This autumn there have been large numbers of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters passing over Jubail as well as many other areas of the Eastern Province. The species is a common passage migrant through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with good numbers of birds passing in the spring as well as the autumn. Numbers are commoner in […]
Tag: Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater – Jubail
Whilst ringing in Jubail in November we trapped and ringed a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, a new ringing species for me. This was my 60 species ringed in Saudi Arabia. Birds are common in the area of our nets at the right time of year but as they are generally high-flying birds we seldom if ever catch […]
Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters and more – Jubail
There have been numerous small flocks of Bee-eaters passing over Jubail in recent weeks most of them European Bee-eaters. Recently a few Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters have been seen including some birds that have spent time perched on the ground or any other perches they could find. I found two birds sitting on a potentially not so […]
Bee-eaters – Records by Vinu Mathew
Vinu Mathew has been seeing quite a lot of Bee-eaters recently and has managed to take photos of both European Bee-eater and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. He has kindly sent me some of his photos and allowed me to use them on my website some of which are shown below. Both species of Bee-eaters have been reported […]
In search of Tanzania’s bee-eaters
Bee-eaters are the supermodels of the bird world: slim, glamorous – and hopelessly out of reach for us mere mortals. But in the Selous Game Reserve, in southern Tanzania, you can see seven different species of bee-eater hawking for insects under sun-filled skies. Each one sports impossibly beautiful colours, outcompeting even the half-a-dozen species of […]
Dowkah in early November
Monday was the day of maximum impact of cyclone Chapala in southern Arabia. It’s main effect missed western Oman and struck central Yemen instead.Nevertheless it had some effect on Saeed Shanfari’s and my birding when we went out into the desert north of the Dhofar mountains. Having set off at 4.30 am we arrived at […]
It only gets better
As the season progress more and more migrants are found on a daily basis. In fact it is so hectic that I cant find the time to sit and write all the updates, so below is a very quick review of what was seen in the past 10 days: On 13th while guiding a happy […]
Early Autumn Migration in Kuwait
Early August is the anticipated start of the annual Autumn migration when birds have completed their breeding season in Europe and both adult and juvenile birds start moving south to various parts of Africa for the second part of their endless summer. Kuwait is fortunate to be situated on two of the key migration flyways; […]