is grey-black with the lower mandible yellowish-horn with dark brown cutting edges and tip. The female has slightly duller plumage. The birds have a loud, ringing or harsh “kee-kee-kee-kee” call, repeated 3–5 times and can perch for long periods, with little activity, 1–3 metres above the ground. They feed mainly on crustaceans such as crabs but also on small fish.

The Milky Way and night sky near Tabuk – Record by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson has sent me a couple of his excellent night sky photos taken during a trip to the desert near Tabuk. Viv’s photos are shown below and he has given me permission to use them on my website. As I know nothing about the night sky Viv has also sent me details of some of the stars to be seen in the photos for which I thank him very much. The Milky Way shot contains the main constellations of Scorpius, the scorpion which contains the red star Antares, the rival of mars. It is the 15th brightest star. Greek mythology has it that Orion was killed by the scorpion and is still running away from it, in the heavens. Sagittarius, the archer. The Greeks believe the constellation represents both a Centaur and the archer, Crotus, a great marksman. It contains the globular cluster, M22. The lagoon and Omega nebula and Barnards Galaxy. Ophiuchus was one of the 48 constellations recorded by Ptolemy in the second century AD. It is a zodiacal constellation, but not one of the astrological signs. In Greek mythology it represents the healer, Asclepius and translates to "he who holds the serpent". Serpens in ancient Greece, snakes were revered as symbols of rebirth, in part due to how they shed their skin. They were viewed as having poison with both venomous and healing properties. It contains the globular cluster of M5, M16 and the Eagle Nebular and the 'Pillars of Foundation". Scutum is a small summer constellation. It was named by Johannes Hevelius in 1684.It was named after King John III Sobieski of Poland, who led an allied resistance to victory over the invading forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1683. The Wild Duck cluster M11 is located here. Also the planet Saturn is lurking just to the right of the red star, Antares.

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. Its name "milky" is derived from its appearance as a dim glowing band arching across the night sky whose individual stars cannot be distinguished by the naked eye. The term "Milky Way" is a translation of the Latin via lactea, from the Greek γαλαξίας κύκλος (galaxías kýklos, "milky circle"). From Earth the Milky Way appears as a band because its disk-shaped structure is viewed from within. Galileo Galilei first resolved the band of light into individual stars with his telescope in 1610. Until the early 1920s most astronomers thought that the Milky Way contained all the stars in the Universe. Following the 1920 Great Debate between the astronomers Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis, observations by Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies—now known to be billions.

Willow Warblers in the Eastern Province - Sabkhat Al Fasl

Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus is a common spring passage and uncommon autumn passage migrant through Sabkhat Al Fasl that is scarce in the summer and rare in the winter. This is a change in status from Peter Symens & Abdullah H Alsuhaibany, study from May 1992 until May 1995 where they were recorded as Abundant. They are a long-distance migrant passing through the site in late spring from late March to early June and again from mid-August to October where they occurred in reeds, bushes and trees anywhere. Their migration period was later than Common Chiffchaff P. collybita in spring, with a short overlap period occurring in the last week of March and the first week of April, and earlier in autumn. Peak passage occurred during 10 April to 2 May with the latest bird trapped in the spring being 7 June. Some of the birds caught in spring had extensive amounts of fat present indicating they had fed well at the location and were about to move on. Two or three sub-species appear to occur at the site with one being the smaller, more brightly coloured olive-green and yellow nominate P. t. trochilus that breeds in Ireland, Britain and Southern Sweden south to northern Spain, central and north-west France east to Southern Poland and northern Romania and winters in sub-Saharan west Africa that was a common passage migrant. The Willow Warbler is a very variable species with as much variation within races as there is between them and are clinal across their range with acredula being very variable and intergrading with yakutensis in Siberia which was reflected in the other type seen that was the larger P. t. acredula / P. t. yakutensis. P. t. acredula breeds from Scandinavia, except southern Sweden & central and east Europe to central Siberia and winters in Africa south of Sudan and was a scarce passage migrant. Some of these birds were not very distinctive and most probably referred to acredula with the large, bulky, very brown/grey and white birds with yellow fringes to the secondaries being either P. t. acredula / P. t. yakutensis. These had wing lengths of greater than 73 mm and tail lengths greater than 56 mm and occurred in the first week of May, slightly later than the first wave of P. t. trochilus. P. t. yakutensis breeds in central and east Siberia and winters in east & South Africa and were the largest and palest race, showing virtually no yellow and very little green in their plumage, and were paler brown above and white with a greyish wash to breast. The rump and fringes to the retrices and remiges showed only a trace of olive-green and the supercillium was almost white and they had smaller bills and occasionally some streaking on the throat and upper breast. This makes it difficult to assign birds to certain races unless a clear distinctive example can be found which is best done on size and colour, but only fresh plumaged birds should be considered. Below are photos of presumed trochilus, acredula/yakutensis and acredula type birds.

