Old record of Great Knot at Al-Khobar – Bird record by Cliff Peterson

An ex birder from Saudi Arabia, Cliff Peterson, contacted me recently and sent me his impressive list of birds seen in the country during his stay from August 1981 until January 1986. Cliff saw well over 300 species in the country birding mainly the Eastern Province, Riyadh area and a couple of overland trips to Asir province. Cliff mentioned he had a large collection of images taken on Kodacrome 64 with a Novoflex 600 and sent me a photo of two Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris on the south shore of Al-Khobar 28-30 May 1984, with one remaining until 9 June 1984. These were the first records for the country and very few have been seen since with all records I know of from the Eastern Province including One at Jubail lagoons in early April 1991, a flock of 107 in full breeding plumage at Al Awamiyah 9 April 1991, a second calendar year bird 11 May at Rahimah Ras Tanurah 1991 and one at Zur 26 November 1991. Cliff kindly allowed me to use his photo on my website and I have reproduced it below.