North of Khobar

Having spotted my one target bird for last weekend, Socotra cormorant, so early on, I spent the second day (Friday) speculatively birding an area a little further north of Thursday's. 

This meant I birded the central and northern corniche of Khobar and then on to the Dammam port area.

white cheeked tern

To be honest the central and northern corniche at Khobar were a bit of a disappointment. Although neatly landscaped with lawns, palm trees and water features, it is not as natural a setting as the southern end.  The coastline itself is mostly artificial boulders too.

Nevertheless there were a few highlights. I managed to see another tern species, white cheeked tern, to add to the three species seen the day before. 

western reef heron

The lack of vegetative cover at the water features didn't stop the odd western reef heron making an appearance.

house crow

I hadn't seen house crow on Thursday but it was easily seen in the parkland alongside more common myna, house sparrow, white eared bulbul and crested lark.  

common myna

Collared dove again was very numerous.

collared dove

Birding became more interesting again as I left Khobar and headed towards Dammam port stopping briefly at the so called high roost on the border of the two cities.

black winged stilt

Here were the first black winged stilt seen on the trip and a few more western reef heron.

flamingo

In the port itself are several bunded water filled areas whose purpose I am not sure of but which make some for some of the best birding in the area.

the full group of flamingo

One such bunded area held five sub adult flamingo.

greenshank

Indeed one of the features of the weekend was seeing sub adult and therefore non-breeding birds which belong to species which don't regularly breed in the area but do so relatively close by. Slender billed gull for example don't breed here but do so in Kuwait as I understand it.  

One possible interpretation is that these sub adults come for the winter and over summer because there is no biological imperative for them to move on.  Who knows whether this explains the odd greenshank and dunlin also seen but which I can't age unlike the gulls and flamingo.

second cycle slender billed gull

The mangroves at the port have taken a battering since the last time I visited with an ill considered (and apparently abandoned) road  having cut off the tide to part of it. What a shame.

curlew

In the diminished area were more waders than any where else over the weekend. These included curlew, common redshank and greater sand plover.

greater sand plover (left), dunlin (centre) and kentish plover

Its always a pleasure to see sand plovers and usually a headache in identification terms too. Its easier in summer when the vast majority are greater sand plover which breeds locally.

This was a rewarding end to a gentle weekend's birding in the fierce heat of a Saudi summer.

Waders on the east coast

This is the third and last blog to report on Mansur Al Fahad's trip to the east coast two weeks ago.

Thanks once to Mansur for providing photographs and permission to blog.

Eurasian curlew on the east coast

By all accounts, the waders included very many and varied plovers. It looks like it was an ideal opportunity to brush up on ones identification skills for this tricky class of birds.

Grey plover

This young grey plover could fool some people by its slightly golden hue.

Greater sand plover

Parts of both the west coast and east coast of Saudi Arabia have both lesser sand plover and greater sand plover side by side.

Both Mansur and I agree the top bird is a greater sand plover although this one is a tricky identification from one photo.They have a larger head, eye and bill but if these aren't easily discerned or are ambiguous I look at the shape of the bill. It is more pointed in a greater sand plover.

Lesser sand plover

Note the blunter look of the bill in this second bird which is a lesser sand plover.

Kentish plover and little stint

Kentish plover are easy to tell part by their white collar which extends all the way round.

Ringed plover

This orange legged plover is ringed plover not little ringed plover even though its beak is not orange with a black tip which should appear later.

Redshank

Identifying the shanks was easier! Above is a redshank and below is a greenshank.

Greenshank

Ruddy turnstone was present. It's actually one of the most widespread birds in the world. I saw them on two pacific islands for example during my last summer break.

Ruddy turnstone

The common sandpiper below was blown about in the wind.

Common sandpiper

Mansur and I both also agree this final bird is a curlew sandpiper in pure winter plumage although this is the identification I struggled with the most.

Curlew sandpiper

The legs are long and the bill is significantly decurved and there looks like a white rump hidden there.

The next blog is about my trip over the weekend to Zulfi, a farming community 250 kilometres north of Riyadh. Even it had some waders despite being inland.

The beach at KAUST

Early Friday morning, Brian James  and I visited the beach at KAUST before anyone else arrived. There were plenty of birds along the shore line.

flamingo

The most eye-catching was the single flamingo. However the ones generating the most noise and commotion were a pair of Caspian tern. It took us a moment to realise why. Then we saw a  flightless Caspian tern chick which one of the adults was protecting while the other went off for food.

Caspian tern defending its chick

One of the adults would attack any bird that came close but it also flew 20 metres to us as a warning too. It seemed most concerned about the black headed gull and the odd Caspian gull which were around.

Grey heron

While this was going on a grey heron stood motionless on rocks going out into the sea.

Greater sand plover

Greater sand plover and a smaller number of ringed plover walked up the shore line.

In slightly deeper water and some way from us a large group of crab plover had assembled.

common kingfisher

A common kingfisher chose a prominent post to perch on before fishing and moving on.

Terek sandpiper

While there were several little stint, Temminck's stint and common sandpiper which were present, my eye was drawn to a Terek's sandpiper which is still a bit of a novelty to me. 

It was a good start to the day.

My first Greater Sand Plover (in Libya)

Thanks to Andy for standing in yesterday while I was away in the Derna area. I have some really exciting things to report over the next week. Today's blog is a taster!


The birding there is arguably the best in Libya and it is certainly different. It is 250 kilometres east of Benghazi and its bird life reflects a more eastern geography.

Ras Al Tin looking in-land

Today I'm reporting visits to two coastal wetland areas east of Derna. The first one was new to me. It was Ras Al Tin. The place is mosquito infested and I have several horrible bites to prove it.

I walked out from the road through the swamps and pools to the sand bar which separates the main pool/lake from the sea. I saw very few birds apart from meadow pipit and was beginning to have great regrets about spending my time there.

four waders including a greater sand plover

However I was more than a little appeased when I saw a mixed group of waders on the sand bank. There were some kentish plover, dunlin and a greater sand plover!  Note its size compared with the kentish plover (and its beak size too).

I recognised it instantly as I had seen a breeding colony when I lived in Azerbaijan. Who knows this bird may come from there.

greater sand plover at Ras Al Tin

The UN winter bird counts (which visit the majority of Libya's wetlands in late January or early February) pick up between zero and 3 birds each year. This would suggest the bird is indeed rare in Libya. Collins doesn't have it here at all suggesting its wintering grounds finish at about the Egyptian/Libyan border.

kentish plover at Ras Al Tin

After the excitement of Ras Al Tin I backtracked westward along the coast to nearby Wadi al Hamsa which was so rich in birds in October (see my blog on it!). 

pictureque Wadi al Hamsa on Friday

Sadly I have to report that there were only a few birds there. And the reason is illegal hunters.  The Tobruk area (and its only two and half hours drive)  along with Adjabiya has the strongest tradition of hunting in Libya. There are many spent cartridges at Wadi al Hamsa which unfortunately provides little cover for birds.

Among the middle sized and larger birds, I only saw one grey heron and a few moorhen. Last time I saw many kingfishers for example and an osprey. None were present this time.

grey heron at Wadi Al Hamsa

The birding at Wadi Al Hamsa is fantastic during the spring and autumn migrations and in early winter but I can't recommend it in December, January and February when the birds have been frightened off or in some cases killed.

I have much happier things to post about for the rest of the week.