Birding Jubail on 1 October proved quite slow with very few migrants seen in the first hour of light. Things picked up slightly, later, with a few good birds seen by the end of the day. The best bird was a Eurasian Hobby perched on a small shrub for a while before departing and not being relocated, which was my first sighting of the species at this location. More common migrants seen were a few Yellow Wagtails, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Blue-cheeked and European Bee-eaters and a Eurasian Wryneck. Herons were around in very large numbers with 500+ Little Egrets, 200+ Squacco Heron, 150+ Grey Heron, four Purple Heron, two Great Egret and a Eurasian Spoonbill. Interesting waders were Marsh Sandpiper and two Pied Avocet with 300+ Caspian Tern and 30+ Gull-billed Tern. Numbers of Purple Swamphen are on the increase with 50+ seen for the first time in many months. Three Ferruginous Duck were a nice record of this uncommon species in Saudi Arabia.
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| Eurasian Hobby |
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| Eurasian Wryneck |
