Whilst birding the Sarrar area at then end of February I found a smart Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus. The bird appeared to be a freshly arrived migrant as there had been a big fall of passerines in the area and it allowed close approach even when on foot, although the timing suggests it may have been a wintering bird.
As a result I managed to get a few good photographs of the bird. The Masked Shrike is an uncommon migrant to all areas of Saudi Arabia with a few birds wintering in the southwest and rarely in the Eastern Province.
Most birds are seen on migration mainly in April, May and September although there are a few summer records in June with early migrants in late March and late migrants in early October.
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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