Birds of Saudi Arabia: A huge fall of Shrikes - Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili)

In early September on an exceptional day of birding at Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail, we had a massive fall of shrikes. It was obvious as soon as we got to the location migrants were everywhere but shrike numbers were particularly impressive. By the end of the day we had seen eight different species (Red-backed Shrike, Turkestan Shrike, Daurian Shrike, Southern Grey Shrike, Steppe Grey Shrike, Masked Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike and Woodchat Shrike). Some birds were relatively easy to get close to, suggesting them may be freshly arrived migrants, but luckily the are where they were held plenty of food for them and they were mostly busily hunting it. Due to the number of birds seen throughout the day it was difficult to keep accurate numbers but we probably saw close to fifty Woodchat Shrikes, the species that was the most common. We also saw between five and ten Red-backed Shrike, Turkestan Shrike and Daurian Shrike, one Southern Grey Shrike and Masked Shrike, six Steppe Grey Shrikes and over ten Lesser Grey Shrikes. This made the grand total for the day of approaching 100 birds. This is easily the highest numbers of shrikes we have seen in a day whilst birding in the Kingdom, although we once saw well over fifty Red-backed Shrikes on a morning at Sabkhat Al Fasl in the spring. It was not only the totals that were impressive but also the number of species seen with all the Saudi Arabian shrikes seen in a day with the exception of the vagrant Bay-backed and Long-tailed Shrikes.