It has been very cold in Saudi Arabia during the last week with nighttime temperatures reaching 3 degrees Celsius and daytime temperature struggling to get over 15 degrees Celsius. The cold weather has brought a few new birds to the ‘patch’ and there is still time for something really good to show up as the weather is due to stay cold for the next few days. Birds seen during the week include one Common Snipe, four Black-winged Stilt, four Green Sandpipers and six Rock Doves on the settling pond.
Rock Dove
One Common Kestrel, two Siberian Stonechats, three Eurasian Skylarks, five Song Thrushes and twenty Water Pipits were in the spray fields. The scrubby desert near the spray fields held one Isabelline Wheatear, one male Desert Wheatear, three Tawny Pipits, six Water Pipits and 33 White Wagtails. The percolation pond had one Common Sandpiper, one Grey Heron, two Eurasian Wigeon, two Eurasian Coot, three Black-winged Stilts, five Common Moorhen and 1000+ Great Cormorant. Nine Common House Martins and 11 Pallid Swifts where see flying over the percolation pond and spray field area. This is the first time this year I have seen Common House Martin, Common Kestrel, Isabelline Wheater, Desert Wheatear, Eurasin Wigeon and Common Sandpiper on the ‘patch’. A few migrant are struggling through at the moment and in a few weeks-time things should really start to pick up.