The middle of summer is the slowest time for birdwatching in Saudi Arabia but it is always worth going out and seeing what you can see and different things or unusual occurrences can occur at any time of year. Jubail ha many reed bed areas that hold a number of breeding warblers with the commonest […]
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.
Egyptian Nightjars still around in good numbers – Jubail
The Egyptian Nightjar Caprimulgus aegyptius is an uncommon bird in Arabia although since 2006 additional birds have been located in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia near Jubail in August with the highest count being ten birds together on 22 August 2008. Birds have been seen every year in August near Jubail since 2006 with […]
Birding the Abha Area
Whilst birding the Abha area recently we went to Azeeza to look for Blandford’s Short-toed Larks as birds had been seen here by us in previous years. The area has had some building and construction work done in the last couple of years and despite quite extensive searching we failed to find any birds. Very […]
Plenty of endemic bird species in Wadi Thee Gazelle – Taif
Whilst birding the Wadi Thee Gazelle area of Taif we came across a good number of Arabian Endemic Species, seeing eight out of the twelve species. The high rainfall in the mountains in spring 2016 appears to have produced a good breeding season for many species and adults with juveniles of Arabian Wheatear and Arabian […]
Bottom of Raydah Escarpment in summer
I was at the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment in late June and the number of birds was significantly less than in May. There were a lot less African Grey Hornbill and Violet-backed Starlings but White-throated Bee-eaters had arrived that were not present in early May. The number of Bruce’s Green Pigeons remained high and […]
Anderson’s Rock Agama – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few Anderson’s Rock Agama Acanthocercus adramitanus. The species is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula, where it is found in west and south Arabia, from Taif (Saudi Arabia) in the north to Dhofar (Oman) in the east. Its range includes Oman, Yemen, and southwestern Saudi […]
Bosk’s fringe-toed lizard – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across two Bosk’s fringe-toed lizard Acanthodactylus boskianus both were near to vegetation of low-lying shrubs. This is the most widespread species of its genus as well as the largest Acanthodactylus species throughout its range, measuring 16-23 centimetres in total length, which includes all of Saharan North […]
Record count of Egyptian Nightjar – Jubail
Egyptian Nightjars are now an easily seen species during the summer months in the Jubail area but this year the numbers are higher than ever with sixteen birds seen. Birds generally turn up in early June and depart in late September with records of early and late birds occurring every year for the past few […]