Whilst biding the Haradh area on 5 February 2015 Phil Roberts and I found a Spur-winged Lapwing in a pivot irrigation field next to the NADEC dairy farm. The species is still scarce in the Eastern Province with all records shown below:
Haradh 24th October 1986; Dhahran 22nd November 1986; Sabkhat Al Fasl 30th October & 6th November 2009; An adult Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 12th & 13th May 2011; An adult Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 8th August 2012; Dhahran Saudi Aramco Camp, percolation pond 27th September to 2nd October 2012; An adult Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili) 12th October 2012; Two adult were at Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, Fadhili 31 January 2013; 15 birds were at NADEC dairy farm in Haradh 7 February 2013 showing the species is expanding its range eastwards into the Eastern Province
In Saudi Arabia as a whole the Spur-winged Lapwing is a common breeder in the southwest from Yemen boarder up the Red Sea coast to near Jeddah as well as the extreme northwest and the area around Riyadh.
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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