24 July 2016

Looking for Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak – Wadi Grosbeak

Phil Roberts and I went to Taif in the hope of seeing Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak. We went to a wadi where we had located birds in summer 2015 and hoped to get some better photographs than we managed the previous year.  The area we went to was about 130 kilometres south of Taif where there are a few good looking valleys with fields and trees. We got to Bani Saad just after first light and spent most of the day checking suitable areas of habitat looking for the species. We managed to find a number of good looking valleys with fields and trees and one of these we were lucky enough to find a juvenile Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak. The bird was initially located by its odd contact calls and stayed in a dead tree. We managed to get a few photos before the bird flew off. More searching was conducted and we found a second bird some distance from the first perched on some overhead wires but no photos were obtained of this individual. Plenty of other species were seen in this valley including Arabian Woodpecker, Long-billed Pipits, Arabian Wheatears, Little Rock Thrushes, Little Swift and three Bruce’s Green Pigeons.
Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak
Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak
Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak
Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak
Arabian Serin
Arabian Serin
Arabian Wheatear
Arabian Wheatear