Whilst birding the Jubail area recently I came across a small flock of unusual looking larks. One getting closer it became apparent they were Lesser Short-toed Lark which is only the third time I have seen the species in this area. They were feeding in some short growth by the edge of large flooded sabkha area but always remained on the dry ground. This is not a common bird in the areas of the Eastern Province that I bird although is a resident breeder and winters in certain areas in large numbers (>5000 birds). Luckily, I was able to get a number of reasonable photographs of the birds which are shown below. The light was not so good the day I saw the birds but the photos did not turn out too badly.
