Birds of Saudi Arabia: Fewer birds but still good - Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm

Whilst birding Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015 Phil and I saw a few good birds even though the numbers were considerably reduced from the previous weekend. Probably the best bird excluding the Short-toed Eagle and Juvenile Montagu’s Harrier was a Wryneck seen on the edge of a pivot irrigation field. Plenty of birds like the edges of the fields with Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears common. There were three species of Wheatear including Isabelline, Northern and Pied from commonest to least common. Up to 15 Greater Hoopoe Larks were still present but the number of Greater Short-toed Larks had dropped considerably with only one seen. We saw two Eurasian Turtle Doves a species we had not seen the previous week as well as five species of shrike Woodchat Shrike, Daurian Shrike, Turkestan Shrike, Mauryan Grey Shrike and Lesser Grey Shrike. The commonest birds were Eurasian Bee-eater and Eurasian Hoopoe. A single Spotted Flycatcher and Lesser Whitethroat were seen in the trees by the side of the road.