A number of Stonechat have been seen at Sabkhat Al Fasl in recent weeks with all the ones I have seen appearing to be European Stonechat. I saw a male bird with a very white rump patch and plenty of white extending down the outside of the tail in a Wheatear type tail pattern. This […]
Tag: saudi arabia
Highest ever count of Pied Kingfishers in Saudi Arabia – Sabkhat Al Fasl
As mentioned in a previous post there appears to have been a significant influx of Pied Kingfishers into the eastern part of Arabia in late October and early November 2015 with birds seen in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait as well as Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia there was a single female at […]
Citrine Wagtail – Sabkhat Al Fasl
When birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl 20 November 2015 with visiting birder Edward Pollard we found at least two Citrine Wagtails Motacilla citreola. This species was until the last few years a scarce winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, but more birds are now being seen making it an uncommon winter visitor […]
The first male Pied Kingfisher of the autumn – Sabkhat Al Fasl
As mentioned previously there has been a major arrival of Pied Kingfishers into Eastern Arabia this winter including a minimum of ten birds at Sabkhat Al Fasl. All the birds photographed and the one seen by me have been females with this bias towards females also occurring with Common Kingfishers at this location. On 15 […]
First returning Bluethroats – Sabkhat Al Fasl
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 […]
Pied Kingfisher – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl 23 October 2015 I found a Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis flying around near one of the nets. Pied Kingfisher is a scarce winter visitor to Saudi Arabia with most records from the Eastern Province. On 25 February 1999 there were six birds present at Sabkhat Al Fasl (Jubail) and […]
First year Citrine Wagtail a new Saudi Arabia ringing species – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 10 October 2015 we caught a first year Citrine Wagtail. This was the first time we have caught and ringed this species in Saudi Arabia and was a bit of a surprise as we seldom catch any wagtails as they are so good at seeing and avoiding the […]
Short-toed Snake Eagle – Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm
Whilst birding Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015 I saw a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle over one of the spray fields. The bird dropped down behind the horizon and looked like it may have landed in the field. We drove around and saw the bird take off and fly away […]