South of the bridge at Al Hayer

I went back to Al Hayer again today. This time I birded alone. The plan, which I stuck to, was to quickly visit the same area as yesterday and then switch to the area south of the bridge. 

This southern area has less vegetation near the water's edge in many places and so is often good for waders (in the right season). It should also be good for crakes which are always at the back of my mind at this time of year.

I suspect the reason it's not birded nearly as much as the main pivot fields is because you have to walk.  This can be arduous in the heat.

Golden oriole

There was a lot of commonality with yesterday's bird list but some key differences too. I am happy to have seen 40 species whereas two of us achieved 42 together yesterday. I dropped 9 species and gained 7 new ones. 

One of those seven was golden oriole. Two males were seen in the highest tree south of the bridge. It was almost worth the hard walk down that way for this sighting alone.

Golden oriole uncommonly comes through Riyadh in autumn these days and is almost unheard of in spring. It was one of my longest nemesis birds which I finally saw in Abha (south west highlands) in late spring this year. Until today I had never seen it in central Arabia.

 

Indian silverbill

On arrival at Al Hayer this morning, I went straight to yesterday's fields. The great reed warblers had already moved on. There were none to be seen. There was no fleeting view of a passing European roller either.  Otherwise much of the activity was as before with finches, sparrows and weavers making a big contribution.

young Namaqua dove

I made a conscientious effort to photograph different species in that area than yesterday. Namaqua dove, purple heron and black-crowned night heron obliged.

adult black-crowned night heron

Squacco heron and cattle egret were once again attracted to the water sprayers in the fields.

Purple heron

After about 45 minutes, I walked back to the bridge and then began the visit to the southern area.

the landscape south of the bridge

On walking south on the west bank, at the first stretch of open water, I hid behind a bush and waited patiently.

common moorhen

The common moorhen which had all run away on my arrival eventually plucked up courage to return. This showed that my hiding was working. I had hopes that a crake might appear but it was just moorhen after moorhen.

desert finch

However, the patience was rewarded in other ways. A group of desert finch visited three or four times to drink.

Namaqua dove with desert finch

It was obviously a favoured spot for Namaqua dove to do likewise.

Two male and one female red avadavat

Representatives of Indian silverbill,  red avadavat and streaked weaver also refreshed themselves there.

Temminck's stint

Then suddenly a Temminck's stint flew in and fed at the water's edge. This was the first wader seen in this section of the watercourse.

Dunlin

I had to walk much further downstream before I came across another flushing a common quail on the way.

This one was an extraordinarily tame dunlin. I am sure it was very hungry because it just ignored me and kept foraging. 

It struck me immediately that the dunlin has a very long bill approaching the length of many curlew sandpiper. 

Incidentally both Temminck's stint and dunlin were two of the seven birds not observed yesterday.

Little stint with dunlin

A few minutes later the dunlin was joined by the only little stint I saw all session. 

Indeed there weren't as many waders as I had expected. A noisy and nervous flock of green sandpiper were the only others down there.

There were other highlights to compensate notwithstanding those already mentioned.

I must have flushed five or six black-crowned night heron at regular intervals. One of which had a medium sized catfish in its mouth. Indeed the water was teeming with catfish of all sizes struggling to keep afloat in such shallow water. I suspect they had followed the wily shoals of Tilapia too far into the shallows.

immature collared pratincole

On the way back to the car, the sighting of the golden oriole was clearly the best moment but a wryneck in one of the trees was also satisfying.

By the car as we pulled away, a immature collared pratincole was in the very same place as four others the day before. It provided a pleasant ending to the session.

List of species seen (40)

Common quail
Little bittern
Black crowned night heron
Grey heron
Purple heron
Cattle egret
Squacco heron
Common moorhen
Spur-winged lapwing
Green sandpiper
Common sandpiper
Little stint
Temminck's stint
Dunlin
Collared pratincole
Rock pigeon
Namaqua dove
Laughing dove
Collared dove
Barn swallow
Sand martin
House martin
Hoopoe
Wryneck
Golden oriole
Little green bee-eater
European bee-eater 
White-eared bulbul
Crested lark
Graceful prinia
Common whitethroat
Common myna
Black bush robin
Isabelline wheatear
Spanish sparrow
House sparrow
Streaked weaver
Indian silverbill
Red Avadavat
Yellow wagtail

Lots of passage activity at Al Hayer

Lou Regenmorter and I repeated last Friday's early morning visit to Al Hayer but with different results. First, it was a couple of degrees Celsius cooler but was still over 40C when we finished. Second and more importantly, the bird cast had changed considerably because the passage is in full flow now.

two immature collared pratincole

Two recently cut fields were being watered and these are always good places to go. These types of fields attract a wide variety of birds in all seasons.

