Whilst birding the Khafra Marsh area recently, it became obvious a good number of migrants had arrived. There were very large numbers of both Black-headed Wagtails and White Wagtails feeding around on a disused farm area with the only other wagtail subspecies seen was a single beema but I did not photograph it. There was […]
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.
Blue Rock Thrush – Jubail
Whilst birding the desert near Jubail I came across a small vegetated valley with a little wet pool. It was very attractive to migrants with plenty of Common Chiffchaffs, several Eurasian Hoopoes, White Wagtail and a single female Blue Rock Thrush. Blue Rock Thrush is an uncommon passage migrant through Saudi Arabia that is seen […]
Pharaoh Eagle Owl – Jubail area
I saw and photographed a Pharaoh Eagle Owl recently in the desert in the Eastern Province. Records suggest it is an uncommon bird in the Saudi Arabian deserts, although it is probably more common than records suggest as they are secretive and well camouflaged. The Pharaoh Eagle Owl is distributed throughout much of North Africa […]
Red-wattled Lapwing – Khafrah Marsh
Whilst birding the Khafrah Marsh area on 9 March I saw three adult Red-wattled Lapwing. The species is scarce in Saudi Arabia with records from Riyadh, the Empty Quarter and the Eastern Province. This species is a resident breeder at wetlands in eastern Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, and is gradually colonizing westwards. […]
Wheatears – Shedgum Escarpment
Whilst birdwatching at Shedgum Escarpment we saw a few interesting birds although the weather was not good so photos wereaverage to poor. Winter birding at this location is always difficult with few species seen but it is an excellent place to see White-crowned Wheatear. We first went to the bottom of the Escarpment and looked […]
Buntings and Larks – Jebal Hamrah
Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah pivot irrigation fields recently with Phil Roberts, we came across a huge flock of Corn Buntings. The total seen was a minimum of one hundred birds and possibly many more. They were feeding in the grassy pivot fields but a couple of times all took to the air and landed […]
Flock of 30 Bimaculated Larks – Jebal Hamrah
Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah pivot irrigation fields recently with Phil Roberts, we came across a flock of up to thirty Bimaculated LarksMelanocorypha bimaculateon the stony area around the pivot field. The birds were on the edge of the field in with a group of Greater Short-toed Larks and Eurasian Skylarks. We had planned our […]
Three Egyptian Nightjars – Judah
Whilst driving off-road along the edge of a large wire fence towards our main birding location at Judah we flushed a bird off the sand track just as it was getting light. We did not see the bird well and flew off and over the fence and could not be seen again. We were hoping […]