Birds, Chiggers, and Grit

It's too bad Mohammed wasn't more into natural history because the Saudis themselves might be more interested in the world around them as a result. Like all nomadic groups, the Bedouins of course had to know about the plants and animals around them but only a relatively small percentage of Saudis are of true Bedouin heritage, they did not have a strong tradition of writing down their history and cultural knowledge, and there are not any truly nomadic Bedouins left anymore anyway. (Oddly, while many Saudis admire and romanticize the Bedouin lifestyle and history, the ruling family has some Bedu blood but not much. Some Bedouin sheiks hold positions of significant authority, but they don't sit at the tops of ministries.)

But to the point, in many publications that originate here, you'll find a brief statement like this: "There are small birds in the interior oases." That pretty much summarizes the general view of the wildlife.

But I am a natural history buff. Until I get my hands on a good birding guide (and there are some out there published mainly by the Brits that I've put on my Amazon wish list), I've developed my own short list of the birds and the plants that I see. Keep in mind that this list applies to this short fall season and my observations in the summertime may be different.

The plants that grow on camp are not characteristic of what can grow here in KSA. They have been artificially selected because they need to have a high saline tolerance. All of the green landscaping on camp is irrigated with raw water. So there are some species of euphorbia (a type of succulent) that are native to parts of KSA but that can't be grown on camp unless you protect them from the raw water irrigation (i.e., grow them in pots on your patio, not planted in the ground) and hand-water them with sweet water.

What does grow here? Acacias, oleanders, frangipani, some type of green hedge that gets 20-30 feet tall that can get little fragrant white flowers on it, petunias, marigolds (where will marigolds not grow?), impatiens, geraniums, bougainvillea (I've seen orange, pink, and white varieties), many types of agave, at least half a dozen different types of bunch grass, and lots of small unidentified shrubs with tiny leaves. There are at least two types of trees that I have not yet identified at all. The grass is some sort of zoysia. I've been told that St Augustine grass will grow here but I've not seen any yet.

The camp is crawling with feral cats. None of them are very large so I think that either very few reach full adulthood or they are just naturally small (pressure from poor resources and extreme heat in summer, perhaps). They obviously reach sexual maturity because they are everywhere. The food resources are probably decent because our communal trash areas contain open barrels. This means there are more of them than should actually be supported by normal resources. I was told that every few years Aramco arranges for a culling of the ferals. Trap, neuter, and release is not an option here. It is not within the cultural mindset to do something like that on a large scale. I noticed that Khobar is also crawling with feral cats so this is not just a camp problem.

I mentioned the wild dogs. I've never heard anyone talk about them coming into camp but they are widely known to live in the desert areas fringing camp. In the early mornings, I can see tracks and trails in the sand made by small critters such as jerboas and the like. Those seem sort of small to support something the size of those wild dogs that I saw but perhaps they snack on a few straying feral cats as well.

Most of us have geckos that live on our porches but I've not seen any other lizards or snakes or even what I would recognize as a lizard or snake track in the sand. Probably the feral cats and dogs keep the snake and lizard population around camp artificially low.

I have yet to see a spider despite being assured by an expert that you are never more than 10 feet from a spider no matter where you are in the world (except the ice caps). I suspect that the spiders here don't spin large webs. Webs take a lot of moisture resources. Desert spiders in the US often dig holes so maybe that's what some of them here do as well.

There are lots of scorpions in the desert but I haven't seen one yet. As in the US, these are almost certainly nocturnal.

Mimi is covered with bites. Not fleas, as there are none here. It was either something in the grass or the sand. Harry has a few of the same type of bites but I have none. Poor Meems is a mass of tiny itchy scabs. I know from past experience that she is relatively sensitive to insect bites so some of her situation is an overreaction of her histamine system. Anyway, after asking around, we decided the problem was nanochiggers in the grass. In desperation, I brewed up a natural insect repellent made from orange and lemon peels and some mint. Mixed with isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle, this stuff is non-toxic and would hopefully give Mimi some relief by repelling, not killing, the biting insects. Rubbing alcohol is not available in KSA so I ended up using some ethanol instead (yes, that would be drinking alcohol; long story for another post). It seems to be working. Mimi hasn't had a new bite in two days although her shoulders where she can't lick it off later are a bit sticky and she smells orangey.

I haven't seen wasps or bees or butterflies and only a few very small moths. None of the flowering plants around here produces a lot of nectar so some of these pollen and nectar eaters would find a poor living here. Making nectar uses up precious water resources and probably isn't a workable solution for this climate.

As a result, I haven't seen any birds that I'd say are nectar eaters either. The great majority of the birds that I see eat bugs from the grass and seeds from the ground. There are doves, sparrows, a tiny sparrow-sized version of quail, some odd, very talkative birds that remind me of a cross between a redwing blackbird and a mynah with white neck rings, and these really cool birds with crests on their heads and super long narrow bills that you'd think would be just perfect for pushing into a flower but instead I only see them hunting bugs in the grass. There are white egrets that stalk around freshly watered grassy areas, and I did see what I thought had to be some sort of falcon or buteo soaring high in the sky the other day. That list isn't terribly long, is it?

It is fall here now so the temps are starting to cool off. Mornings are particularly fine. When I arrived, lows were still around 80 F and highs were around 90-95 F. Now one month later I believe lows are around 70 F and highs no more than 90 F (I really need to acquire a nice digital thermometer for outside; maybe that will be my first test of the US Postal Service delivery here to Dhahran). I am amused to see some people walking the circum-golf course trail in the morning in long pants and sweaters! I am still in shorts and Tshirt. It will take quite a while before I think 70 F warrants a sweater!

We are only a few miles from the Persian Gulf so the humidity can be very high during the summer. In this fall season, humidity will spike for 12 hours or so then it gets dry again. The horizon-blurring haze that is present all the time consists of small amounts of water vapour and mostly very fine dust. I've seen some SEM photos--the dust grains are about 1-5 nanometers across. The dominant regional weather pattern here in what is called the Eastern Province is comprised of strong winds that blow the dust down from Iran.

Keeping the apartment clean is an exercise in grit management. We don't track in sand because there really isn't true sand here. The grains are too small. We live in a sea of silt and dust.