A pair of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus with two recently hatch young, 12 August, were the first record of breeding for the species in the Kingdom. An unprecedented influx of Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris were seen with fifteen 30 kilometers east of Zulfi 8 November, six together 40 kilometers north of Zulfi 11 November and […]
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.
Greater Spotted Eagle – Jubail
I have seen at least fifteen Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clangathis winter in the Jubail area. Birds winter at a number of sites in Saudi Arabia with the Jubail area the best for the species in the Eastern province. In winter birds are almost always near wetland areas with large areas where they can hunt […]
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater – Jubail
This autumn there have been large numbers of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters passing over Jubail as well as many other areas of the Eastern Province. The species is a common passage migrant through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with good numbers of birds passing in the spring as well as the autumn. Numbers are commoner in […]
Yemen Warbler – Tanoumah
I have visited the southwest highlands many times this year and have managed to take a few reasonable photos of Yemen Warbler a species that is not so easy to photograph. Yemen Warbler Sylvia buryi is a common, but local, resident of the south-west highlands in bushy areas especially on the Raydah escarpment, and slightly […]
Pale Agama – Tanoumah
Whilst in Tanoumah I found a lizard that looks like Pale Agama Trapelus pallidus hassion a large roadside boulder and another on a dry-stone wall in the Tanoumah area. The species is normally found in rocky areas and open plains, preferring vegetation areas. This lizard has a medium-sized body up to15 cm in length, with […]
Yemen Warbler – Tanoumah
Whilst in Tanoumah the last few visits I have seen Yemen WarblerSylvia buryieach time. The species is a common resident of the south-west highlands in bushy areas especially the area around Tanoumah and Al Baha as far north as Wadi Thee Gazelle near Taif. The species is local in its occurrence. In 1987 it was […]
Bimaculated Larks – Jebal Hamrah
Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah pivot irrigation fields recently with Phil Roberts, Phil located a Bimaculated LarkMelanocorypha bimaculateon the stony area aroud the pivot field. The bird was on the edge of the field in with a group of Lesser and Greater Short-toed Larks, but flew almost immediately. We moved to where it had landed […]
Female Hooded Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah
Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah with Phil Roberts recently we came across a wheatear at the bottom of the escarpment in a largish wadi. It lwas perched ontop of a large boulder in a slightly vegetated area at the foot of the escarpment. On closer inspection in became obvious it was a female Hooded Wheatear. […]