According to the first study to evaluate these implications across Europe, poisoning caused by preying on or scavenging animals shot by hunters using lead ammunition has left many raptors—or birds of prey—far smaller than they should be. When birds such as eagles and Red Kites scavenge carcasses or consume injured animals with toxic lead pieces […]
Tag: Western Marsh Harrier
Winter Harriers – Haradh
Whilst birding the NADAC Farm area of Haradh recently I saw plenty of Harriers including a female Montagu’s Harriers in a pivot irrigation field. Male Montagu’s Harriers are easily identified by their upperwing pattern amongst other details but Juvenile and female Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers are difficult to identify with certainty and good views are […]
Migrants arriving in good numbers – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area in late March, it became obvious a good number of migrants had arrived. There were a good number of Tree Pipits scattered around, several late Water Pipits and a single Spotted Crake wandered out onto dome vegetation near the edge of a wet area, briefly. More than ten birds of […]
Western Marsh Harrier – Al Asfar Lake
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 […]
Plenty of migrants – Jubail
Whilst birdwatching the Jubail area at the end of March I saw a lot of good birds and plenty of migrants. Unfortunately the weather was very poor and photography was difficult so most species remained un-photographed. The weather this winter has been very wet and windy and the morning drive to Jubail was through a […]
Birding the pivot fields – Haradh
The winter months are a good time to visit Haradh pivot irrigation fields as they hold a lot of good birds at this time of year. Large numbers of wintering Harriers, particularly Western Marsh Harrier and Pallid Harrier occur here and I saw well over thirty birds of both species during my visit. Another group […]
Western Marsh Harrier with prey – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl we saw a Western Marsh Harrier trying to pick up what looked like a dead fish from the side of the flooded sabkha. This spectacle was very interesting so we stopped and took a few photos of the proceedings. As the bird was interested in the prey it was […]
Waders, Winterers and residents – Sabkhat Al Fasl
My last trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl produced a number of waders of various species including the highest number of Marsh Sandpipers I have seen for a while. Most waders were Dunlins with good numbers of Common Ringed Plover scattered amongst them. A few smart plumaged Kentish Plovers were feeding around the shoreline and a […]