I had the opportunity to visit Al Hai'ir this afternoon after collecting our rental car. It's only an hour from the hotel in Riyadh and I was surprised to find an area of marsh, small lagoons and reeds. Amazing. This is where Basra Reed Warbler sometimes breeds, and despite a couple of hours searching all I had were numerous Eurasian Reed Warblers. But it's a great area and after roughly 25 inches of rain here this year, the main channel was full of water...
An adult and immature Purple Heron flew over, along with a Western Cattle Egret and the odd Pallid Swift, whilst trackside bushes held Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and a fine Eurasian Wryneck.
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| Eurasian Wryneck |
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| Purple Heron |
I also had a brief glimpse of a sylvia warbler that eluded identification, and a Turkestan Shrike was seen distantly.
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| Turkestan Shrike |
Several Arabian Green Bee-eaters were also present,. along with many White-eared Bulbuls. However, I was particularly pleased to get 3 Saudi ticks: Red Avadavat, Indian Silverbill and Streaked Weaver! Yay!!
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| Indian Silverbill |
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| Red Avadavat |
Not a bad 2 hours birding and I only wished I had longer! So I have 4 hours sleep tonight before starting our Saudi Arabia trip in the deserts north of Riyadh......
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