Citrine Wagtail - Dhahran Hills

An afternoons birding after work yesterday in Dhahran Hills started with a visit to the drainage ditch that has been holding a bit of runoff treated water recently. This area has been attracting a few waders and today was no different with three Little Stints, one Common Ringed Plover (with missing foot), one Little Ringed Plover, three Green Sandpipers, one Wood Sandpiper and a Ruff. Better still the ditch had a Yellow Wagtail (unidentified subspecies) as well as a first year Citrine Wagtail on the wet area at the end of the ditch.


Citrine Wagtail - first year



Yellow Wagtail



Little Ringed Plover

Little Stint

Little Stint


I then moved on across the scrubby desert area which has held very few birds over the summer to the percolation pond. The pond is just starting to attract birds again with a juvenile Little Bittern seen in flight, but all the herons of recent days appear to have moved on. Duck numbers are increasing with 25 Northern Shovellers and 13 Garganey present as well as a Great Crested Grebe. The only other bird of note was a Ruff flying around trying to find somewhere suitable to land. Finally a look around the spray fields for shrikes and Wheatears produced a Southern Grey Shrike in the bushes at the side of the pond details of which I will post later as well as a single Isabelline Wheatear.



Garganey

Northern Shoveler