Birds of Saudi Arabia: 03/23

30 March 2023

Red-rumped Swallows – Dhahran

Whilst birding the Dhahran Hills Waste Water Lake last weekend I saw a small flock of about six Red-rumped Swallows with a single Barn Swallow flying around in the very early morning. The species breeds in the southwest highlands and locally in central Arabia and is an uncommon migrant elsewhere. They are early spring migrants with birds seen most years in February and numbers peaking in March with the last records in mid-April. Numbers are much reduced in autumn passage with only a few birds seen and rarely flocks like those that occur in spring with birds occurring from August to October. There are a handful of records in the winter months of November, December and January but they are scarce during this period. These birds are always difficult to photograph due to their quick flight action and rapid movements but I managed to take a few shots shown below.

28 March 2023

House Sparrow hofufae? – Jubail

Whilst birding Jubail recently I found a few House Sparrow that were fairly confiding. Normally they occur in small flocks and hide in the reeds or the vegetation at the side of the water. This time a couple were collecting nesting material on the main track allowing some photos and others in the nearby scrub. The House Sparrows that looked small, with whitish cheeks and underside and a grey rump with less apparent rufous on the mantle, so could be the hofufae subspecies. This subspecies in not meant to occur this far north son will be interesting to see if I can get more evidence of this subspecies occurring here.

26 March 2023

Back birding in Jubail

I have just been given permission again to bird a restricted site in Jubail from the NCWD in Riyadh. As a result, I went back for the first time in a month. Birding was good with obvious migration occurring. The most obvious migrant was Common Chiffchaff wit 66 birds seen, mainly in the Tamerisk but also along all the red bed edges. In with all the Chiffchaffs was a single Plain Leaf Warbler in a Tameisk next to three Chiffchaffs. I saw and took a poor photo of a Caspian Reed Warbler that I had ringed three weeks earlier, in almost the same place it was trapped, so nice to know it is still doing well. Clamorous Reed Warbler were very vocal, singing from many different reed heads along the red beds and a single male maura Eastern Stonechat was also present. This is a species I have not seen so often this year bit they are always great to see. Shrikes were around in reasonable numbers with tens of Daurian Shrike, three Turkestan Shrike and a single Great Grey Shrike (Arabian Shrike). A group of five Common Myna were seen at the edge of the area, a species that was seldom seen here, but is now becoming more common. The wetlands held plenty of Grey-headed Swamphen, Squacco Heron and Western Great Egret. A group of 26 Common Pochard were very distant out on a flooded sabkha area. Birds of prey seen included five Western Marsh Harrier, three Greater Spotted Eagle and a single Western Osprey. The only other birds of note were a few small groups of waders scattered round including Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Ruff and Green Sandpiper.

Squacco Heron

Turkestan Shrike

Grey-headed Swamphen

Great Grey (Arabian) Shrike

Eastern Stonechat

Common Myna

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Caspian Reed Warbler - ringed bird

24 March 2023

Red-wattled Lapwing - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area on 17 March April I found an adult Red-wattled Lapwing. It was very early in the morning and the sun had just risen so the photos are very warm in colour. The species is scarce in Saudi Arabia with records from Riyadh, the Empty Quarter and the Eastern Province. This species is a resident breeder at wetlands in United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, and is gradually colonizing westwards. It was first recording breeding a couple of years ago in Saudi Arabia at the same location I found this bird. In the Eastern province it is regarded as a scarce passage migrant and winter visitor although records are becoming more common with over twenty birds seen together at Shaybah in recent years. Birds are also regularly seen at Khafra Marsh, Juabil a location not too far from where I saw this bird.

22 March 2023

Displaying Great Crested Grebe – Al Uqayr

Whilst birding Al Uqayr recently I saw four Great Crested Grebes. These birds were in two pairs and one pair started to display to each other, a sight I have not seen before in Saudi Arabia. The species is a very rare breeder in Saudi Arabia where it once built nests and bred on the percolation pond in Dhahran. Let’s hope these birds stay and breed in the area. Great Crested Grebe is not an easy bird to see in Saudi Arabia with the Eastern Province the best area to see them. Several lakes are good for the species including the one at the end of Abu Ali Island and Khafra Marsh. The Dhahran Waste Water Lake is also a regular place to see them. The best place appears to be the sheltered bays of the Arabian Gulf where up to fifty have been seen together in recent years.

20 March 2023

Plovers – Al Uqayr

As I had seen a few close Greater Sand Plover & Lesser Sand Plover on the coast at Al Uqayr I was planning on visiting this area earlier in the morning when the light is better for photography. As it turned out I went at almost the same time as the week before because the birding in the farm was good and I stayed longer trying to get some good photos of the Common Chiffchaffs. There were a few more Greater Sand Plover & Lesser Sand Plovers than the previous week with approximately ten of each and a couple of Kentish Plover were also seen close. I got some quite good photos of al the species mentioned which are shown below but will probably try again to see if I can get there earlier and hope some other species of waders have arrived.

Greater Sand Plover

Kentish Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

18 March 2023

Small Farm – Al Uqayr

As the migration season is about to start properly, I went to Al Uqayr to see what had been attracted to the area. This is next to the Arabian Gulf and 75 km south of Dhahran where I live. There are a few large palm trees planted along the coast and a couple of small fenced off farms. I visited a small farm I have been to a few times before but mainly in the winter rather than during migration. The farm is mainly palm trees but has other large trees growing around the edge and has plenty of water available to water the trees. Water anywhere in Saudi Arabia is a magnet for birs and even more so in migration season when many more birds are passing. On arrival and looking into the farm from the outside I could see large numbers of small birds flitting about from the palm trees to the ground where plants were growing from the recent rains. Most birds appeared to be Common Chiffchaffs with at least ten different birds seen and phtotographed. In amongst the Common Chiffchaff were two Menetries’s Warblers and a single Eastern Orphean Warbler, but unfortunately, I did not mange to get good photos of the last two species. There was also a single Common Redstart, but this proved elusive and was not seen particularly well. The resident birds were showing well with plenty of House Sparrows present and three Spanish Sparrows keeping them company. White-eared Bulbul were around in large numbers and were the commonest species seen.