Five collared pratincole were seen in one such field and four of them alighted soon after at a near-by point on the bank of the "Riyadh River" where these photos were taken. 

 a group of four immature collared pratincole

All four of these are immature birds though eight more were seen flying high over another field which were probably adults.  

young white throated kingfisher 

In the same field as the immature collared pratincole, a young white throated kingfisher sat patiently on the bar of a pivot as it moved up the field and watered.

immature squacco heron

Again in the same field were several squacco heron including the immature one shown. Squacco heron have been regularly seen in this same field since April.

spur winged lapwing 

Spur winged lapwing are very common in the farming area of Kharj some 40 kilometres south but have been rarely seen at Al Hayer. Four is the most I have ever observed there. Today they spent their time in the same field. Their range is expanding and Al Hayer could soon be colonised.

Several yellow wagtail followed the pivot arm as it went up the field spraying water.

 common moorhen making a run for it

There and elsewhere, common moorhen were grazing on the edges of fields before dashing to the water at the slightest sign of disturbance. There were many in the water and in reeds too as usual.

great reed warbler on the ground  

Warbler observations were restricted to the resident graceful prinia, a single common whitethroat but at least four great reed warbler with three in the same place. Ironically they were coming out of the same bushes that housed Eastern olivaceous warbler the week before yet we saw none of that species today.

two great reed warbler

They kept darting out of the bushes, feeding at the edge of the field and returning at leisure.

great reed warbler flying back to the bush

We spent a wonderful 20 minutes, stopped and watching them. At first we did it to make sure we had ruled out other reed warblers and then for enjoyment.

young spotted flycatcher

The only small passage bird today (apart from the common whitethroat) was a young spotted flycatcher right next to where the car was parked.

two male red avadavat

Among the other small birds, I spotted my first Arabian golden sparrow at Al Hayer among the many tens of streaked weaver and Spanish sparrow having been alerted to its presence there by Ahmed Alkassim. All these small birds and also red avadavat and Indian silverbill must have had a good breeding season this year judging by their numbers now.

ruff

For a second week running there was a variety of (mostly) passage waders in likely spots.  A nice tame ruff was in a large pool next to the road.

ruddy turnstone

In a different area further south, three other waders were observed. The most interesting one was a non-breeding (immature?) ruddy turnstone. Like the broad-billed sandpiper seen last week they are rare this far inland but not unheard of in central Arabia.

two little stint

The ruddy turnstone was in the same area as two little stint and two little ringed plover. 

two little ringed plover

Little ringed plover is a local summer breeder and passage bird. It should be gone for the winter soon.

All-in-all, it was a satisfying session this morning. 

List of all the species seen (42):

Little bittern
Black crowned night heron
Grey heron
Purple heron
Cattle egret
Squacco heron
Common moorhen
Spur-winged lapwing
Little ringed plover
Green sandpiper
Common sandpiper
Little stint
Ruff
Collared pratincole
Rock pigeon
Namaqua dove
Laughing dove
Collared dove
Barn swallow
Sand martin
European roller
Hoopoe
White throated kingfisher
Little green bee-eater
European bee-eater (heard but not seen)
Woodchat shrike
White-eared bulbul
Crested lark
Graceful prinia
Great reed warbler
Common whitethroat
Common myna
Rufous bush robin
Black bush robin
Isabelline wheatear
Spotted flycatcher
House sparrow
Spanish sparrow sparrow
Arabian golden sparrow
Streaked weaver
Indian silverbill
Red Avadavat
Yellow wagtail

Exotic finches at Al Hayer

Exotic finches have been reported south of Riyadh for over two decades. Many are recorded for a short period and then appear to die out. All are presumed to have started out as escaped caged birds.

Two at least have thrived all through this period. These two are streaked weaver and red avadavat (red munia).

Ruppells weaver has been reported over this period too. I have seen it myself on a number of occasions.  However it is only hanging on in very small numbers in two very well separated small groups.

In the early 1990s an isolated case of scaly breasted munia occurred. At the end of the decade two northern red bishop (male and female) were observed. Chestnut munia was seen at two different times years apart in the 1990s.

All three species have probably died out.

One that may still be around but over-looked is Baya weaver. It was seen frequently in the early 2000s. I must admit that until recently I have not been looking closely enough at the streaked weaver to see if any are actually (quite similar) Baya weaver.

Now it appears there is another exotic finch around. Bird enthusiast and excellent photographer Ahmed Alkassim recently captured this photo of a young Arabian golden sparrow at Al Hayer.

Arabian golden sparrow by Ahmed Alkassim

I have corresponded with Ahmed who tells me that this is not an isolated bird. There are at least a few of them. 

Arabian golden sparrow is native to Saudi Arabia but previously only in Jizan province in the far south west.

It appears to have bred at Al Hayer this spring but surviving the winters here may be a different proposition. Although it is over 40C now it can get down to around freezing for two or three nights each winter. However, in mild winters this doesn't happen.

female red avadavat by Ahmed AlKassim

Ahmed has an excellent and growing collection of local bird photos on flickr. He also has many other pictures of superb quality on a wide range of subjects mostly relating to this part of the world. 

You can find his pictures by going to flickr and searching on "Ahmed Alkassim" or "Alkassim".

