Whilst in Abha in April, Phil Roberts and I came across a number of Steppe Eagles that have presumably wintered in the area. These birds will soon be moving back to their breeding areas and are quite late stayers. Steppe Eagle is a common migrant and winter visitor to the south-west, northern Hejaz and Central […]
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.
African Wildcat – Abha area
Whilst out spotlighting in the Abha area recently I came across an African (Arabian) Wildcat where it was seen hunting high up in an area of large boulders. The subspecies of African Wildcat that occurs in Arabia isFelis lybica tristrami distributed from Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan to northern Saudi Arabia. They occur in the northwest […]
Philby’s Partridge – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a good number of Philby’s PartridgeAlectoris philbyi.This is a scarce resident of the south-west highlands and is related to the Chukar & Red-legged Partridge and is native to south-western Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It can be easily identified from other partridges by the black cheeks […]
Rock Hyrax – Abha area
Whilst birding the Abha area recently I came across five Rock Hyrax Procavia capensis jayacari sunning themselves on rock boulders, but they appeared very shy and soon disappeared. This animal is diurnal and they live in groups where they occupy a wide range of habitats, from arid deserts to rainforest, occurring from sea level to […]
Arabian Partridge – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a pair of Arabian PartridgeAlectoris melanocephala.Thisis a common resident of the south-west highlands, especially steep wooded hillsides of the western escarpment of Jebal Souda, the Raydah Protected Area, Tanoumah and the Al Baha area. They prefer juniper dominated habitats where rocky knolls & clearings occur. […]
Yemen Rock Agama – Tanoumah
Whilst birdwatching the Tanoumah area of the Asir Mountains, 120 kms north of Abha, I came across a Yemen Rock AgamaAcanthocercus yemensis. The Yemen Rock Agama occurs in northern Yemen and adjacent Saudi Arabia, but the limits of its distribution in Saudi Arabia are currently not well known, although I have seen it as far […]
Arabian Wheatear – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides where birds were most often perched on areas of boulders with slightly more males recorded than females. This is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, […]
Arabian Serin – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few endemic Arabian Serin Serinus rothschildi. This is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands occurring in scrubland and acacia sites, where they have been seen regularly on Raydah escarpment at Raydah Farm and at the farm at the bottom of the escarpment […]