Whilst birding Tanoumah in the southwestern mountains I found an African PipitAnthus cinnamomeus eximiuscarry food for it young. African Pipit is a little known bird in Saudi Arabia where the subspecies is endemic to the southwest part of Saudi Arabia and nearby Yemen. There are three specimens from Saudi Arabia at the Natural History Museum, […]
Author: 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.
White-edged Rockbrown – Wadi Grosbeak
White-edged Rockbrown Hipparchia parisatisis a large butterfly with its prominent white borders. The species is found from the Western Himalayas to Eastern Turkey and in Oman. The normal habitat is rough hillsides with shrubs and grass. Here the butterflies spend much of their time sitting on rocks or on the bare ground; when disturbed they […]
Eurasian Hoopoe on migration – Jubail area
Passage of Eurasian Hoopoe has been evident the last few weeks with birds turning up in many areas of the Eastern Province. The species is a widespread common migrant and scarce resident breeder. Passage birds pass from February to mid-Aril and September to October. Birds of the Riyadh Region (Stagg 1994) states it is a […]
Last wintering species still around – Khafra Marsh
Whilst birding the Khafra Marsh area in mid-March I saw a few wintering species still present. A few Western Siberian Stonechats were seen in the reeds and bushes along the side of a track with some resident Graceful Prinia for company. The waters edge held both Purple Heron and Squacco Heron as well as a […]
Black-headed Wagtails – Khafra Marsh
Whilst birding the Khafra Marsh area recently, it became obvious a good number of migrants had arrived. There were very large numbers of both Black-headed Wagtails and White Wagtails feeding around on a disused farm area with the only other wagtail subspecies seen was a single beema but I did not photograph it. There was […]
Blue Rock Thrush – Jubail
Whilst birding the desert near Jubail I came across a small vegetated valley with a little wet pool. It was very attractive to migrants with plenty of Common Chiffchaffs, several Eurasian Hoopoes, White Wagtail and a single female Blue Rock Thrush. Blue Rock Thrush is an uncommon passage migrant through Saudi Arabia that is seen […]
Pharaoh Eagle Owl – Jubail area
I saw and photographed a Pharaoh Eagle Owl recently in the desert in the Eastern Province. Records suggest it is an uncommon bird in the Saudi Arabian deserts, although it is probably more common than records suggest as they are secretive and well camouflaged. The Pharaoh Eagle Owl is distributed throughout much of North Africa […]
Red-wattled Lapwing – Khafrah Marsh
Whilst birding the Khafrah Marsh area on 9 March I saw three adult Red-wattled Lapwing. The species is scarce in Saudi Arabia with records from Riyadh, the Empty Quarter and the Eastern Province. This species is a resident breeder at wetlands in eastern Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, and is gradually colonizing westwards. […]
