May in the Asir is great for birding as most if not all the African breeding species have returned and additional passage migrants can be seen as well as the resident highland birds. We saw a few passage birds including an Olive-tree Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Red-backed Shrike, Turkestan Shrike, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whinchat. […]
Tag: Arabian Wheatear
Arabian Wheatear
Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, bushy sites but widespread on the Jebal Souda plateau, Wadi Tale’a, Pipeline Road, near Farshah, Gara’a and Tanumah. In 1987 it was recorded more frequently so the species may have […]
Birding Wadi Thee Ghazal – Taif
Wadi Thee Ghazal is an excellent site on the outskirts of Taif that is always a great place to see some of the Arabian Endemics. Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Thrush and Arabian Serin are normally easy to find at the site and other southwestern specialities such as Little Rock Thrush can be located quickly. The dry […]
Birding An Namas
An Namas is an area north of Tanoumah in the Asir Mountain chain. It is the northerly most point where Asir (Arabian) Magpie can currently be found and is a good birding location. Whilst birding a small valley there I found a lot of good birds including Ruppells Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, Crested Lark, Gambaga Flycatcher, […]
Birding the Talea’a Valley – Abha
The Talea’a Valley near Abha is in the Asir mountains in southwest Saudi Arabia and is a large upland wadi with stony ground and acacia trees growing in the bottom. It has had some good birds seen in it in recent years including Arabian Magpie, although this species has not been seen there for many […]
Plenty of endemic bird species in Wadi Thee Gazelle – Taif
Whilst birding the Wadi Thee Gazelle area of Taif we came across a good number of Arabian Endemic Species, seeing eight out of the twelve species. The high rainfall in the mountains in spring 2016 appears to have produced a good breeding season for many species and adults with juveniles of Arabian Wheatear and Arabian […]
Arabian Wheatear – Abha area
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, […]
Arabian Wheatear – Tanoumah & An Namas
Whilst birding the Tanoumah and An Namas area of the Asir Mountains I saw plenty of Arabian Wheatears at many different sites. The Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides is a rather uncommon resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, bushy sites. It is widespread on the […]