Collared pratincole at East Salbukh

This blog continues my report on Friday morning's visit to East Salbukh. All the birds reported on here were seen on the north and east sides of the wetland following on from my start down the west side. 

collared pratincole

As I approached the north east corner of the wetland, I could see a camel herder and his herd in the distance heading straight for me. It was a pity as this corner has streams and is more like a marsh land than a wetland with reed beds. I have had some luck in seeing different birds there.

With a few minutes before the camels could arrive I scanned the area and picked up a collared pratincole.

second view of collared pratincole

This was the first time I had seen one at East Salbukh though of course I have only been birding there since February. 

A second collared pratincole was later seen further round the wetland.

Another late migrant was only two metres away from the site of the first collared pratincole. This was a wood sandpiper.

wood sandpiper with crested lark

To my mind it looks thin and has been lucky to finally find such a good stopping off point. 

wood sandpiper

It was so thin and slender I explored other possibilities for its identity including vagrants. However in doing so I came across the fact that those small black spots surrounding the vent area are a summer diagnostic for wood sandpiper. 

Little ringed plover

Near- by was the first of several sightings of little ringed plover. I had seen them on earlier visits to the wetland but not the last twice. I suppose I could have over-looked them in favour of Kentish plover. Judging by the number of young birds among the little ringed plover, they have bred here too.

They prefer marginally better drained land than Kentish plover and with some stones or pebbles. At East Salbukh this means a few places on the north and east side for little ringed plover.

back of rufous bush robin

Another bird I hadn't seen in the past two visits was rufous bush robin. A quick flash of its rufous tail in the distance alerted me to it. In bright sunlight this is very distinctive.

rufous bush robin

It wouldn't pose for me so I'm afraid the photos aren't ideal.

Overall the visit was worthwhile even though the number of species was limited. I coped with the heat better than last time by packing more water and not having to give some away.

List of species seen at East Salbukh on Friday

Little bittern	Namaqua dove
Grey heron	Eurasian collared dove
Common moorhen	Crested lark
Water rail	Barn swallow
Black winged stilt	Eurasian reed warbler
Collared pratincole	Sedge warbler
Little ringed plover	Graceful prinia
Kentish plover	Rufous bush robin
Wood sandpiper	House sparrow
Feral pigeon

Little bittern and more at East Salbukh

Since East Salbukh wetland was found on google earth back in February, it has definitely now superseded Al Hayer as my most visited "local patch". 

There are several reasons for this. First and possibly foremost, it is closer and quicker to reach. I don't have to travel through the city to the south. I live in a northern suburb and East Salbukh is north of the city. It takes less than half an hour door to venue. Second, it's also more compact. I can walk round it in 5 or 6 hours. Third it seems to have almost as much diversity of birds as Al Hayer. Though eagles may be a challenge come winter. Fourth, its less disturbed by fishermen and hunters. The latter because the mud bogs down any car that gets near.

So this morning I went there again. Birding started at 5.30 am and finished at 11.30 am which is a typical summer schedule.

young little bittern

This blog covers some of the sights on the west side of the roughly rectangular wetland.  

The first good news is I finally photographed one of the little bittern I have been seeing every time I have visited.

little bittern in different pose

There was an adult bird near by which never left this youngster far behind. 

It is on the west side that I have been seeing water rail (but not last weekend). There is more good news in that I saw two again and in different places. 

adult water rail emerging from the reeds

While all the birds have been adults, its looking more and more likely that this species spends the summer here and that should lead to breeding.

adult water rail swiftly returning to the reeds

If the birds are passage or wintering, its getting very late. Among the warblers, I observed no willow warbler or great reed warbler this time and only one sedge warbler. This is a sign that passage is near spent.

Graceful prinia and European reed warbler were common and not going anywhere.

a flock of Kentish plover

The west side is the best side to see Kentish plover which were flocking again now that breeding is over.

Black winged stilt

More and more black winged stilt are being spotted at the edge of the wetland as I walk round.

crested lark

Crested lark are every where.

unknown lizard

Yet another lizard was observed. They aren't on my list of new study areas I'm afraid. I'm beginning to take note of butterflies and would love to take up my childhood study of wild flowers again. Lizards,however, will have to wait though this one's name is of interest. 

The next blog recounts more on this morning's walk. It includes a look at a new bird for this site.

Riyadh round up for late May

This blog follows on from the last one reporting on the latter stages of Saturday's visit to east Salbukh wetland and then looks at my walk home from work on Sunday evening.

East Salbukh continued

The east side of East Salbukh wetland used to be an impenetrable wall of tall reeds with less birding opportunities than the other sides of the wetland.

