An early morning trip to the Dammam / Al Khobar Wader Roost and the nearby Dhahran Expro Wader Roost was undertaken very early in the morning to catch the high tide. The trouble with early morning at the Dammam / Al Khobar Wader Roost is the sun is in the wrong direction making it difficult to view the birds and almost impossible to take photographs. One Crab plover was still present along with 16 Eurasian Curlew and the typical small waders normally seen here. A Steppe Grey Shrike was seen perched on a fence and in a tree on the way out of the site. The Dhahran Expo Wader Roost is on the sabkha behind the road and as a result can be viewed more easily in the morning and photos can be taken. On the way to the site it became obvious that quite a few migrants had arrived overnight with an Upchers Warbler, a Siberian Stonechat, three Turkestan Shrikes, Black-eared Wheatear and Isabelline Wheatear.
 |
| Turkestan Shrike |
 |
| Dunlin |
The wader roost itself had 100+ Bar-tailed Godwits, 28 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 150+ Dunlin, 22 Eurasian Oystercatchers, 30+ Grey Plovers, 100+ Little Stints, 50+ Common Redshanks and several Lesser Sand Plovers and Gretaer Sand Plovers. 47 Gull-billed Terns were also in the wader roost and 87 Slender-billed Gulls.
 |
| Lesser Sand Plover |
 |
| Little Stint |