Whilst birding at Jubail I found a female Eversmann’s Redstart, a new species for me. Birding up to that point had been rather poor due to the overcast and windy conditions but it was made up for with this bird. I noticed a redstart on the track between the large reed beds and it almost immediately flew up into the reed bed but luckily stayed on the edge. Initially I could only see it through the windscreen of the car making views poor but it looked very interesting due to the pale panel in the closed wing.
I moved the car slightly to get a view through the window and got a few photos of to look at when I got home but the combination of wing markings and covert edges made the identification as a female Eversmann’s Redstart look very positive.
I have never seen this species and on checking details in books and photos on the internet combined with Yoav Perlman‘s confirmation of my identification I was happy I had found a very good vagrant for Saudi Arabia as well as another new species for my Saudi Arabian list. This was the third new species I had found in ten days after Black-throated Thrush and Redwing. The only records I know of for Saudi Arabia are as follows:
Five at Ras Tanurah in December 1970 until January 1971 – Eastern Province
One Haradh 31 January 1980 – Eastern Province
One Kurais 14 November 1980 – Eastern Province
One at Dhahran from 21 January to 28 February 1982 – Eastern Province
A male at Thumamah, Riyadh, in alfalfa fields 8 December 1990 to 11 January 1991 – Central Province
Two at Jubail near the Holiday Inn on 17 November 1991 one remaining until 19 November 1991 – Eastern Province.
A female was found on 27 January to 9 March 2000 at Thumamah – Central Province
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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