Al Hayer - 4th October 2014

 

Up early again today, although we were a little late arriving on site due to a slight oversleep by our driver.  Temperatures are a bit fresher these mornings at around 26 C with a light breeze.  I started my walk in the south field and skirted the river / reeds all the way up into the second field on the north side of the road and back again.  A good few fishermen were about after the first hour or so which disturbed things a little but it did not have too much impact on the birds.

Almost immediately on entering the field I spotted a Black Scrub Robin sitting on a bush.

black scrub robin (Cercotrichas podobe)

And a little further along I noticed a small family of Moorhen who, for once, did not notice me first.  In all I counted 13 in a small area in the lower field.  They were even confient enough to walk out into the field to feed so my new invisible cloak must have been doing the trick ;). 

common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

In good numbers again this weekend were the Barn Swallows which were busily performing their aerial dance collecting insects as they went along.  This week however they were joined by a small number of Pale Craig Martins, I can't remember seeing them in this area before, although they are relatively plientiful aroung the Cricket Club.

Out in the field bathing in the sprinklers and feeding were a group of Cattle Egret.

cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)

and also a number of Squacco Heron.

squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides)

 

and as always the ever present White Cheeked Bulbul kept watch on my every move.

 

white-cheeked bulbul ( Pycnonotus leucogenys )

 

This week saw a significant increase in the number of European Bee-Eaters in the area, at one point there were a number in the air and 10 or more resting on the overhead cables.  These guys visit us at this time of year on their way south. 

 

european bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

european bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

 

Additionally there was the ever present group of Little Green Bee Eater who are resident in the area.

 

green bee-eater (Merops orientalis)

 

In every bush and tree there was a small complement of Streaked Weavers chattering away.  These little guys only seem to flock later in the day I think, something I must watch out for in the future.

streaked weaver (Ploceus manyar)

One bird I notices a fair few of this time and had not noted in the area before was the Common Myna

common myna (Acridotheres tristis)

There were about a dozen of these in the trees and feeding together on the sprinklers.  They are common enough in central Saudi Arabia but not often seen out here.

common myna (Acridotheres tristis)

Further along the sprinkler line was the White Throated Kingfisher, there were three of these spaced out along the sprinkler, generally just watching the goings on below them, but they occasionally would make a short flight to the ground and back.

white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

As always there was the resident mob of Graceful Prinia.  These very active little warblers are difficult to get a photo of as they move about in the trees quite quickly so I was quite pleased to get a shot at this one out in the open for a few moments.  All along the walk you could hear these guys chattering away to one another.

graceful prinia (Prinia gracilis)

 
Hunting in the reeds was this young Durian Shrike, it was quite tame by comparison with many of the birds in the area so allowed some reasonable shots.

daurian shrike (Lanius isabellinus)

I did not get to see many Purple Heron on the ground this week as they were nearly all seen in flight heading east in small groups.  This one I did get in flight although not brilliantly.

purple heron (Ardea purpurea)

 

On crossing the road into the two northern fields birding tailed off for a little bit as there were a number of fishermen setting up their nets and generally creating a lot of noise.  However, further out into the dry area I came across a pair of Crested Lark busily searching for food amoung the tufts of vegetation.

crested lark (Galerida cristata)

 And on an unused sprinkler a single spotted flycatcher making its sortie like flights to catch insect and then returning to its perch for a breather.

 

 

spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

A male and female Namaqua Dove were spotted nearby and a little later I spotted a good number of these out among the reeds and Tamarisk bushes.

namaqua dove (Oena capensis)

A pair of March Harriers circled the reeds hunting, though I did not see them dive in at any point this morning.

marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

I am pretty sure this was a male , though he was flying quite high at the time so I only got this photo of him.

 

marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

Just to top off what was an exciting days birding, I walked back towards the car and my attention was drawn to a commotion in a nearby tree, as I looked closer a flock of approximately 50 Cattle Egret took to the sky, completed a circuit of the tree and returned to perch on it. 



cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)

cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)

 In all another wonderful day's birding.

 

Species List 

Species	Count	Species	Count
Purple Heron	6	Green Bee-eater	2
Cattle Egret	75	European Bee-eater	10
Squacco Heron	5	Eurasian Hoopoe	2
Western Marsh Harrier	3	Daurian Shrike	1
Common Moorhen	13	Crested Lark	10
Laughing Dove	25	Barn Swallow	25
White-throated Kingfisher	3	Rock Martin (Pale Crag-Martin)	5
White-eared Bulbul	2	Graceful Prinia	6
Black Scrub-Robin	2	Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin	1
Common Myna		Streaked Weaver	18
Spotted Flycatcher	1