It was here though that for once camels, which over graze so much of the country, have been helpful.

They have chomped into the reeds in several places creating pseudo grassland and some marshy areas.

The birds seen on this stretch of Saturday morning's trip were not much different from the other areas. Little bittern once again put in appearances and once again I failed to notice until it (or they) flushed.

However, this was the only place I saw any other member of the heron family. A grey heron reared up and flew off as I  walked past.

sedge warbler

As the morning progressed it got warmer and warmer. Reed warbler sightings and noise started to tail off. However I finally got good views of a sedge warbler. This species is not as shy as its reed warbler cousins. It's just that every time it stood up on Saturday and on my visit three weeks before, it was a long way away from me. This time was different.

spotted flycatcher looking at me

Another bird which gave me good views of the east side of the wetlands was a late passage spotted flycatcher.

second view of spotted flycatcher

It seemed hot and reluctant to move. I had a lot of sympathy. 

Namaqua dove on the east side

The rest of the walk was mostly uneventful with Kentish plover, Namaqua dove and crested lark being the only still active species. The reminding highlight was the sight of two very late barn swallow resting on a dead bush.

dalmatian molly

The fish at East Salbukh deserve a mention. All artificial wetlands in Saudi Arabia start with no fish. Most are populated with tilapia and some with large catfish. This is the case with the Riyadh river though I have seen a few exotic goldfish/small carp, at the southern end in the shallows, evading the catfish.

At East Salbukh, there are two species and both look like they have come straight out of an aquarium. The originals probably did. The less common one is dalmatian molly. The more common one is golden coloured and probably not a molly as there is no sign of cross breeding hybrids. Both fish are live bearers as births of fry are easily seen.

unknown fish

There are literally thousands of these small fish. Unfortunately as soon as someone puts tilapia or catfish in there, they will be wiped out. Until then its quite a spectacle.

List of 22 species seen at East Salbukh on Saturday

Little grebe	Laughing dove
Little bittern	Desert lark
Grey heron	Hoopoe lark
Common moorhen	Crested lark
Black winged stilt	Barn swallow
Kentish plover	Eurasian reed warbler
Terek sandpiper	Great reed warbler
Wood sandpiper	Sedge warbler
Feral pigeon	Willow warbler
Namaqua dove	Spotted flycatcher
Eurasian collared dove	House sparrow

Sunday evening's walk home

I have tried to bird on the walk home either side of last weekend. However the heat makes it really difficult.  I managed to see two passage birds last Wednesday: red backed shrike and a willow warbler. 

Yesterday evening I saw none.

hoopoe

There has been some change on the remnants of experimental farm though. The farm used to have resident hoopoe and black bush robin but all the disruption of construction and downsizing of the farm drove them away.

There were some passage hoopoe coming through from time to time.

Last evening, it looks like both species may be trying to resettle now the dust has literally settled and the noise dropped.

black bush robin

Whilst they were only single birds for each species, both hoopoe and black bush robin were back at least temporarily. The hoopoe was seen on Wednesday too. Whether they find mates is another issue. The bush robin may not be bothered yet. It looks like a young bird.

West and north sides of East Salbukh wetland

On Saturday, I returned to East Salbukh wetland near Riyadh for the first time in three weeks. As it is now summer in Saudi Arabia, I birded from 5.30 am until 11.30am which is my typical summer birding pattern.

I was lucky that partial cloud kept the temperatures below 40C at the time of finishing.

The wetland is roughly rectangular. As always I started at the south west corner and walked the west side followed by the north side and then east and so on. 

This blog is about the west and north sides visited before about 9 am.

I didn't have high expectations as I suspected the passage would be mostly over.

Namaqua dove

All four resident doves were easily seen though the density is quite low here: feral pigeon, laughing dove, collared dove and Namaqua dove.

Kentish plover

On the west side, the resident Kentish plover were flocking and not seemingly defending any ground. No distraction rituals were seen unlike previous visits. I presume their breeding season is over.

Terek sandpiper with Kentish plover

However close inspection of the birds while wading showed a single Terek sandpiper with them. This was one of the signs that some late passage was still taking place.

Terek sandpiper

The Terek sandpiper was only loosely associating with the Kentish plover and when they left it stayed behind.

crested lark

Once again I saw desert lark on the walk from the car to the wetland with several crested lark observed all morning on all sides of the wetland. I also saw a hoopoe lark which I believe is a new bird for me at this site. Minutes late I spotted a hoopoe.

Black winged stilt 

Black winged stilt were more in evidence than on any previous visit. I can surmise they have breed in the inaccessible centre of the wetland and are now dispersing. This seems more likely than having a late influx of passage birds.

graceful prinia

Several warblers were seen especially on the west side. These were not all the resident graceful prinia though they were the most common. 

