On 13 January Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran. We were primarily looking to see if we could prove Sociable Lapwing wintered in the area as we had seen birds here in February 2016 but were uncertain if these were wintering birds […]
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.
Eurasian Scops Owl – Dhahran Main Camp
Chris Boland a birdwatcher who lives in Dhahran saw a Scops Owl at very close range in his garden on the evening of 6 November and sent me a message the next day saying he would look for it again that evening and let me know if it was still present. I got a text […]
Arabian Green Bee-eater
The Arabian Green Bee-eater is usually treated as conspecific with M. viridissimus and M. orientalis, but differs from both in its very short stub-ended central tail feathers; bright blue forehead, supercilium and throat, and bluer lower belly; broader, smudgier black breast-bar; marginally larger size and clearly longer tail (minus the tail extensions) than the other […]
Arabian Magpie
The taxonomic position of Arabian Magpie Pica asirensis is certainly uncertain, although it is generally regarded as a subspecies of Eurasian Magpie. Gill & Donsker (2016) regard it as such, though there is a caveat “MtDNA phylogeny suggests that Eurasian Magpie comprises several potential species including Korean Magpie P. sericea, Mahgreb Magpie P. mauritanica and […]
Yemen Linnet
Yemen Linnet Carduelis yemenensis is a common resident of the south-west highlands, frequenting weedy terraced fields, that have been harvested, where it was often seen in flocks of up to 200 birds. It has also been recorded on the Raydah escarpment along the Raydah Pipeline Road, Al Jarrah and Al Azah. In 1987 it was […]
Arabian Scops Owl
Arabian Scops Owl Otus pamelae has recently been split as a distinct species from African Scops Owl O. s. senegalensis. Recent work (Pons et al 2013) has shown African Scops Owl, represents a very distinct lineage and is well differentiated phylogenetically, morphologically and vocally from O. s. senegalensis. As a result it has been recommend […]
Arabian Wheatear
Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, bushy sites but widespread on the Jebal Souda plateau, Wadi Tale’a, Pipeline Road, near Farshah, Gara’a and Tanumah. In 1987 it was recorded more frequently so the species may have […]
Arabian Waxbill
Arabian Waxbill Estrilda rubibarba is a rather scarce resident of the Tihama region where they have beens seen on Jebal Faifa summit and at Jebal Gaha as well as at the Raghadan Forest area of Baha. Birds have also been seen near Tanoumah, Al Baha and as far north as Taif where they can be […]