Spur-winged Lapwing again at Ash Sharqiyah Development Farm – Bird records by Dave Kilminster

Dave Kilminster visited Ash Sharqiyah farm at the weekend. The weather was pretty awful – cold and windy, but there were good numbers of birds about. There was not too much on the lake: a large flock of Greater Cormorants, a Little Egret, a Grey Heron, some Little Grebes and a pair of Spur-winged Lapwings. Spur-wined Lapwing was a vagrant to the Eastern Province until a few years ago but now appears to be spreading into the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with birds regularly seen at Ash Sharqiyah farm. It will be interesting to see if they start breeding there soon. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of White Wagtails on the pivot irrigation fields. A pair of suspected common kestrels, but in the wind they moved too fast to conclusive views. A few other raptors were working the fields including Pallid Harrier. There were huge numbers of pipits (I am guessing Water Pipits). A few Desert Wheatears, European Stonechat, Crested Larks and lots of Namaqua Doves.

Spur-winged Lapwing

Dave has also been to Sabkhat Al-Fasl the previous two weeks, but had nothing unusual to report.
North of Jubail, the artificial wetlands where Dave works have seen the Common Ringed Plovers return. There have been four Jack Snipes here for a few months now and the workers watched a Marsh Harrier catch and eat one.