Whilst birding the Haradh area recently we saw good numbers Bluethroats. There were calling from an area of long grass in a partly cut pivot field and consisted mainly of Red-spotted Bluethroats but two White-spotted birds were also seen. There were double figures seen which is a good number of a non-wetland area and were […]
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.
Winter Birds – Tabuk
Whilst birding the Tabuk area recently I saw a few good winter species such as Montagues Harrier. It was the commonest harrier although both Pallid and Marsh Harrier were also seen. Several Long-legged Buzzard were also around the large fields. Three Cream-coloured Coursers were seen along the edge of a large pivot irrigation field but […]
Flocks of Spanish Sparrows – Haradh
Whilst birding the Haradh area I came across several large flocks of Spanish Sparrows. This is a common resident of northern and western parts of the Kingdom with numbers increasing in the winter months. They are not so common in the area where I live in the east of the Kingdom but numbers are increasing. […]
Western Siberian Stonechat – Tabuk
Whilst birding the Tabuk area I came across a few Western Siberian Stonechat. The birds were looked at closely and there did not appear to be any white extending down the tail feathers. The rump was also unstreaked. They were almost always seen in tall scrub at the side of large pivot irrigation fields. The […]
African Pipit – Tanoumah
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, […]
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 […]