Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides where birds were most often perched on areas of boulders with slightly more males recorded than females. This is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, […]
Tangará gris (Orange-headed Tanager) Thlypopsis sordida
Recién durante la jornada del pasado día Sabado mientras recorríamos las vías en la zona de la desembocadura del Arroyo Garupá pude darme el gusto de fotografiar como a mi me gusta al Tangará gris; en honor a la verdad…bastante desacertado el nombre común que se le ha puesto a esta especie en la Argentina; […]
Mosqueta enana (Eared Pigmy-tyrant) Myiornis auricularis
El día Sábado pasado fuimos con Nico, Roby, y Damián Lozano a la desembocadura del Arroyo Garupá a recorrer el sector de las vías para ver que encontrábamos; una vez mas el lugar no defraudó con respecto a las expectativas que teníamos puestas en el y volvimos a casa luego de 132 minutos de caminata […]
Arabian Serin – Abha area
Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few endemic Arabian Serin Serinus rothschildi. This is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands occurring in scrubland and acacia sites, where they have been seen regularly on Raydah escarpment at Raydah Farm and at the farm at the bottom of the escarpment […]
Birding safari in Tadoba Tiger Reserve
On a morning safari into the Tadoba National Park we saw the Oriental Honey Buzzard that came down to the lake to quench its thirst. It was a lovely sighting. The Brown Fish Owl, featured above, was another price catch of the afternoon safari, later that day. While waiting at the camp for the jeep, […]
Shining (Arabian) Sunbird – Raydah Escarpment
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 […]