Areally smart Common Redstart of the sub-species samamisicus which is often known as ‘Ehrenberg’s Redstart’ was seen in Jubail recently.
This sub-species breeds in the southern Balkans and Greece east to Turkmenistan, south Uzbekistan and Iran and winter in north-east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
They are slightly greyer and darker above, with a large white wing patch, which can be variable in size.
The light was poor so I did not get a good photograph but you can see how really smart and different this sub-species looks to the normal Common Redstart.
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.
Leave a Reply