I went to Al Asfar Lake near to Hufuf recently and saw over fifty Western Marsh Harriers. I managed to get a number of reasonable photographs with a couple of two birds playing in the air together. The Western Marsh Harrier is a winter visitor to Saudi Arabia and they always occur in areas of […]
Tag: sabkhat al fasl
Caspian Terns fishing – Jubail
Caspian Tern is a common sighting in Jubail where they can be seen in almost any wetland area from the coast inland to flooded sabkhat areas like Sabkhat Al Fasl and Khafra Marsh. Although common, numbers seen rarely exceed ten although late in the summer, around September, numbers can exceed 150 birds mainly out on […]
First returning Bluethroats – Jubail
The Red-spotted Bluethroat is an uncommon wintering species in Saudi Arabia with birds wintering at Sabkhat Al Fasl each year, where it is locally common. The first birds return to Sabkhat Al Fasl around the same time and appear to be females with ringing data suggesting they first return in mid-October. A week or so […]
Good numbers of Caspian Terns – Jubail
Caspian Tern is a common sighting in Jubail where they can be seen in almost any wetland area from the coast inland to flooded sabkhat areas like Sabkhat Al Fasl and Khafra Marsh. Although common numbers seen rarely exceed ten although late in the summer, around September, numbers can exceed 150 birds mainly out on […]
White-throated Kingfisher – Dhahran Hills
Whilst birding my local patch on 11 March I found an adult White-throated Kingfisher in the trees around Dhahran Hills swimming pool. The bird was very vocal and called regularly from its main perch of a very tall palm tree. This is the second White- throated Kingfisher I have seen on my patch after a […]
Ringing abietinus type Chiffchaff – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl in January I trapped a quite grey/brown looking Chiffchaff with few greenish tones. Unfortunately, with Chiffchaffs, things get complicated in the Middle East. With Mountain Chiffchaffs nearby, which look quite like Siberian Chiffchaff tristis, and a series of taxa with intriguing combinations of abietinus or intermediate plumage but tristis-like […]
Great Cormorants – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Great Cormorant was quite an unusual bird at Sabkhat Al Fasl three or four years ago, but now it is a common winter visitor with hundreds seen on each visit. Birds can be seen in the very early morning flying into the site from their roosting areas nearby, with some birds staying all day in […]
Three Great Black-headed Gulls – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area last weekend we came across three Great Black-headed Gulls sitting on a flooded area of sabkha. One bird was an adult in full summer plumage with the other two being second calendar year birds. Jubail has turned out to be a good site to see the species in the last […]