Birds of Saudi Arabia: 07/23

30 July 2023

A few herons – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

Whilst birding Dhahran Waste Water Lake there was very little to be seen. The hight of the summer, when only breeding birds and summer visitors are present is always slow. I did see six Grey Herons and the same number of Black-crowned Night Herons sitting on the bank of the drying up lake or in the nearby dead trees. A single Purple Heron flew off at first light and a Western Great Egret was hiding in the reeds. The only other birds seen on the lake were Little Grebe, Eurasian Coot and Black-winged Stilt. The scrub around the pond was devoid of birds with only White-cheeked Bulbul seen. Autumn migration should start soon and I am looking forward to seeing a few more species.

Grey Heron

Black-crowned Heron - juvenile

Black-crowned Heron - adult & juveniles

Black-crowned Heron - juvenile

28 July 2023

Libyan Jirds – Khafra Marsh

I left home at 04:00 to go to Khafra Marsh to a site I have seen Libyan Jird at previously. As soon as I reached the location, I noticed the first Jirds on the compact sand near the side of the road where I had seen them before. I stayed looking at the Jirds for an hour or so and during this time the light became better for photographs. Once the temperature started to get too hot, around 07:00 the Jirds started to disappear down their burrows. The underground burrow system of these animals is extensive and often they would go down one hole and reappear shortly after some distance away out of another burrow. The Libyan Jird is one of the most widely distributed species among rodents, ranging across nearly the entire Palearctic Desert Belt from Morocco in Northwest Africa to China. It occupies desert and semi‐desert habitats, generally in areas with stabilized dunes. The subspecies in Saudi Arabia is the Central lineage that also occurs in Jordan and Syria Meriones libycus syrius.

26 July 2023

Breeding Little Terns – Jubail

Whilst birding at Jubail last weekend there were a few Little Terns present. Little Tern bred again in Jubail this year with the first juveniles seen in very early June and now the birds can fly well and chase their parents around. Little Tern is not so easy to photograph well as they always seem to be out on the sabkha where you can’t walk as it is too soft. This is the fourth year in succession birds have bred at this location, which is very good news.

Adult

Juvenile

24 July 2023

Birds of Saudi Arabia - Volume 2 (English version) - Free Download

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22 July 2023

Birds of Saudi Arabia - Volume 1 (English version) - Free Download

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20 July 2023

Not much about – Uqayr

Whilst birding at Uqair looking for Prinias, there were very few birds about. I looked along the coast in the hope of seeing some returning waders but nothing of note was seen. The only waders that seem to be about in higher numbers are Black-winged Stilts. A single Socotra Cormorant was loafing on the beach partly hidden and flew off before I could get any closer. The scrubby desert was almost devoid of birds apart from three Great Grey Shirkes that must breed locally. No Prinias were seen this trip although we know they occur in this area. On the way back I found a new area of reeds that have stated growing outside the Tamara beach resort on Half Moon Bay. This is about halfway between Uqayr and Dhahran and is about 20 km south-west across the bay from Al Qqiq. I saw at least two pairs of Prinia here, but the birds were not calling, although on views in the field they looked like hufufae Graceful Prinia.

Socotra Cormorant

Great Grey Shrike

18 July 2023

Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizard - Judah

This Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizard was found in Judah where I have seen them on a number of occasions before. The Lizards are a blue colour if not warmed up properly otherwise they reach a bright yellow colour. This one was close to a fence and could not run off because of it so we managed to get quite close before it ran along the ground next to the fence and under a gap it had made to the other side. Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx spp.) is a medium to large sized, heavily built lizard with a spiny club like tail, which has been likened to a small living dinosaur. They are ground dwelling and live in some of the most arid regions of the planet including northern Africa, the Middle East, Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India. The generic name (Uromastyx) is derived from the Ancient Greek words ourá (οὐρά) meaning "tail" and mastigo (Μαστίχα) meaning "whip" or "scourge", after the thick-spiked tail characteristic of the species. The Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizard Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis is most common in Saudi Arabia and is the one that occurs in the Eastern Province and is generally regarded as a subspecies of the Egyptian Spiny-tailed Lizard Uromastyx aegyptia.

16 July 2023

Warblers breeding – Jubail area

Whilst birding the Jubail area in late-June I sat for an hour or so watching the movements of warblers in a small section of reeds that was easily viewable. There were quite a few warblers calling with most being Clamorous Reed Warblers or Caspian Reed Warblers although Graceful Prinias were also singing occasionally. The birds were not performing well but rather staying out of sight when singing although occasionally one would climb up a reed stem and allow some photos to be taken. All three species mentioned are common breeding birds in Jubail and all now are resident in the area. Another species seen was Great Reed Warbler, which is a common passage migrant but not so regularly seen in summer. The only other species that was visible was House Sparrow with a small flock of about twenty birds in the reeds.

Caspian Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Great Reed Warbler

House Sparrow

14 July 2023

First returning waders – Dhahran

Whilst birding the Dhahran Waste Water Lake 1 July, I came across the first returning wader in the form of a Common Greenshank. Black-winged Stilts have been around all year and although numbers have fluctuated, I am assuming they are all local birds making the Common Greenshank something of interest in an otherwise quiet period. Another new bird was a white phase immature Western Reef Heron. A grey phase bird has been around the last few weeks, but it disappeared and has been replaced by this smart bird. Herons seen included one Purple Heron, One Western Great Egret, five Grey Heron and thee Black-crowned Night Herons. The only land birds of note were a few Indian Silverbill, several calling Graceful Prinia and a single Pallid Swift.

Graceful Prinia

Grey Heron

Indian Silverbill

Western Reef Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

Common Greenshank

12 July 2023

Various Terns – Jubail area

Whilst birding the Jubail area in late-June I came across a few different terns flying around. Most birds were White-cheeked Terns which breed on the nearby offshore islands, but there were at least five Caspian Terns. This is another local breeder, but they breed earlier than White-cheeked Tern. Numbers of Caspian Terns build up in the summer and up to 300 have been seen together in previous years. A flock of about twenty Gull-billed Terns flew over at one point and a few Little Terns were feeding along the edge of the Sabkha. I spent quite a lot of time trying to get reasonable shots of the flying birds, but it is not easy to get them in focus and try to get catchlight in their eyes to make them look alive. Below are a few of my best efforts.