I found a Spur-winged Lapwing in the late evening of 12th May on the edge of the percolation pond. The bird was still present in the early morning of the next day but flew off over the military base at 05:30hrs. I met the only other dedicated birder in Dhahran (Phil Roberts) by the spray fields in the evening of 13th May and told him I had seen the bird that morning but it had flown off. We went back to the percolation pond and fortunately the bird was back in the same area again. We left it there but it was not seen subsequently.
Phil had seen an unidentified Sociable / White-tailed Plover type at the spray fields a week before but we could not find it again. This Spur-winged Lapwing may possibly have been the same bird although if it was, it was not seen for a week even though I was out every morning and evening during that period.
Spur-winged Lapwing is rare in Dhahran and the Eastern Province, with only one previous record in Dhahran a far as I know. The Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by Bundy, Connor & Harrison (published in August 1989) only has two records and only a couple of other sightings are known to me for this area.
