Wadi Thulaimah, Saudi Arabia

Our second stop of the day was at Wadi Thulaimah south of our friend Abdullah's home city of Al Kharj in an area he has known well since childhood.

As we drove across the sand towards the area of ponds our first bird was a fine long-legged buzzard soaring over our car.

Long-legged buzzard

The ponds themselves held a very diverse number of waders for such a land locked province. We had expected black-winged stilt, little stint and wood sandpiper but two marsh sandpiper were an excellent find as were kentish plover (coming into breeding plumage), ringed plover and Temminck's stint.

We then headed for Al Kharj city refuse tip... our heads were filled with visions of a raptor paradise. How wrong we were. The isolated dump held nothing but four desert wheatear. But the drive back along the desert road was livened up when we spotted four splendid hoopoe lark and shortly afterwards a similar number of bar-tailed desert lark. The latter was another lifer for me and a species that had proved to be my nemesis back in Dubai. They were still a difficult bird to nail down for a photo. How can a bird with one inch long legs walk quicker than me?

Bar-tailed desert lark

Hoopoe lark

We returned back to the extreme end of Wadi Thulmayah just as sun was setting on a rather large and permanent lake which held good numbers of shoveler together with several pochard and tufted duck.

No day with two lifers can be anything less than a good day.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ FULL LIST _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8 Grey heron

2 Purple heron

10 Moorhen

4 Black-winged stilt

2 Ringed plover

1 Kentish plover

1 Dunlin

1 Temminck's stint

70 Little stint

12 Wood sandpiper

4 Green sandpiper

2 Marsh sandpiper

2 Ruff

2 Tufted duck

4 Pochard

18 Shoveler

1 Long-legged buzzard

1 Barn swallow

1 Stonechat
1 Black bush robin

6 Desert wheatear

4 Hoopoe lark

4 Bar-tailed desert lark