Birds of Saudi Arabia: Migrants and Winter visitors

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.