The Arabian Waxbill is an endemic species of Arabia and occurs in the south and west of the country where it is one of the most difficult endemics to see. Phil Roberts and I managed to see up to ten birds in a wadi in Wadi Thee Gazelle, where the birds were initially seen on […]
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 along the roadside – Bani Saad
Recently I was in Bani Saad and stopped along the roadside at a nice looking area of market garden fields with crops. This area had once held Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak where birds were seen sitting on a roof in Bani Saad but unfortunately I have never seen them in the built up areas. I did […]
Looking for Arabian Waxbill in Wadi Waj – Taif
Phil and I went to Wadi Waj, a site near the center of Taif. This site is a wastewater runoff stream that permanently flows and has good growth of reeds and sedges nearby. It is a place where Waxbill has been seen and where we saw two last summer. We went on the hope of […]
White-cheeked Terns – Jubail
White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa is a common breeding summer visitor to the Gulf and Red Sea coast north to Jeddah. There are no inland records of this species that I know off. Birds start occurring in April and by June there are very large numbers as this is the start of their breeding season. White-cheeked […]
Raydah Escarpment – Abha
Whilst in Abha I went to the Raydah Escarpment a designated nature reserve run by the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA). This is a well-vegetated section of escarpment dropping down steeply from the top near the ranger’s station to a small village and a large wadi at the bottom. Most of the endemics occur in the […]
Birding Either Mangroves – Either
Either Mangrove is a potentially very important natural mangrove lagoon west of Sabya in the southwest of the Kingdom on the Red Sea coast. It holds one of the only known populations of ‘Mangrove White-eye’ a little known white-eye that may be part of the Abyssinian White-eye complex or possibly an unknown species? It is […]
Arabian Scops Owl at Al Mehfar Park – Tanoumah
Whilst birding the Al Mehfar Park area of Tanoumah, I heard a number of Arabian Scops Owls calling just after dark. A minimum of six birds were calling in a relatively small area suggesting the species is common in the correct mountain habitat. I managed to see one bird hunting in a relatively open position […]
Resident breeders and last migrants – Jubail
The last visit to the Jubail area produced few birds of note. Most of them were resident breeders as would be expected in the summer months but I did see two late migrants in the form of a couple of Spotted Flycathcers and a female Red-back Shrike. Resident breeding birds included plenty of Graceful Prinias […]