Whilst birding at Haradh n 13 January Phil Roberts and
I found 60 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
in a wet pivot irrigation field. This is easily the largest number I have seen
as a single time in the Kingdom and was very unusual as the location is well
over 100 kilometres from the coast. Mallard is a common resident and winter
visitor in the Central Province, normally recorded from November to February. Birds
of the Riyadh Region (Stagg 1994) said the species is a localised breeding
resident and winter visitor. First bred on the Riyadh watercourse in 1984 and
has continued to do so each year since in steadily increasing numbers. Young
appear from early April onwards and by mid to late July are starting to flock.
Winter visitors arrive in October and depart in May. In the main they
congregate in small scattered groups along the watercourse but flocks of
300-400 have been recorded. In the Eastern Province they are an uncommon
passage migrant and winter visitor that generally occurs from late August until
May, with peak numbers from September to March. It occurs mainly in the coastal
zone where they often frequent coastal areas and inland pools. The only regular
sites are the Dammam area where birds are often seen in Tarout Bay. Sabkhat Al
Fasl regularly has small flocks of up to 35 birds in the winter. Inland records
have come from Dhahran Saudi Aramco camp percolation pond and Abqaiq lagoons
where birds are seen each winter in numbers up to 15 birds so this record of 60
birds well inland at Haradh is an unusual occurrence.
