Waders – Jubail

My last visit to Jubail last weekend was designed to allow me to photograph any waders that were present. Normally I go to the area where the Egyptian Nightjars are at this time of year but this time, I decided to get to the best wader spot whilst the light was still good to allow me the chance to get some better photos. Although the number of waders feeding along the edge of the sabkha was not too high a saw ten Black-winged Stilt & Kentish Plover, hundreds of Little Stint, two Dunlin, and single Common Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover. Many of the birds were feeding quite close and although a little flighty they allowed reasonably close approach if you stayed in the car. The trouble with the middle of summer where temperatures are now well over 45 Celsius each day is the light only remains good for photography for the first hour and a half from sunrise. Then the heat haze and bright light make taking photos a challenge and they never come out as well as earlier in the morning. I stayed the entire time with the waders until the light became too strong.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Common Ringled Plover

Common Ringled Plover

Common Sandpiper

Dunlin

Dunlin

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

Little Ringled Plover

Little Ringled Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Fat Sand Rats – Fadhili

I visit a location near Fadhili each year to look for Fat Sand Rats and try to get some reasonable photos of them but I never succeed in getting close to them. I got to the location just after first light and saw a Fat Sand Rat at some distance. I saw at least seven animals during the morning from 05:30 – 07:30 when activity stopped. Its diet consists of leaves and stems that they hold with one 'hand' and often wipe before eating and, unlike high-energy seeds, these foods are rather low in energy. As a result, it has to eat around 80 percent of its body weight in food each day to obtain sufficient energy. The fat sand rat does not need to drink water, a useful adaptation in arid habitats, and instead can get all the water it needs by feeding on the leaves of the saltbush which are up to 90 percent water and licking morning dew. At one stage I saw an animal climb a shrub and start feeding well off the ground.

Little Stints – Jubail

Little Stint numbers are slowly increasing with some birds still in partial summer plumage. This is not such an easy species to photograph well as they are continually on the move feeding on insects and other items, often far from the shoreline. Their relatively small size also means it is important to try to get quite close and they often fly if another bigger wader comes along. Below are my best attempts last weekend, where I saw up to thirty birds feeding along the edge of the flooded sabkha. The species is an abundant passage migrant and very common winter visitor and is probably the commonest wader seen in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Waders – Khafra Marsh

I visit Khafra Marsh recently and saw a few waders on a small pool. They were a Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover and Little Stint. Nearby the breeding Red-wattled Plovers were still around as were the breeding Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, both rare breeders in Saudi Arabia. Activity was very slow as I arrived at 08:30 and the light was already not good for photography. A few Nanaqua Dove were seen in various places and Graceful Prinia were about but very little else.

Black-winged Stilt

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

Little Stint

Namaqua Dove

Namaqua Dove

Schmidt's Fringed-toed Lizard – Fadhili

Whilst looking for Fat Sand Rats in Fadhili recently we got good views of a couple of Schmidt's Fringed-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus schmidti just outside the car. I have seen this lizard many times before including in this area. Schmidt's Fringed-toed Lizard is one of the most abundant species in the genus Acanthodactylus found in Saudi Arabia and occupies sandy plains, dunes and sabkhas (salt flats), particularly in areas of scrubby vegetation. It was named after Karl Patterson Schmidt, with a type locality of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and it can be distinguished by the exceptionally long fourth toe found on each of its rear feet. As its name suggests it has 'fringes' of elongated scales along the sides of each toe, which are thought to provide better traction on loose sand. It has a light brown or coffee coloured back that is richly speckled with oval-shaped, pale or white spots and can grow to 18 centimetres in length. It is a diurnal species that digs burrows in the sand among the roots of vegetation and is found throughout the Arabian Peninsula including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, southeast Iraq and south-west Iran.

Tibetan Sand Plover – Jubail

I photographed a nice adult Lesser Sand Plover of the subspecies pamirensis in mid-August and as this species has recently been split by the IOC it is now named Tibetan Sand Plover. This is because a recent paper using genetic analysis of the sand plover complex has concluded that Lesser Sand Plover should be treated as two species, not one. Siberian Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus, with subspecies mongolus and stegmanni and Tibetan Sand Plover Charadrius atrifrons, with subspecies atrifrons, pamirensis and schaeferi. The researchers also proposed changing in English name of Greater Sand Plover to Desert Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii, with subspecies columbinus, scythicus and leschenaultii.

Returning Waders – Jubail

Whilst slowly driving around the flooded sabkha in mid-August I came across a small number of confiding waders. Most were Little Stint with smaller numbers of Lesser Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and a single Little Ringed Plover and Curlew Sandpiper. Some of the birds were in partial summer plumage and looking nice in the sunlight. A single Grey Plover was also noted but not photographed. Wader numbers should build up over the next month and hopefully more photos can be obtained, and some different species seen.

Curlew Sandpiper

Kentish Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Stint

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Record count Egyptian Nightjar - Jubail

Whilst birding the Jubail area 11 August I came across a record number of Egyptian Nightjar for the site, and probably anywhere in the Kingdom. I recorded 23 different birds including adults and six juveniles. This is an increase in numbers from the 16 I found on 7 July 2023. The birds spend their time, mainly sitting on tracks under small bushes and allow extremely close approach in a car. On foot they fly much sooner so if possible, I try to move the car into good positions for photography. As mentioned in earlier posts these birds breed in the local area and this is a great place to see them. They arrive in May and depart the Jubail area in early to mid-September although the latest sighting was 23 September 2015. Birds were scattered across the entire site, but the main concentration was still in the area they have previously used. The top five photos are of juvenile birds with the remaining photos adults.