Al Hayer Reedbed, Sept 6th 2014.

Set out about 4:45am to visit my local patch here in Riyadh.  The plan for the day was to do a short walk in one of the fields along the wetland by the river then to head up along the reeds on the other side to see what was about.  As you will see there was quite a bit as we are entering into the passage season with lots of palearctic birds heading south for the winter and thankfully passing our way in the process.

The first 15 or 20 minutes of any trip, I find, is really trying to get your eye in.  It generally takes me this long to get spotting properly so I focus on a lot of the easy to spot birds about and there were a nice variety today.  Immediately obvious were the Barn Swallow which are in abundance at the moment catching bugs and congregating on dead branches around the fields. In all I counted over 100 for the day in the areas I visited. 

Also there in good numbers were the African Silverbill and Spanish Sparrow. 

Spanish Sparrow

African Silverbill

 

As with last weeks trip there were a small group of mixed age Moorhen in wetland roughly about 2 juvenile to every adult but as I walked around the other side of the reeds later it became clear that there really had been a good crop of young this year in the area and I found myself flushing 4 or 5 at every stretch of water I passed.  I wonder how many of these will make it to adult moult as I heard the tell tale sound of shotguns in the distance.

Juv. Moorhen

As ever the Bulbul accompanied me and tagged each other to make sure I was always watched.

White Cheeked Bulbul

As I walked a little further alone the wetlands I came across three Whisker
Terns who just stopped in for a rest.  They were fairly approachable but within limits. They never flew very far and invariable returned to the same place. A couple of young Night Herons took off at a distance and two ducks did the same.  In many ways I was glad they did.  The way hunters are around this place right now, if I could get a photo, they could get a shot!!

Whiskered Tern

A little further I spotted a little bittern perched above the lake watching the fish (I know, need to get something with manual focus!!)

Little Bittern

The bushes were filled with Streaked Weaver and Graceful Prinia who made a terrible din when the gathered in significant numbers.  Across the upper field which had recently been cut there were flocks of weavers and sparrow flitting about feeding.

Streaked Weaver

Along the sprinlkers I noticed a single White Throathed Kingfisher, then another and another.  They were spread out along the sprinkler andwere prety passive while I was there.

White Throated Kingfisher

A small flock of Black Winged Stilt flew over, the photo is not great as they were heading straight for the sun but I think the long legs are a dead giveaway.



Black Winged Stilt

As I came closer to the road I spied a number of little Green Bee Eaters. they love to perch on things and fly sorties out to grab a bug then back to the perch.  Several times I saw then bash the unfortunate insect against the perch to disarm it before eating.

Little Green Bee Eater

I then headed up the road on the opposite side of the reed beds and the number of Laughing Doves seemed to increase dramatically, aided I am sure by the presence of a grove of palm trees which are all in full fruit at the moment.  Dates being a favoured food of the Laughing Dove at this time of year leading to the other common name for this species, the Palm Dove.

Laughing Dove

A little further along I came across this little chap, a spotted flycatcher perched on a fence post.  Insect numbers are pretty high in the area right about now and the insect eaters are making the best of it.

Spotted Flycatcher

Not far from these I notices a little black character resting on an old metal box.  The Black Bush Robin is seen a bit around the area but not in any great numbers.  I spotted another about 30 minutes later a bit further up the road.

Black Bush Robin

As I walked along I had this feeling of being watched and turned to see this chap sitting on a tree a few yards away.  As so often happens you both see each other at the same time so the moment the next move is made he's off, so I only got this shot of the beautigul Red Backed Shrike.

On the telephone cables all along the road was a collection of Green Bee Eaters, a good number of Laughing and Namaqua Dove and a White Throated Kingfisher, as it was startig to heat up these guys were spending more time resting.

Namaqua Dove

I walked on out into the hinterland where farming activity diminishes and the desert is king.  Over the other side of a sand dune I heard a lone song which was repeating over and over so I decided to investigate creeping up the dune towards the reed bed.  Thee perched on top of a reed was a single male Red Avadavat.  A beautiful little creature with his red body with white spots and darker wings.  He sang for a few minutes before moving a bit further away as I guess he did not like the strang character recording his song.  I should say a little earlier I spotted a few females on the other side.  It seems there is a little community of these around the area.

Red Avadavat (M)

Red Avadavat (F)

I arrived at what I call the kingfisher pond and alas our common kingfisher was not there (maybe later in the year) but I was treated to a show of 8 Squacco Heron and a single Cattle Egret all sitting in the bushes at the far side.  I expect they were resting waiting for the sprinklers to start down on the farm.

Squacco Heron and Cattle Egret

Further Along I came across another little group of Namaqua Dove and yet more Green Bee Eaters, as I walked along the river, which has dried out a good bit since the start of summer, I thought I spotted a couple of Sandpiper and when in chase.  Alas it was getting too hot and i could not go far.  But maybe next week!

As I returned to the car the farm hands had just started the sprinklers and I was treated to a show of Yellow Wagtails showering themselves in the fine spray and looking on a short distance away Crested Lark.



Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail
 

By the time I reached the car at about 9:50am the temperature had hit 44°C, way too much for this old Celt to be hiking about in, so we made for home through the chaos of Riyadh traffic.

Crested Lark

 

 

For me another good days birding in Riyadh town.:-)

 

Species List

 

 

Name	Count	Name	Count
Barn Swallow	100+	Spanish Sparrow	10
Squacco Heron	8	Whiskered Tern	3
Cattle Egret	1	White Throated Kingfisher	4
Spotted Flycatcher	1	Laughing Dove	21
Yellow Wagtail	11	Namaqua Dove	19
Black Bush Robin	2	Red Avadavat	8
Black Winged Stilt	8	Red Backed Shrike	1
Moorhen	15	White Cheeked Bulbul	24
Streaked Weaver	100+	Graceful Prinia	18
African Silverbill	16	Little Bittern	1
Night Heron	2	Little Green Bee Eater	22
Crested Lark	1	Yellow Wagtail (various subspecies)	15

© Bernard Bracken