There was a lot of noise from European reed warbler which are almost certainly breeding here.Two were glimpsed. There are still great reed warbler present and a sedge warbler was also seen. The former could also be a breeder. It would not be the first time in central Arabia.

willow warbler

Four or five willow warbler were present. Like the Terek sandpiper these are late passage birds.

little grebe

The north side of the wetland is arguably the best for birding. On the edge, it has more low lying reeds and some grass-based marsh land with some small streams too. There is also some deep water areas a little further into the wetland where little grebe were once again seen. There were some young birds among them. 

One problem with the north side is that to see most birding action, I have to face south and that means into direct sunlight.

moorhen on the north side

This time there was an additional problem. A herd of camels was parked right in the middle of the area. It stayed for a long time. Furthermore the herder's need for water was greater than mine so I gave him my last water on his request. This made things challenging for the rest of the morning as the temperatures rose.

one of two herds of camel

I did get to see little bittern on three occasions. Each time a bird flushed well before I would have seen it. I have seen them in this area on every visit to the wetland over the past three months.

Another notable sighting was of two wood sandpiper. These are more signs of some lingering late passage.

In the next blog, I'll write about the walk round the east and south sides.

Upland Muhayil

At dawn on Saturday, I headed out to an upland area near Muhayil whose exact location I won't disclose for reasons I will explain later.

On arrival there some of the birds were different than those seen early in the weekend at slightly lower altitude and on average denser vegetation.

blackstart

This was the only place I observed blackstart all weekend.

the valley

My main birding at this higher location was along a shaded gorge into the hillside.

kestrel

The cliff sides were peppered with rock dove holes. Rock dove were plentiful.

In these environments, it is no surprise to see kestrel and two were soon sighted flying high above the gorge.

fan tailed raven

Fan tailed raven are common birds of the hills and mountains of south west Saudi Arabia. They were also present though they made photography difficult.

barbary falcon

After a couple of minutes scanning the hillside while resting I suddenly realised a barbary falcon was perched right in the middle of some of the rock dove holes high up a cliff side. Given the value of falcons in this part of the world I am not disclosing the exact location.

second view of barbary falcon

I posted some pictures on Birdforum to check whether it was a barbary falcon or peregrine as some of the characteristics were uncertain.

After much discussion it appears that this barbary falcon does not closely match the pictures in the main regional guide nor the "standard bird" from sub Saharan Africa.  Nevertheless it is a barbary falcon.

It doesn't have a rufous wash behind the ear and the head has no rufous either. The moustache is wider than the "standard". The white cheek is smaller than "standard" and there is more blue between the cheek and the eye.

However the moustache is narrower than a typical peregrine, the underparts have very little barring at all and the pink wash rules out many types of peregrine.

Furthermore it looks almost identical to a picture of a barbary falcon I found from near Eilat, Israel. 

black bush robin

On the way to the upland area, I managed better photos of birds seen elsewhere in Muhayil over the weekend. These included black bush robin.

white throated bee-eater

The wires were full of white throated bee-eater.

Nile valley sunbird

Nile valley sunbird is ubiquitous in Muhayil.

Arabian babbler

I had been seeing Arabian babbler all weekend but only on this trip did I get good photos.

African silverbill

African silverbill was also obliging.

With the early start, this trip was undertaken before the heat of the day. That might explain why it was the only time I saw any passage birds making their way north. These were rufous bush robin, eastern olivaceous warbler and common whitethroat. 

Overall the weekend was another success. The barbary falcon was probably the top sighting. Below is a list of all birds seen and where.

Species	Wadi Haly	North Muhayil	Upland Muhayil
Sand partridge	x
Helmeted guineafowl		x
Hamerkop	x
Black crowned night heron	x
Squacco heron	x
Kestrel			x
Barbary falcon			x
Little grebe	x
Rock dove/feral pigeon		x	x
African collared dove		x
Laughing dove	x	x
Namaqua dove		x
White browed coucal		x
Little swift	x
Grey headed kingfisher	x
White throated bee-eater	x	x	x
Little green bee-eater	x
Arabian babbler	x	x	x
Fan tailed raven			x
White spectacled bulbul	x	x	x
Desert lark	x		x
Pale crag martin		x
Graceful prinia		x	x
Eastern olivaceous  warbler			x
Common whitethroat			x
Rufous tailed bush robin			x
Black bush robin	x	x	x
Blackstart			x
Nile valley sunbird	x	x	x
House sparrow		x	x
Ruepells weaver	x	x	x
African silverbill	x	x	x