Birds of Saudi Arabia: Small Farm

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.