Whilst birding Jubail with Phil we came across two juvenile Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor a locally common breeding resident of all scrub desert areas, but a species not often seen due to its habitat preferences. This was the first time I had seen the species in Jubail although Phil had seen them there once before. […]
Tag: saudi arabia
Collared Pratincoles – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area, I found and photographed three Collared Pratincoles Glareola pratincola along the edge of a flooded area of Sabkha on 2 June 2017. This is quite a late date for the species to be recorded in the Eastern Province of the country. The Collared Pratincole is an uncommon passage migrant to […]
Little Terns – Jubail
Whilst birding the Jubail area I came across a few Little Terns some of which had well grown young to feed. Some were resting on the muddy edge of some sabkha and other flying around. I took the opportunity to try to get a few flight shots of the birds as they flew about with […]
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 […]
Yemen Rock Agama at Al Mehfar Park – Thanoumah
Whilst birdwatching the Al Mehfar Park area of Tanoumah I came across a few Yemen Rock Agama Acanthocercus yemensis. The Yemen Rock Agama occurs in northern Yemen and adjacent Saudi Arabia, but the limits of its distribution in Saudi Arabia are currently not well known, although I have seen it as far north as Bani […]
Blandford’s Lark in 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. The valley is hot and dry and any area of water attracts a steady stream of birds in the summer coming down to drink so […]
Arabian Spotted Eagle-Owl – Tanoumah
Whilst in Tanoumah in early April Phil Roberts and I saw an Arabian Spotted Eagle-Owl. Initially Phil found it sitting on some overhead wires but it soon flew off. It was seen a few times catching what looked like large moths around some very powerful lights on a house and was then lost from view. […]
Red-throated and Tree Pipits – Jubail
A trip to Jubail in late April was very productive for Red-throated Pipits and Tree Pipits. The majority were Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinuswith up to thirty in small flocks in a couple of places. Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis was also seen but in much smaller numbers of twos or threes. Red-throated Pipit is also a […]