There are
now hundreds of Greater Sand Plovers returning to the Dhahran Expro Wader Roost
south with some birds still showing some signs of breeding plumage but most
being juveniles. The Greater Sand Plover is one of the first returning waders
and shows that autumn migration is now underway for waders at least. It will
take a few more weeks for peak numbers to build up but it is great to see the
first signs already. Other waders were thin on the ground with a small group of
13 Eurasian Curlews and two Common Redshanks all that I could find with the
exception of the locally breeding Kentish Plovers and Black-winged Stilts. A
few Indian Reef Herons of both light and dark colour morphs were also in the
area but very little else. Soon the numbers will build up and we should start
seeing our first returning Crab Plovers of the year. There are quite a few
summering Greater Flamingos along the coast this years and at least six birds,
adults and juveniles, were present at the wader roost. There is some bad news
though and that is that the entire area is now being filled in for housing and
it is only a matter of time before this area is useless for birds. I will keep
looking until the end though as this is a good place to try to locate unusual
waders.
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| Greater Sand Plover |
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| Eurasian Curlew |
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| Greater Flamingos |
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| Indian Reef Heron - dark phase |