It was mid-September in the western Corridor of the Serengeti. A bit early for most of the migrants, but there were a few early arrivals. The resident avian population in the Serengeti at this time of the year is diverse and would gladden any bird lover’s heart. There was also a wide variety of habitats […]
Tag: European Roller
European Roller – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area in late May I came across two European Rollers of which one I was able to photograph and is shown below. Saudi Arabia has three species of roller on the country list. These are Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis a vagrant, Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinicus a breeding resident of the southwest […]
European Roller Ringing Recovery – Riyadh
Brendan recently sent me a ringing recovery of a European Roller that he and Abdullah trapped and ringed in Bahrain in 2008 that was found dead in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia in 2014. It was a bit of a shame that it was not found on its wintering grounds as we could have […]
Much more at Rakhyut
There was much more to Rakhyut than owling (see yesterday’s blog). On the mountain top before we (Saeed Shanfari, Hedi Khecharem and I) descended into Rakhyut the action started. There were four eagles. Three were steppe eagle which soon disappeared. Eastern imperial eagle 1 One eagle stayed behind and give good views. It was […]
Dowkah delivers again
My Eid trip lasted from Tuesday afternoon until Saturday evening. It involved 3500 kilometres of travel and took me to several birding locations. This and the next four blogs will chronicle the results.I headed north out of Salalah on Tuesday and reached one of my favourite birding locations, Dowkah desert farm, with time to bird […]
Sabi Sands: February 2010 (Part 1)
Some of you may recall that I have been posting some WAY overdue trip reports on my blog as well. I am still far behind, but I thought it best to get going again…my last report was a series of posts on a trip with my wife to the Kruger National Park in 2009. Let’s […]
In search of Sooty Falcon
The Sooty Falcon has undergone a major decline in Arabia. Current status as per the EBRC (Emirates Bird Recording Committee) – “Highly endangered declining breeding visitor (5 nesting pairs in 2008, per EAD) to offshore Arabian Gulf islands. Rare migrant onshore”.So it was a pleasant surprise when an Emirati friend of mine reported a sighting […]
European Rollers
Coracias garrulusCoraciiformes – Coraciidae This pair has established their nest at 1.50m high in an old tree trunk of which the main branches have been cut off. I dearly hope the landowner will leave what’s left for these birds and for the different species of sparrows nesting in its heart. Cette paire a fait un […]