On 5 February Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran. We left at 03:00 hrs to allow us to be at the site at first light. After plenty of searching we eventually came across a very damp newly ploughed field that had a […]
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.
Sixteen Sociable Lapwing – Haradh
On 5 February Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran. We left at 03:00 hrs to allow us to be at the site at first light. We tried the big farm complexes first but were not allowed entry to any so tried a […]
Wintering Greater Spotted Eagles – near Jubail
At least seventeen Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga were recorded at a wetland site near Jubail on 20 November 2015, the highest single day count for the site. Since this time numbers have decreased but there are still at least eight and probably more Greater Spotted Eagles remaining for the winter. Birds winter at a […]
Four Pied Kingfishers wintering – Sabkhat Al Fasl
The major influx of Pied Kingfishers into eastern Arabia this winter has resulted in at last four Pied Kingfishers wintering at Sabkhat Al Fasl. These birds have taken up residence in a couple of different locations with birds being seen at the two sites each visit in 2016. The birds are extremely beautiful and are […]
Wintering Masked Shrike and other good birds – Deffi Park, Jubail
Phil and I went to Deffi Park, a large municipal park in Jubail. The park is an area of mature trees and nice grass areas but is popular with locals during the day. As a result we always arrive just before first light and look around and have found a few good birds over the […]
Greater Spotted Eagles – Sabkhat Al Fasl
A small group of 22 Common Shelduck were seen on the flooded sabkha area of Sabkhat Al Fasl in January, the first birds recorded there this winter for me although Phil saw some a few weeks before. This species occurs here every winter in small numbers although over 300 were seen one winter. In the […]
Rare and unusual birds seen in Saudi Arabia in second half of 2015
Two new species for Saudi Arabia Fulvous Whistling Duck Dendrocygna bicolor & Lesser Whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica were found together on Malaki Dam Lake 3 September. Eight Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei were in a large field near Jizan 30 June including at least two males, a species that has not been recorded in Saudi Arabia […]
Second Woodlark for Saudi Arabia – Sarrar, Eastern Province
Phil Roberts and I found two Woodlark Lullula arborea at the edge of a pivot irrigation fodder field near Sarrar on 15 January. Initially the birds were feeding along the edge of the field giving good views but eventually moved into the crop where they were not possible to see unless flushed when they could […]