On 14 August whilst birding
Sabkhat Al Fasl I located a single Egyptian Nightjar under a small bush at some
distance on a sabkha area. This was in the same are where Phil and I had seen
13 birds in August 2014. We got out of the car and had a walk around the area
and located a total of 15 birds, accidentally flushing a couple we had not seen
during counting. The birds when flushed only flew a short distance and landed
again, normally then walking a short distance to rest in the shade under a
nearby bush. This is the highest count ever for Saudi Arabia and adds to the
possibility that birds breed nearby, although we have never had positive proof
of breeding. We will keep looking in this area and given the breeding birds in
nearby Bahrain and the egg laying dates of late April/early May, we will look
very carefully next year to see if these birds are breeding at this site.
