I went birding to Jubail in mid-November and came across a number of winter visitors most of which I failed to photograph. I saw hundreds of Greater Cormorants of a flood sabkha area. This species was previously uncommon in Jubail but the last few years thousands of birds winter here and on the coast. Other winter visitors seen for the first time this winter included small numbers of Eurasian Starlings, Black Redstart (a first for the site for me), Eastern Stonechat and Water Pipits.
Wintering Great White Egrets are building in numbers with over a hundred birds seen in various areas and this combined with Pied Kingfisher, Greater Spotted Eagles, Greater Flamingos, Western Marsh Harriers and a European Robin seen by Mohammed AlRuqaya, but unfortunately not me, all made for a wintery feel especially as the temperature did not get above 14 degrees Centigrade all morning.
As always at this site a few Grey-headed Swamphens were seen some giving very good views.
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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