18 December 2015

Juvnile Bonelli’s Eagle near Jubail – Bird records by Arnold Uy

Arnold Uy sent me a photo of an unusual bird of prey he had seen on the pylons in Jubail. This bird on closer inspection turned out to be a fresh juvenile Bonelli’s Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus a species that is a rare migrant to all areas but is possibly a winter visitor to the Tihamah, Hejaz and Asir in the southwest of the Kingdom. In the Eastern Province the species is a vagrant with four records of four birds. One first year Dhahran 2-9 January 1981, one Dhahran 4-27 February 1981, one captured exhausted 20 kilometres south of Safaniya 14 July 1984 and one at Qatif 11 December 1991. This is an excellent record and shows the more birdwatcher there are, the better the chance of finding good species. I thank Arnold for sending me the photographs and for allowing me to use them on my website.
Bonelli’s Eagle

Bonelli’s Eagle