Malaki Dam Lake

I went to the Malaki Dam Lake area in July (also known as Malakiyah, Wadi Jizan Dam or Hakima Dam) which is probably the largest and most variable expanse of freshwater habitats in the southwestern provinces of Saudi Arabia. This area is a large lake (17 04.72N, 42 97.88E) at the edge of the Asir foothills, 15km east of Abu Arish. It is fed by four main wadis and at high water levels the lake spreads to over ten square kilometres and has a large catchment area extending south into Yemen. The reservoir is bordered to the north by basaltic lava plains and to the south several rocky outcrops which form the edge of Wadi Juwwah, another excellent birding area. The surrounding acacia and salvadora scrubland is interspersed with Tamarix where the hills are grazed and cultivated with some areas with shallow water, the dead remains of flooded trees forming ideal roost sites for herons and egrets. The Lake is on a main migration route and its surrounding area has one of the highest diversities of breeding birds in Arabia with many species being of Afro-tropical origin accounting for the large number of species recorded. 

Juvenile Caspian Plovers – Al Asfar Lake

Phil and I went to Al Asfar Lake on 30 August and as we were looking at the waders along the edge of the lake shore we found two juvenile Caspian Plovers Charadrius asiaticus. They were very obvious because of the very rufous tones to the plumage and quite large size superficially resembling bright Greater Sand Plovers. Caspian Plover is a scarce passage migrant in the Eastern Province in small numbers during March and April and again from late July until early September. The peak passage of adults is during March and again from August when juveniles are also frequently seen. A flock of 500 was seen in late March 1982 on the northern steppes with other good numbers from the same area including 45 on the Dibdibah 14 April 1983, 30 there 4 November 1983 and 100 in the same area 28 March 1985. Most sightings occur away from the coast but they are often near inland waters. I have only seen them twice before this sighting with two juveniles at Sabkhat Al Fasl 28 August 2015 and three adults in ploughed fields at Haradh 5 February 2016

Desert Rose – Malaki Dam Lake

Whilst birding the Malaki Dam Lake area in July I came across a number of large Desert Rose Adenium obesumin. Adenium obesum is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that is native to the Sahel regions, south of the Sahara (from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan), and tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia. It is an evergreen or drought-deciduous succulent shrub which can also lose its leaves during cold spells. It can grow to 1–3 metres in height, with pachycaul stems and a stout, swollen basal caudex. The leaves are spirally arranged, clustered toward the tips of the shoots, simple entire, leathery in texture, 5–15 cm long and 1–8 cm broad. The flowers are tubular, 2–5 cm long, with the outer portion 4–6 cm diameter with five petals. The flowers tend to red and pink, often with a whitish blush outward of the throat.

Gabar Goshawk - Malaki Dam Lake

Whilst in Phil’s Fields near Sabya in southwest Saudi Arabia we came across a raptor hunting from the pivot irrigation system. There are two species that the bird could have been, Gabar Goshawk or Dark Chanting Goshawk. We had not seen Dark Chanting Goshawk in Saudi Arabia and were hoping for this species. The bird was obviously a fresh juvenile and althoygh we thought it was a Gabar Goshawk I asked Dick Forsman for his views. Dick very kindly replied saying “Definitely a fresh juvenile Gabar. The two species have rather different proportions, note especially long tail vs. short wings and white tips to secondaries, all typical of Gabar Goshawk”. These are some of the best photos I have taken of the species in Saudi Arabia.

Tiger Moth - Tanoumah

Whilst in Tanoumah I photographed a moth that appears to be a Tiger Moth. The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths, with around 11,000 species found all over the world. This group includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths (or tigers), which usually have bright colours, footmen, which are usually much drabber, lichen moths, and wasp moths. Many species have "hairy" caterpillars that are popularly known as woolly bears or woolly worms. The scientific name of this subfamily refers to this hairiness. 

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse – Abu Arish

Whilst birding the Abu Arish area in July I came across a few small groups of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus. The largest flock was 15 birds. The species is a common breeding resident on the Tihama and southern Red Sea coastlands, less common in the Northern Hejaz north to Rabigh with all records below 1000 metres. They are a relatively small species, with elongated central tail feathers, dark underwing, blackish belly and unmarked head. The male has a narrow pectoral band and chestnut brown belly darkening towards rear, whereas the female is more mottled above and shows a tricoloured ventral pattern. Races differ mainly in tone of upperpart coloration with the Arabian population P. e. erlangeri sandy coloured. They typically inhabit bare semi-desert, often with scattered thorny scrubs or trees including Acacia. They feed during the cooler hours of morning and afternoon and drink 2–3 hours after sunrise, while in very hot weather some individuals drink again before sunset.

