Whilst birding the Raydah Escarpment we found a number of Blackstart near the wadi bottom and village. The species is a common resident of rocky desert areas throughout with the exception of the east and northeast.
Birds occur eastwards to Riyadh where it is a fairly common breeding resident at the base of the escarpment. The bird is named after the fact it has a black tail, similar to the red tail of Redstart.
Birds are often difficult to get good photos of due to their colouration but in winter they seemed more amenable to staying still allowing better photographic opportunities.
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.
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