The number of Western Cattle Egrets around the camp seems to dropping from a high point of over 100 birds with many of the birds coming into full breeding plumages. Good views can still be had of the birds as they feed along the roadside grass verges finding insects in the soft ground after the grass has been watered.
It was previously a scarce species in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia but since the 2000’s good numbers of birds were seen that have increased to toady’s numbers slowly over the last ten years.
In the evening birds move to trees to spend the night in relative safety and then move back to the grass verges at first light to continue feeding.
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.
Leave a Reply