07 October 2022

Blue-Cheeked Bee-eaters – Jubail

Last weekend in Jubail, I saw a few Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters flying over calling as well as some others perched catching insects. 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. The bird below was part of a bigger group at Jubail and was busy catching and eating bees as can be seen in two of the below photographs. The bird was faithful to one particular branch that made photography a little bit easier.