The simplest way though is probably to go directly to his photostream at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aseel/

I am grateful to Ahmed for sharing his pictures and the additional information on Arabian golden sparrow.

Still walking and still finding

My walk to and from work taking in the university's experimental farm is still extremely hot. However it's also worthwhile as the selection of passage birds changes each day. 

The mix of birds is noticeably different to the spring passage. The birds also tend to be more approachable probably because the heat makes them more reluctant to move unnecessarily.

spotted flycatcher

Spotted flycatcher is one of the last birds to pass through in spring so I was surprised to see one so early in the autumn. This one was seen last Thursday.

spotted flycatcher turns its back

The photographic quality is so good because the bird was so close.

probable common whitethroat

Several common whitethroat have been seen over the past few days. However one warbler has caused me identification headaches and is shown. It has chestnut fringes to the wing coverts like a common whitethroat but the tail looks a bit long, the iris is not dark, the bill a bit short and pointed while the legs don't really look a shade of orange. I am asking experts if it could be anything else (with a larger array of photos than the two shown).

another view of a probable common whitethroat

I said the selection of birds is different from spring. In particular I haven't seen a single wheatear at the farm compared with wave after wave in spring. Nor has there been a white throated robin. This latter bird seems to migrate on a broad front in spring including through Riyadh but not so in autumn. 

Last August, Brian James and I reported over a hundred while birding in the south west of the country. Lou Regenmorter has told me he observed the same phenomenon down there this August too. Its obvious they take a more funnelled route to get there in the autumn which doesn't include the centre of the country.

European roller

Its not all negative. I saw my first European roller at the farm while walking home last night.

Another view of the roller

I flushed the bird while walking round but was very pleased that all it did was fly off to the other tallest tree in the farm's garden.

roller on the tallest tree

It then returned to the first tree. Clearly it really didn't want to leave this small green oasis in the heat of the day.

"first winter" woodchat shrike

The passage of shrikes is strong in both spring and autumn here. At the moment I am seeing plenty of first year birds.

The most common is woodchat shrike but I am taken as to how different one can look from another. The two photos are of different young birds. One is heavily barred whereas the other has no noticeable barring at all.  

Some are clearly staying a few days before moving on.

another young woodchat shrike

Second most common has been red-backed shrike followed by masked shrike.

"first winter" lesser grey shrike

One very tame lesser grey shrike stayed for two days. No red-tailed shrike of either species has been seen yet. When they do come, many of these will stay the winter in central Arabia.

shrinking pool

I mentioned in the last blog on about my walk to work that there is a temporary man-made lake next door. This has been housing water pumped up from the deep for reasons unknown to me. Well, over the last week, it hasn't been refilled and is slowly evaporating to nothing. However the one green sandpiper has remained loyal to the place for over 10 days and until yesterday a little ringed plover had joined it. He moved on over night.

little ringed plover

You may recall in my last  farm I commented that white eared bulbul had multiplied during the summer but I hadn't seen any white spectacled bulbul. 

white spectacled bulbul

I can confirm they are still present but look increasingly outnumbered.

rose ringed parakeet

At least one rose ringed parakeet is still there from the spring.

hoopoe

The resident hoopoe seem to be getting tamer towards me. I wonder if I am being recognised?

I will continue to visit the farm but I look forward to a little cooler weather which can't be too long off. It's still well over 40C when I walk through in the afternoon.

New birds from Tabuk

Fellow birder, Viv Wilson has just released a new set of photos of birds taken at Tabuk over the last weekend.

He must have had a fantastic time up there given the range of birds he saw. Two of them have not yet made my own (now quite large) Saudi list. 

He has given me permission to show the pictures of these birds which I have slightly cropped, hopefully without affecting his quality.


The bird that most excited me was a water rail seen at the waste water lakes. Given Tabuk's position in the north west of Saudi Arabia water rail may be resident though wintering is at least as likely. Either way I have a chance of seeing it when I visit Tabuk next.

water rail (all pictures in this blog by Viv Wilson)

This sighting is important and congratulations to Viv. It would be good now to get all year round data to finally work out if it is resident as a few sources including the main regional guide say.  

 water rail drinking

The second bird was an Egyptian nightjar almost certainly on passage. Although I have seen European nightjar and Nubian nightjar, this species has alluded me.

 resting Egyptian nightjar

Viv posted a European nightjar from nearly the same place in late spring. Nubian nightjar is easily ruled out in this case by the lack of white bars on the outer underwings.

Egyptian nightjar in flight

I wouldn't rule out Nubian nightjar being seen in this area in the future though. It breeds further north in Israel but also much closer than previously thought in the south having been seen in the Thuwal area recently. 

 Egyptain nightjar landing

Viv's other sightings over the weekend included many waders and both blue cheeked bee-eater and European bee-eater.

 European roller

European roller was another good bird.

white tailed lapwing

Both white tailed lapwing and spur winged lapwing were also observed. We need to look closely at his photos as there is possibly another plover/lapwing among them!

A big thanks to Viv for sharing his information and pictures. He is certainly putting Tabuk on the birding map.