trochilus type

acredula type

acredula / Yakutensis type

African Grey Hornbill – Wadi Jaw

The subspecies of African Grey Hornbill that occurs in the southwest of Saudi Arabia is L. n. nasutus that occurs from southern Mauritania east to Eritrea and southern Somalia, south to northern Sierra Leone, north Cameroon, north Uganda and north Kenya as well as southwest Saudi Arabia and western Yemen. They birds are nowhere common in Saudi Arabia but can be seen in various locations including the Raydah Escarpment area. They can sometimes be heard calling a series of shrill piping whistles. They mainly eat insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles, but also lizards, fruit and seeds where it deeds at varying heights among the foliage of trees and bushes. They are sedentary in areas with mixed open trees and measure 45 centimetres in length, so is a large bird, although it is one of the smaller hornbills. It has mainly grey plumage, but the head, flight feathers and long tail are a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the head and one on the back which is visible only in flight. The long curved bill is black and has a small casque and a white horizontal stripe.

Goat herder near Tabuk – record by Viv Wilson

The people of Saudi Arabia are descended from tribes of nomadic sheep, goat and camel herders and maintain many of the traditions of their past. Among nomads there is a dichotomy as well as a status differential between those who herd sheep and goats and those who herd camels. Because sheep and goats are more demanding in their need for water and thus more limited in their migrations, their herders migrate shorter distances and have greater contact with the oasis population. Camels, on the other hand, can endure much longer periods without water, and camel herders are thereby able to range much more widely than other pastoralists. Camel-herding tribes were usually the most powerful militarily and had more status than other herders.

A few interesting birds near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson a birder from Tabuk has sent a number of photos to me over the last few weeks and has kindly allowed me to reproduce a few below. These birds include resident species such as Tristram’s Starlings, White-spectacled Bulbuls, Palestine Sunbird, Southern Grey Shrike and Desert Lark, all species that do not occur in the Eastern Province where I bird watch with the exception of Desert Lark and Southern Grey Shrike, both of which are uncommon in my region. The other species are limited to the west of the Kingdom although some occur as eastwards as far as the Riyadh area.

Tristram's Starling

Tristram's Starling

Southern Grey Shrike

Desert Lark

Palestine Sunbird

White-spectacled Bulbul

Antlion in Tabuk – Record by Viv Wilson

Antlion is a name applied to a group of about 2,000 species of insects in the family Myrmeleontidae. Strictly speaking, the term “antlion" applies to the larval form of the members of this family and the adults are called "antlion lacewings". Antlions are worldwide in distribution, most common in arid and sandy habitats. The antlion larvae eat small arthropods, mainly ants, while the adults of some species eat small pollen and nectar, while others are predators of small arthropods in the adult stage too. The adult has two pairs of long, narrow, multi-veined wings in which the apical veins enclose regular oblong spaces, and a long, slender abdomen. Although they greatly resemble dragonflies or damselflies, they belong to an entirely different infraclass among the winged insects. Antlions are easily distinguished from damselflies by their prominent, apically clubbed antennae which are about as long as head and thorax combined. They also are very feeble fliers and are normally found fluttering about in the night, in search of a mate. The adult is thus rarely seen in the wild because it is typically active only in the evening. I would like to thank Viv Wilson for allowing me to use his photographs on my website and Mansur Al Fahad for identifying the insect for me.