The second calendar year female Crested Honey
Buzzard is still about in Dhahran, present since 8 June, in the golf
course area. At 04:50 on 5 July I saw the bird with Mats Ris flying over the
golf course and landing on a floodlight. I managed to take a couple of photos
of the bird before it flew off after being disturbed by the noise of a grass
cutter. In Saudi Arabia information on the Crested Honey Buzzard is scarce
although birds have been seen in every month of the year with the exception of
August with peaks in the winter months of January to March. Small peaks also
occur in April and October to November showing that the species is now a scarce
passage migrant and winter visitor that also occurs rarely in summer. Most
records are from the Eastern Province in winter and spring with additional
records in the west of the Kingdom in autumn, winter and spring. The first
confirmed records for Saudi Arabia were a second calendar year bird at the
Raydah Escarpment (18.20N, 42.22E) in the Asir mountains near Abha, Asir
Province, on 11 October 1994, with another second calendar year bird 5-10
kilometres south at Wadi Maraba on the same day. Both of these birds were in an
extremely exhausted state with one being taken into care and subsequently
released The only other records prior to the turn of the century appear to be
two birds on 6 January 1999 and 25 February 1999 in landscaped areas within the
city of Jubail in the Eastern Province but since this time records have become
more frequent with at least 27 additional birds seen. Summer records are rare
with this being only the third occurrence, one in Dhahran, Eastern Province in
July 2011, one in Tanumah, Asir Province in July 2013 and this bird.
