Birds of Saudi Arabia: 02/23

28 February 2023

Migrants and Winter visitors – Dhahran Hills

At the edge of the Wastewater Lake in Dhahran Hills is some nice scrubby area that has been planted with native trees and bushes. These have become established and are holding a few birds. Delicate Prinia are singing from many areas but are not so easy to photograph and the cover is good for Indian Silverbill. I saw a single Hulme’s Whitethroat on one occasion, that was very mobile and although it came out into the open a few times, I never managed to get photos of it in a good position. A pair of Eastern Stonechat have been around for a few weeks, but I have never managed to get good photos or see the plumage details properly. Caspian Reed and Calmorous Reed Warblers have both started to sign loudly in the last week and Common Myna and Eurasian Collard Dove have been seen flying over or perched in the trees in the area. Three Western Marsh Harrier are around and at one stage I saw two in an aerial battle. One of the birds seems to have jessies attached to it, so looks like it was captured by hunters at some stage. The last week I have also seen both Common and Pallid Swift flying over the lake, but they are normally high up and don’t give the opportunity for decent photos.

Western Marsh Harrier

Hulme's Whitethroat

Indian Silverbill

Pallid Swift

Common Myna

Common Swift

Eastern Stonechat

Eurasian Collared Dove

26 February 2023

Dhahran Wastewater Pond – Dhahran Hills

The pair of Tufted Duck are still happily residing on the Wastewater Pond in Dhahran Hills, where there have also been seven Mallard on a couple of occasions. The Great Crested Grebe is also still present where it has now been for almost a year. Great Crested Grebe is relatively common in the winter in the Half Moon Bay area but is not so easy to get close too, so this bird is a refreshing change. Although, like the Tufted Ducks, it always stays on the far side of the lake, it is nevertheless close enough to take some reasonable photos. Other birds using the pond are Great Cormorants, where birds spend the entire day with some roosting in the large trees around the edge of the water. They are joined by the three Glossy Ibis which have been around for more than a month now, but as it gets light the Glossy Ibis fly and start feeding, often out of sight in the pools behind the reed beds. Grey Heron, Indian Reef Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Western Great Egret and Little Egret are all common feeding mainly on frogs. Up to four Gull-billed Terns have been flying over the pond catching small fish for the last few weeks, but last time I visited in mid-February I did not see any.

Glossy Ibis

Great Cormorant

Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Little Egret

Mallard

Tufted Duck - female

Tufted Duck - male

Tufted Duck

Western Cattle Egret

Western Great Egret

Indian Reef Heron

24 February 2023

Steppe Gulls – Dhahran Hills

At first light and for the next hour, it has been possible to see a few Steppe Gulls flying over the large Waste Water Lake in Dhahran. These birds do not stop very often and mainly just fly over going to and from their roosting area. Although Steppe Gull is common, it is not often possible to get close views, as they spend time out on the islands in Half Moon Bay. Abqaiq rubbish dump is a good place to see them but has become very difficult to access in recent years. Steppe Gull barabensis, is a taxon making up approximately 80-90% of the large white-headed gulls in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. These birds leave their steppe breeding grounds in August, and are thought to migrate along the coast of the Caspian Sea, then cross northwest Iran, through the Tigris valley and on to the Arabian Gulf. They start appearing in the Jubail, Dhahran and Uqair areas from mid-August and build in number through the winter. It is a common passage migrant and very common winter visitor from mid-August to April.

22 February 2023

Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron – Dhahran Hills

I have been seeing Black-crowned Night Heron around the Waste Water Pond in Dhahran the last couple of months. I normally see them a first light or as it is getting dark, flying from the trees in the residential area to and from the pond. A few days ago, I managed to see a juvenile in the morning and get some good photos of it. I flushed it from a large tree near the waters edge and it flew a short distance and landed on the bank where it started hunting for food. I was able to walk around and get quite close to it and took the below photos. Black-crowned Night Heron is an uncommon migrant to most areas of Saudi Arabia but in the Riyadh area is a common spring and autumn passage migrant passing early February to early June and again from late July to early November and rarely as late as December with birds now regularly breeding in the area. In the Eastern Province it is an uncommon migrant noted more often in autumn than spring. Juveniles occur from September through November and sometimes into February. Spring occurrences are irregular from April to May. I believe birds now breed near Jubail, so are hopefully going to become a commoner sight in the next few years.

20 February 2023

Winter species in Riaydh – Al Hair

Whilst birding Al Hair 10 February I saw a few common wintering species. This included Greater Spotted Eagle which favours the wet areas of the Al Hair river and occurs only from September to May. The White-throated Kingfisher which is a resident breeder and can be seen perched on overhead power lines and trees. A rarer species but still not uncommon was the Desert Finch which were seen in fields and on power lines in small numbers. Eastern Stonechat was seen in a couple of places along with Eastern Black Redstart. The pivot fields were quiet but had very large flocks of Spanish Sparrow and up to ten Western Marsh Harriers including a couple of male birds. Another bird of prey frequenting the pivot fields was a Steppe Buzzard. We failed to find any Streaked Weaver, which is normally common in the area, but it was dryer than normal so possibly this was the reason. The only other thing worth mentioning was a large group of well over one hundred Common Snipe, all of which flew before any photos could be obtained.