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 […]
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.
Birding the pivot fields – Haradh
The winter months are a good time to visit Haradh pivot irrigation fields as they hold a lot of good birds at this time of year. Large numbers of wintering Harriers, particularly Western Marsh Harrier and Pallid Harrier occur here and I saw well over thirty birds of both species during my visit. Another group […]
Twelve Black-throated Thrushes in Deffi Park – Jubail
After finding four Black-throated Thrushes at Deffi Park, Jubail on 20 January I went back a week later to see if I could get better photos and see if anything else had turned up. On arrival, at first light, I saw plenty of Song Thrushes feeding around under the trees and in with them a […]
Phillby’s Partridge
Philby’s Partridge Alectoris philbyi is a rare resident of the south-west highlands. The best sites for locating the species are the terrace fields near Tanoumah, the dry scrub covered hillsides on Jebal Souda plateau and the area around Al Baha. They prefer juniper dominated habitats where rocky knolls & clearings occur and ocurs from 1500 […]
Ringing Grey-headed Swamphen – Jubail
Whilst ringing in Jubail we caught a Grey-headed Swamphen in a mist net. This is quite a feat as they are large and heavy birds that seldom fly. It had managed to fly into the net and was caught in the bottom shelf but as we place these shelves well above the water to stop […]
Winter is here – Jubail
I went birding to Jubail in mid-November and came across a number of winter visitors most of which I failed to photograph. I saw hundreds of Greater Cormorants of a flood sabkha area. This species was previously uncommon in Jubail but the last few years thousands of birds winter here and on the coast. Other […]
Wintering Greater Spotted Eagles – near Jubail
At least seven Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga were recorded at a wetland site near Jubail in mid-November. Birds winter at a number of sites in Saudi Arabia with the Jubail area the best for the species in the Eastern province. In winter birds are almost always near wetland areas with large areas where they […]
A few herons – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area recently I saw a few interesting herons. Many Grey Herons and Western Great Egrets were flying around but also in amongst them was a single Purple Heron. Numbers of Squacco Heron are also increasing as winter arrives with many juvenile birds. Wader numbers are decreasing but the odd Greater Sand […]