In the late 1990s Tom Tarrant was birding the Riyadh area and he kept good records which I often compare against today’s findings. He has written about “the blue lagoons”. This was part of the Riyadh river where the habitat is more open than the area around the pivot fields where I normally bird. He […]
Author: Robert Tovey
Dr Rob Tovey is a scientist by training and more recently an English teacher. His profession allows him to travel to some of the more difficult-to-get-to places and stay there for years if his inclination takes him. He is a keen bird watcher, blogger and amateur photographer. He has worked in Azerbaijan and Libya and is currently in Saudi Arabia. Rob also has a base in Bulgaria so overall is becoming a bit of birding specialist in very general terms where East meets West.
Hypocolius and the Diplomatic Quarter
Just how do you count very large numbers of birds? I had this problem when I visited the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ) of Riyadh on Friday to see a couple of friends and do some birding in the landscaped grounds. The bird in question was hypocolius. They were all over the northern side of the Quarter. […]
The Hassa “oasis”
The al Hassa lagoons east of Hofuf in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia are arguably part of the biggest oasis in the world. The argument is over whether you can count the fact that much of the water is channelled run-off from the area’s huge collection of palm plantations as well the city’s treated […]
A little bit of Africa in Arabia
There is some debate over which world eco-zone Saudi Arabia belongs in. In the north its flora and fauna are typically western palearctic but in the south west of the country there is a distinctly African feel. The argument is about the rest. I work in Riyadh but I am fascinated by “the little bit […]
Baha, a path less trodden
As I wrote in my last article, my birding has mostly been in countries off the beaten track. In the past five years, my work has taken me to Azerbaijan, Libya and now Saudi Arabia. As a consequence much of my birding has been in these countries. The truth is that I get enjoyment from […]
I can’t believe it. The book’s wrong again.
I was once deep in the Libyan desert visiting a government farm when four common crane flew up out of a field. Not again. It was just like the Dartford warblers I saw at Yefren reservoir, north-west Libya, weeks before. The trusted book which everyone uses for guidance doesn’t have crane wintering within 800 kilometres […]