Red-veined Dropwing – Raydah Escarpment

One of Africa’s most common and widely distributed dragonflies, the male red-veined dropwing Trithemis arteriosa has a slender red abdomen and is named after the bright red veins running across its wings. It can also be found and across southern Europe and parts of the Middle East  including Saudi Arabia. The female and immature red-veined dropwing, have a yellowish-russet abdomen with a pale streak between the wings. As with other dropwing species, the wings are held downwards and forwards when at rest. Both the male and female red-veined dropwing have orange flecks at the base of the wings and large crimson eyes. The distinctive lower mouthparts are yellow with a central bronze stripe. Black splashes run along the sides of the abdomen, increasing in size up to the tip, which is entirely black. The flight period for adult red-veined dropwings is throughout the year, although they are more commonly seen during the summer months. Perching is thought to help the red-veined dropwing locate and catch prey and allows the male red-veined dropwing to lookout for female mates and intruders.

Steppe Buzzard - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area recently I came across a single Steppe Buzzard Buteo Buteo vulpinus. This is the first time I have seen the species in the area so was very pleased with the sighting. Steppe Buzzard is an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor that pass in March and April and again in September and October, merging with the occasional and sparse winter visitors which may appear in any or all months between the autumn and spring movements. 

Pied Wheatear eating Mole Cricket – Deffi Park

Whilst birding Deffi Park recently I came across a Pied Wheatear eating a Mole Cricket. The insect is from the family Gryllotalpidae measuring 3-5 cm long and as it is nocturnal, so they are seldom seen. This one was found by the Wheatear in the very early morning on a grass field. The scientific name derives from the Latin 'gryllus' meaning cricket and 'talpa', mole, and refers to its similarity to a mole in both looks and subterranean habits. The body is brown in colour and covered with fine velvety hairs, and the forelegs are greatly modified for digging with hands like a mole. Adults and nymphs can be found throughout the year in extensive tunnel systems that may reach a depth of over one metre. They occur throughout Europe, except Norway and Finland, through the Middle East to western Asia and North Africa. Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka is a common spring migrant that is less common in autumn. Most years birds are recorded in spring between early February and Mid-May, peaking in March and in autumn from late August to mid-November commonest in second half of September. 

Salt Heliotrope – Deffi Park

Whilst birding Deffi Park recently I came across a Salt Heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum. It is an erect or spreading plant with, weak stems, stems fleshy, glabrous. The leaves are Grey-green or bluish-green; mostly oval or oblanceolate, short petioles or sub-sessile. The flower Color: White turning pale purple or yellow in the corolla throat; flowers small ¼ inch with 5 rounded lobes, bell-shaped, inflorescence spikes 2 to 4, scorpioid (like a scorpions upward-curled tail). Its Habitat Preferences are salty alkaline soils, sandy soils, streams and in or near moist areas.

Migrants arriving in good numbers – Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area in late March, it became obvious a good number of migrants had arrived. There were a good number of Tree Pipits scattered around, several late Water Pipits and a single Spotted Crake wandered out onto dome vegetation near the edge of a wet area, briefly. More than ten birds of both Daurian Shrike & Turkestan Shrike were seen and plenty of Pied Wheatears were also located. Seven Greater Spotted Eagles and ten Western Marsh Harriers were still present, but will be leaving very shortly back to their breeding grounds. Small groups of Snipe were seen occasionally but every bird we got close views of turned out to be Common Snipe. Several very bright male Black-headed Wagtail were also located indicating the start of passage for the species where many different subspecies should turn up in the next few weeks.

Black-headed Yellow Wagtail

Black-headed Yellow Wagtail

Common Shrike

Daurian Shrike

Turkestan Shrike

Spotted Crake

Crimson-speckled Footman - Jubail

Whilst birdwatching in Jubail I found a number of Crimson-speckled Footman Utetheisa pulchella. The Crimson-speckled Footman is a small, day flying moth measuring approximately 30-40mm in length. They are mostly white, speckled with black and crimson and have characteristic black eyes. The legs are white in colour and the antennae are black. The moth is found from Africa to southern Europe, throughout the Middle East, central & southern Asia and Australia. They are migratory moths and most often seen in February and March. They very rarely, if ever, land with their wings spread and almost always end up in a position similar to that in the photograph below.

