On 5 February Phil Roberts and I travelled to Haradh an area of extensive pivot irrigation fields three hours drive from Dhahran. We left at 03:00 hrs to allow us to be at the site at first light. We tried the big farm complexes first but were not allowed entry to any so tried a […]
Tag: saudi arabia
Wintering Greater Spotted Eagles – near Jubail
At least seventeen Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga were recorded at a wetland site near Jubail on 20 November 2015, the highest single day count for the site. Since this time numbers have decreased but there are still at least eight and probably more Greater Spotted Eagles remaining for the winter. Birds winter at a […]
Second Woodlark for Saudi Arabia – Sarrar, Eastern Province
Phil Roberts and I found two Woodlark Lullula arborea at the edge of a pivot irrigation fodder field near Sarrar on 15 January. Initially the birds were feeding along the edge of the field giving good views but eventually moved into the crop where they were not possible to see unless flushed when they could […]
A second calendar year Eastern Imperial Eagle – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl in January I saw and photographed a second calendar year Eastern Imperial Eagle. The species is rarely seen at Sabkhat Al Fasl although the Greater Spotted Eagle is seen almost every visit during the winter. The Eastern Imperial Eagle is an uncommon winter visitor to Saudi Arabia with most […]
Spanish Sparrows a ringing ringing species for me in Saudi Arabia – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January with Nicole we trapped and ringed a male and two female Spanish Sparrows. This is the first time either Nicole or I have ringed the species and made two new site species for the day after the Jack Snipe. I had seen a small group of […]
A retrapped and returning Red-spotted Bluethroat – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January I trapped a male Red-spotted Bluethroat that we had previously trapped in January 2014. This bird had presumably been back to its breeding grounds in the far north and then returned to spend its winter in exactly the same small area of Sabkhat Al Fasl as […]
Jack Snipe a new ringing species for the site – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January I trapped and ringed a Jack Snipe, a species that we had not ringed previously at the location. The Jack Snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where it is normally found in marshy areas away from the coast from […]
Arabian Green Bee-eater – A new Arabian endemic?
The Handbook of Birds of the world have just split Arabian Green Bee-eater from Green Bee-eater. Philothrus cyanophrys Cabanis and Heine, 1860, Arabia = mountains of Al Qunfudhah, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Usually treated as conspecific with M. viridissimus and M. orientalis, but differs from both in its very short stub-ended central tail feathers; bright blue […]