An early morning trip to Jubail was rewarded with the sighting of three different Citrine Wagtails together in an area of flooded track. We met Phil Roberts after packing up early from ringing due to the hgh winds and he kindly informed us of two birds presence. As a result we went to look for […]
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.
Another Black Scrub Robin – Sarrar, Eastern Province
Whilst birding the Sarrar area of the Eastern Province Phil Roberts and I found two Black Scrub Robin Cercotrichas podobe a species that has only been recorded five times in the Eastern Province making this sixth record as posted about earlier. Amazingly we then found a third bird some kilometres further down the main road […]
Corn Bunting – Sarrar
Whilst birding the Sarrar area at then end of February I found a singing Corn Bunting. I could hear the bird singing but could not locate it, but after some time and moving around to try to pinpoint it I saw it at the edge of a large pivot irrigation field sitting on the ground. […]
Masked Shrike – Sarrar
Whilst birding the Sarrar area at then end of February I found a smart Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus. The bird appeared to be a freshly arrived migrant as there had been a big fall of passerines in the area and it allowed close approach even when on foot, although the timing suggests it may have […]
Winter visitors and passage migrants – Haradh
Phil Roberts and I went to Haradh recently and found plenty of good birds despite the temperature being 1 degrees Celsius the coldest day for many years in the region as well as a bitingly cold northerly wind. Some birds were winter visitors such as Mallard, Northern Lapwing, Desert Wheatear, Eastern Imperial Eagle and Tawny […]
Common Starlings – Jubail
Whilst in the Jubail area recently I saw plenty of Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris at local camel pens. These camel pens hold good numbers of livestock and attract large numbers of House Sparrows but also a few Common Starlings in the winter. This winter there appear to be more birds than normal possibly as a […]
Pied Wheatear – Haradh
Whilst birding the Haradh area I found a Pied Wheatear. The bird was very tame suggesting it was a tiered newly arrived migrant and it spent most of its time busily catching insects. There were plenty of other migrants seen in the same area meaning the strong winds and very cod weather may have persuaded […]
Yellow Wagtails wintering in a field – Haradh
Whilst birdwatching the Haradh area in early a January 2017 I came across up to 30 Yellow Wagtails including some male Black-headed Wagtails feeding in a stubble field. This is a very early date for the birds and they may well have wintered in the area. Mid-February is the start of the spring passage for […]