Common Scarlet – Raydah Escarpment

Whilst on the Raydah Escarpment I photographed a butterfly that I was unable to identify. Phil Roberts also photographed the same butterfly recently in a similar place and identified it as a Common Scarlet Axiocerses harpax kadugalii. This is a species from the Afrotropics, ranging from Senegal, Central Africa and along the eastern coast, southern Arabia in the Asir and Dhofar areas. It is about 35 mm in size and fly year round. It uses various habitats from forest to missed acacia woodland, savannah and thorn bush to wadis. It upperwing is scarlet and black but the underwing is very different as shown in the photo below.

Helmeted Guineafowl – Abu Arish

Whilst birding the Abu Arish area in July I came across a small group of Helmeted Guineafowl Numida Meleagris. They were calling softly to each other with a very unusual call and I managed to get a single photo. After looking for them for quite a while I returned to the car and saw them again in the same place getting a couple of better photographs. The species is very rare in Saudi Arabia only occurring near Malaki Dam Lake in southwest Saudi Arabia. They occur in south-west Arabia including south-west Saudi Arabia. The Handbook of Birds of the World states N. m. mitratus (Pallas, 1764) – Tufted Guineafowl – W & E Tanzania S to E Mozambique, and W through Zambia and Zimbabwe to NE; generally this race is assumed to have been introduced to extreme south-west Saudi Arabia.

Libyan Jird - Jubail

Whilst in the Jubail area at end of August I saw a Libyan Jird Meriones libycus. Although I have probably seen this species before they were brief views of animals bolting for cover. As a result I was uncertain if it was a Jird or Fat Sand Rat but thought more along the Jird line due to thin face and less fat appearance. I sent the photos below to Mansur Al Fahd who is extremely knowledgeable about most of the Kingdoms wildlife and he replied “This is a Libyan Jird, you can note the longer ears, reddish tail and black nails as well as daytime activity during a hot summer day. The tail tip is normally dense, but here it is small so may have had an accident”. 

It is a large species of jird with a head-and-body length of 100 to 160 mm and a similar-length tail and a weight of 56 to 105 g. The head is broad with large eyes, the fur is fine and dense and the hind legs are long. The upper parts are greyish-brown. The hairs on the underside have white tips and grey bases and the tail is pale brown except for the terminal third of the tail which is deep brown or blackish. The claws are dark-coloured, and the soles of the hind feet are partly hairy so that patches of bare skin are visible. In Saudi Arabia it may be confused with Sundevall's jird Meriones crassusbut that species is smaller, has pale claws and a smaller dark tail tuft. The Libyan Jird is native to North Africa and parts of Western and Central Asia. Its range extends from Mauritania and Morocco to Saudi Arabia, the Near East, Kazakhstan and Western China. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, intermittent saline lakes, hot deserts, and rural gardens. The Libyan jird may live alone or in small colonies, and is more sociable in winter when colonies may contain twenty or thirty individuals. It inhabits a burrow up to 1.5 m deep which is a fairly complex series of passages with multiple entrances, It is a diurnal species and forages for seeds, bulbs, tubers and leaves, as well as any dead insect it may find. It often carries the food back to the burrow and here large quantities are stored in chambers near the surface, deeper burrows being used for nesting. It is opportunistically migratory, moving to new territory when food becomes scarce. Breeding takes place throughout most of the year with several litters of about five young being born.

A few migrants - Jubail

Birding the Jubail area in late August produced a few migrants including three Common Cuckoos, Turkestan Shrike, a group of seven Garganey, Barn Swallow, House Martin and several Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. A few waders were seen including Ruddy Turnstone a species that is not commonly seen and the scarce Spur-winged Plover of which we saw three together. Resident species included Greater Flamingo and Grey-headed Swamphen. The reed beds had many Indian (Clamorous) Reed Warblers and Gracful Prinias. Migration is just picking up and hopefully many more birds will be seen in the coming weeks.

Garganey

Greater Flamingo

Grey-headed Swamphen

Grey-headed Swamphen

Ruddy Turnstone