Whilst birding the Al Khobar area in late February I came across a few Greater Sand Plovers feeding on the coast. The birds were on the water’s edge against the sun, but luckily I later found them, or others, with some Lesser Sand Plovers, in the sandy area behind the beach where the light was in a better position for photography. Greater Sand Plover is a common species on passage, with small numbers staying throughout the winter, but it is difficult to get close to them as they are normally out on the tide line or in the flooded sabkha. The Lesser Sand Plover is a common passage migrant, uncommon winter visitor and rare summer visitor that are found along the coast from August to May. I managed to get quite close on this occasion and took a few photos of both species shown below.
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| Greater Sand Plover |
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| Greater Sand Plover |
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| Lesser Sand Plover |