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23 February 2015

A mix of winter visitors and migrants – Sabkhat Al Fasl

I went birding to Sabkhat Al Fasl as it was too windy for ringing and although we did not see anything out of the ordinary we did see a good mix of winter visitors and migrants. Winter visitors included Greater Spotted Eagles, Common Kingfishers, European Stonechats (although this bird may have been an early migrant) and Red-spotted Bluethroats. Other winter birds included Great Cormorant and Pied Avocet. Most of these birds will be feeding up now to get ready for their long migrations north to their breeding grounds. Migrants included Yellow Wagtail, Barn Swallow and Little Ringed Plover all of which are early migrants through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. One Barn Swallow had very rufous underparts suggesting it may have been a different subspecies to the ones we normally get. A few of the resident species were also seen with good numbers of Purple Swamphens and Little Grebes in particular. 
Greater Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Common Kingfisher - male
Common Kingfisher - male
Red-spotted Bluethroat
Red-spotted Bluethroat
Yellow Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail
Little Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Barn Swallow
Barn Swallow
Great Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Pied Avocet
Pied Avocet
Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen
Little Grebe
Little Grebe
Little Grebe
Little Grebe