Whilst birding the Raydah Escarpment in June I saw a few Arabian Sunbird Cinnyris hellmayri. The birds were at the bottom of the escarpment near the village and dry wadi. It is normally treated as conspecific with Shining Sunbird Cinnyris habessinicus, but differs in males by having much-reduced and slightly duller red breast-band and more […]
A little holiday update
I eventually found up to 9 breeding pairs of Red-backed Shrikes (5 pairs plus single birds at 4 sites) plus Wrynecks at 2 sites so these two species may well have an OK year after all. One of the pairs of Wrynecks had 3 young already out of the nest and I heard their begging […]
Arabian Red-capped Lark – Talea Valley
Arabian Red-capped Lark Calandrella eremicais a scarce medium-sized lark that occurs in a very limited number of sites in southwest Saudi Arabia. It had not been seen for many years until recently when some birds were found at Azeeza near Abha. In 2015 Phil Roberts and I found a number of birds, probably more than […]
Pollona azul (Purple gallinule) Porphyrio martinica
Luego de mucho tiempo transcurrido sin mostrar a la Pollona azul en el blog, comparto en esta entrada estas fotografías que pude obtener en Punta Cana / República Dominicana de individuos adultos y un juvenil que fotografié en los manglares cercanos a la habitación en el hotel. Solo tenía que levantarme temprano para instalarme cómodamente […]
Anderson’s Rock Agama – Tanoumah
Whilst birding the Tanoumah area recently I came across an Anderson’s Rock Agama Acanthocercus adramitanus. This species is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula, where it is found in west and south Arabia, from Taif (Saudi Arabia) in the north to Dhofar (Oman) in the east. Its range includes Oman, Yemen, and southwestern Saudi Arabia and […]
Caterpillar Envy
A few weeks ago a friend of mine who lives nearby posted a picture on Facebook of a caterpillar like the one above. What a cool caterpillar! Was I ever jealous! Then a few days later this one showed up at my place. So, yay! I got my own! It’s the caterpillar of the white-marked […]
Charging Elephant in Kabini
On this trip to Kabini, we were greeted with showers, given that it was the monsoon season. The great thing about monsoon is that the forest is transformed and the color saturation is at a new high. As we entered the park, we saw a huge tusker standing beside a tree. The moment the Tusker […]
Arabian Skittering Frog – Saleh Al Dahna
Whilst birdwatching Salal Al Dahna valley, at 1900 metres in the Asir mountains of southwest Saudi Arabia I found a large pool of water with several adult Arabian Skittering Frogs. The Arabian Skittering Frog or Arabian Five-fingered Frog Euphlyctis ehrenbergiiis a species of frog in the Dicroglossidae family found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It […]