Ruff - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubaul area recently I came across lrge numbers of Ruff on a flooded area of sabkha. One bird was a smart male white-headed individual that is shown below. Although Isee birds like this rarely in each year I have not untuil now managed to get any photogrpahs. Ruff Philomachus pugnax 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 so my record of 300-400 birds was a good number for the area.

Desert Hedgehog – Dhahran Hills

Whilst walking in Dhahran Hills in the very early morning I found a Desert Hedgehog and took the below photo on my phone. The Desert Hedgehog is a species found in northern Africa, from Morocco & Mauritania in the west to Egypt in the east as well as the Middle East including Israel, Jordon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman & Yemen. A typical hedgehog in appearance the Desert Hedgehog has a dense, spiny coat, an elongated snout and the ability to curl into a defensive ball when threatened. Its most distinctive feature is the contrasting dark muzzel and broad white, spineless band across the face, which extends onto the flanks. The ears are relatively short and rounded and like other members of the genus, there is a naked patch on the forehead. The legs are long and dark and the underside is softly furred and is usually a mixture of black, brown and white while the spines on the back are a light colour with two dark bands. The overall colouration is quite variable, with some individuals almost totally white, and others completely dark. It is one of the smallest of hedgehogs being 14 - 28 cms in length and weighing 285 - 510 grams. As its common name suggests, the Desert Hedgehog inhabits dry deserts, dry steppe and other arid terrain and often favours areas such as oasis and vegetated wadis where food is more readily available. It has also been recorded in gardens, cultivated areas, open woodland and parks like the areas it is found in Dhahran Camp. It is active at night, is solitary and forages on the ground for a range of insect and other invertibrate prey, as well as occasionally small vertibrates and even species such as scorpions, spiders and snakes. They enter hibernation between January & February, when the temperatures are cooler and may also become less active during the hottest months and when food is scarce.

‘Vitata’ Pied Wheatear - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area in late March I came across a ‘vittata’ form of Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka. This is only the second time I have seen this form in Saudi Arabia with the first on my local patch of Dhahran. The position of the ‘vittata’ is not completely clear but is generally considered a colour morph of Pied Wheatear. Alternatively it may reflect an ancient hybridization between O. pleschanka and Black-eared Wheatear O. hispanica east of the Caspian. HBW says “the apparent scarcity of individuals displaying the ‘vittata’ phenotype in other areas where the two species hybridize, yet its relative abundance beyond the easternmost range of O. hispanica melanoleuca, give greater credence to the colour morph theory”. The white-throated form, ‘vittata’ is similar to Eastern Black-eared Wheatear but the mantle is black. They form a very small percentage of Pied Wheatears making up only 1-2% of the population. 

Birding the pivot fields – Jebal Hamrah

A look at the three accessible pivot irrigation fields near Jebal Hamrah produced a lot of species with many birds using the fields and others the spray equipment as resting places whilst on migration. The majority of birds were larks with 400 Greater Short-toed Lark and several Crested Larks in the pivot fields and two Bar-tailed Lark and ten Desert Larks on the stony ground approaching the fields. Several Common Chiffchaff were around as were Barn Swallows and the first Sand Martin of the year for me. Pale Crag Martins were also over the fields in small numbers along with a couple of Brown-necked Raven and a single unidentified eagle. Common Kestrel was on the cliffs and a female Pallid Harrier flew over one of the pivots. Tawny Pipit was common with up to twenty birds seen feeding in the grassy areas.

Bar-tailed Lark

Bar-tailed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Greater Short-toed Lark

Crested Lark