Braving the heat in Saudi

As the thermometer is creeping up to the high forties here in Riyadh it takes extra effort to get out birding and being summer there are fewer birds around anyway. But I dragged myself out of bed at 4 a.m. to see what was around the Ha'ir pivot fields south east of the city equipped with my newly serviced and returned camera and long lens.

The haze kept a lot of the heat off but the reeds were fairly quiet although but I soon added eastern olivaceous warbler to my KSA list, a bird that's a fairly common summer visitor to these parts. The reeds also held a small party of red avadavat still mostly in their striking summer plumage together with a couple of drabber juvenile birds and a few (caspian) reed warbler. From the fields a single common quail was heard with it's distinctive 'wet my lips' call.

Caspian reed warbler

Waders were few and far between but I did boot a green sandpiper from what remains of the winter run off pools at the edge of the fields which also held about 50 moorhen.

In the last field I visited I soon found a pair (?) of feldegg yellow wagtail indicating they had at least tried to breed. As far as I know yellow wagtails breeding was only confirmed in KSA about ten years ago so that was a good find. But most interesting was a group of five plovers darting about a dry patch in the middle of the field. They suggested little ringed plover but I only got the briefest of views before they flew off in a tight flock never to be seen again. They gave a distinctive p'choo call, unlike little ringed plover. It's possible they were Kittlitz plover and I will have a good look for them next week.

A full day list is on e-bird HERE