Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah area in March I came across seven species of Wheatear in a single day including Black-eared Wheatear, Hooded Wheatear, White-crowned Wheatear, Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Pied Wheatear and Desert Wheatear.
The week previously, I also saw an Eastern Mourning Wheatear, making a total of eight species in a week. The birds were found in varying habitats with the Jebals holding Hooded Wheatear and White-crowned Wheatear, the pivot fields holding Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear and Pied Wheatear and the surrounding stony desert having both Black-eared Wheatear and Desert Wheatear.
This location is proving to be a very good one for wintering birds as well as residents and passage migrants and is certainly worth looking at more regularly from my point of view.
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah Black eared Wheatear](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--BvfC-xzbZ0/WqvX1fg3UxI/AAAAAAAAcHc/u7va1LKTmQYlRuk4h0gywEc-1DT1aG0qACLcBGAs/s1600/Black-eared_Wheatear.jpg)
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah Hooded Wheatear2](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eS6IUbYKoOc/WqvYHfXTmJI/AAAAAAAAcHg/opiNCQr3kr4QC3ukODySjh-SEUAd1pPtwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hooded_Wheatear2.jpg)
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah Isabelline Wheatear](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7ycowa2oYA/WqvYJZfL5KI/AAAAAAAAcHk/1Uh64Mi3O3Eki5MJuM4d1gI-_JTC1NWqgCLcBGAs/s1600/Isabelline_Wheatear.jpg)
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah Pied Wheatear](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JWxHngpFJvg/WqvYK-8jOTI/AAAAAAAAcHo/PxHSlckp-_M1oJBM-1FUJvG1UOFwgn9kQCLcBGAs/s1600/Pied_Wheatear.jpg)
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah White crowned Wheatear](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A4FAFCIv3KY/WqvYTZBqJpI/AAAAAAAAcHs/mna-cE-zQf0EzVUGm0Tcoa_brJ8T60b4ACLcBGAs/s1600/White-crowned_Wheatear.jpg)
![Seven species of Wheatear – Jebal Hamrah Jem Babbington](https://focusingonwildlife.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jem_Babbington_square-e1326016039596.jpg)
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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