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31 January 2016

Wintering Masked Shrike & White-throated Kingfisher and other good birds – Deffi Park, Jubail

Phil and I went to Deffi Park, a large municipal park in Jubail. The park is an area of mature trees and nice grass areas but is popular with locals during the day. As a result we always arrive just before first light and look around and have found a few good birds over the years. The last visit was no exception when we found a White-throated Kingfisher in some trees next to a small stream at one edge of the park. White-throated Kingfisher is a scarce bird to the Eastern Province of the Kingdom although they breed at Al Hair, Riyadh and appear to be coming more common in recent years. This is the first record for the park although birds have been seen at nearby Sabkhat Al Fasl in recent years. Other good birds by the stream included Grey Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, Common Greenshank and Indian Reef Heron. Looking around the trees and grass areas of the park produced a wintering Masked Shrike, and uncommon winter species that are more often seen during passage in the Eastern Province. There were plenty of wintering Chiffchaffs, as is normally the case for this location, as well as a few Water Pipits and plenty of White Wagtails.
Masked Shrike
Masked Shrike
Grey Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Common Chiffchaff
Common Chiffchaff