A quick visit to Dhahran Hills golf course at
lunchtime 9 March produced few birds but a few shrikes were about including the
Long-tailed Shrike which is gradually re-growing its tail. The bird is
difficult to locate and extremely wary of people and it is almost impossible to
get close to it. Shortly after I arrived a golf buggy scared the bird out from
its resting place and it flew up on top of a tall tree. It stayed only briefly
before flying off and disappearing not to be re-found. It was clear the tail
has grown quite a lot in the last four days and now it appears to have a long
tail again although not as long as the full grown tail it had when it was
originally found. Two other species of shrike were also seen including a
Turkestan Shrike and a Woodchat Shrike. This is the first Woodchat Shrike of
the year on the patch for me although I have seen them the last couple of
weekends at Sabkhat Al Fasl. Both of these shrikes were feeding from the hedges
along the middle section of the golf course and were too distant for
photography. The small pond has dropped in water level as some work is being
done in removing the phragmites reeds surrounding it in some areas but a few
Common Moorhens and Great Cormorants are still about. Apart for this very
little else was seen with the exception of a few White Wagtails feeding on the
short cut grass of the fairways.
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| Long-tailed Shrike |
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| Long-tailed Shrike |
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| Great Cormorant |