12 December 2020

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater - Jubail

This autumn there have been large numbers of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters passing over Jubail as well as many other areas of the Eastern Province. The species is a common passage migrant through the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia with good numbers of birds passing in the spring as well as the autumn. Numbers are commoner in the autumn when they outnumber European Bee-eater whereas the opposite is true in the spring. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater pass later in November than European Bee-eaters but both are common in the peak migration seasons. The birds below where part of a bigger group at Jubail and were very confiding allowing close approach in the car.