Phil Roberts and I found a winter plumaged Red-necked Phalarope on some flooded Sabkha in Jubail in late September. Red-necked Phalarope is an uncommon bird in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with Jubail the best place in the Province to see them. Bundy’s ‘Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia’ published in October 1989 states that they are regular in varying numbers on marshy pools in spring but very scarce and irregular in autumn. Records are regular in Kuwait to the north but from the Eastern Province are limited with one record from March, scare in April and regular in May with the peak inland count being 150 birds at Abqaiq in May 1976. As shown they were regular in years gone by but have become increasingly scarce, although in the last seven years birds have been seen each year. Recent sightings have been in February, May, June, August, September and October.
