Birds of Saudi Arabia: A few more migrants passing through

Birding the ‘patch’ during the last week has added a few new migrants to the list of species seen this year with the occasional surprise added as well. Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush is not common in Dhahran but this year has been a good one so far for the species. Up until the 13 April I had only seen male birds but I located a female in a slightly unusual place of the top of a small tree. It did drop down and then behave like a Rock Thrush for a while before flying off. The first Ortolan Buntings of the year for me were seen in small numbers early in the week with birds mainly seen in the spray fields and the scrubby area near the percolation pond. Many of the birds were brightly coloured males and hopefully many more will be seen over the coming few weeks. Another species I have seen for the first time this spring in the camp were Red-throated Pipits with a few flying over calling and a couple seen on the ground in the spray fields. Other birds that have been seen in increasing numbers included Common Redstarts and Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins. A scattering of Turkestan Shrikes are still passing through with most being males and plenty of Barn Swallows have been over the spray fields in the late evening. The settling pond has had a few waders with two Common Greenshanks, five Kentish Plovers, four Black-winged Stilts and two Little Ringed Plovers. Two additional Little Ringed Plovers were seen on a wet area near the percolation pond and a Squacco Heron was feeding in the wet areas of the spray field.