Birding Phil’s Fields - Sabya

Whilst looking for Harlequin Quail in Phil’s Fields, of which we found 18 birds, all females with the exception of two calling males we also saw a few other good species. These included specialties such as Zitting Cisticola and Singing Bush Lark which are probably easier to see at this location than anywhere else in the Kingdom. Good number of African Silverbill were located in the fields and nearby edges, often in small flocks and a few Arabian Babbler and Black Scrub Robin were seen on the field margins and surrounding scrub. White-throated Bee-eater were quite common with may juveniles seen both in flight and perched on the ground or small trees. The very high humidity and hot temperatures makes birding this area quite unpleasant but the species seen makes it a very worthwhile exercise.

White-throated Bee-eater

African Silverbill

African Silverbill

African Silverbill

Black Scrub Robin

Arabian Babbler

African Silverbills – Talea Valley

Whilst birding the Talea Valley last autumn I was sitting under some bushes waiting for Arabian Red-capped Lark to come down and drink at a water hole, a few African Silverbill landed in the tree to my side allowing me to take a few closeup photos. We get Indian Silverbill in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where I live but African Silverbill takes its place in the west and south-west regions. Birds are almost always seen in small groups often calling to each other to keep in contact. I forgot to post the photos at the time so am doing so now.

Southwest species – Talea Valley

Whilst birding the Talea Valley in summertime it is very hot quite hard work. A few birds breed in the dry and rocky wadi bottom but seeing anything is not that easy. The bright light and high temperatures here make photography difficult and as I almost always arrive at midday, as I go to the Raydah Escarpment at first light, it is even more trying. Good birds can be seen if you persist and below are a few southwestern specialities I saw on my last visit. Arabian Babbler can be seen occasionally as they keep in small flocks and call to each other to keep in contact. Abyssinian White-eyes can occasionally be located in the tall acacia trees in the wadi bottom. Scarcer birds are Dusky Turtle Dove and African Silverbills that come down to drink if there is any free standing water. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is only present in summer and is not there in winter of spring so presumably moves to lower altitude as it is resident in Saudi Arabia.

Abyssinian White-eye

African Silverbill

Arabian Babbler

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting 

Dusky Turtle Dove

Abyssinian Roller and Singing Bush Lark – Phil’s Fields

Whilst birding the southwest of the Kingdom this winter I went to Phil’s Fields which is a large pivot irrigation set up with three large fields. It is an excellent place to see good birds and I always see Singing Bush Lark and Zitting Cisticola there, and this visit was no exception. More unusual birds seen this trip included African Stonechat and Abyssinian Roller, both of which I have not recorded at the location and probably only occur in winter as this was my first winter visit to the site. Western Cattle Egret, Isabelline Wheatear, Green Bee-eater and Indian Silverbill were a few other more common species seen there. 

Abyssinian Roller

African Silverbill

African Silverbill

African Stonechat

Green Bee-eater

Singing Bush Lark

Singing Bush Lark

Isabelline Wheatear

Some southwest specialities – Phil’s Fields

I visited Phil’s Fields three times in July 2017 and saw a lot of good birds in the area. Some of the birds seen were summer visitors from Africa and others specialities of the southwest of the Kingdom. The area is a set of three large pivot irrigation fields and surrounding trees edging the fields and scrubby land to the side. The pivot irrigation equipment is always good for birds to perch on when they are disturbed from the fields and this visit I saw a large flock of Indian Silverbills, twenty Western Cattle Egrets and a couple of Arabian Babblers. The fields are the best place I know of for seeing both Zitting Cisticola and Singing Bush Lark but is also good for White-throated Bee-eater and White-spectacled Bulbul. Other birds seen included House Sparrow and a fly over Yellow-billed Kite. This site is an excellent birding location and one I visit every time I am in the area and it always turns up good birds.

African Silverbill

African Silverbill

African Silverbill

Arabian Babbler

House Sparrow

Western Cattle Egret

White-spectacled Bulbul

White-throated Bee-eater

Yellow-billed Kite

Zitting Costicola

Zitting Cisticola and Harlequin Quail in Phil’s Fields – Sabya

A recent trip to Phil’s Fields near to Sabya resulted in a few good birds as usual. The area is one of the best in the Kingdom for seeing both Zitting Cisticola and Singing Bush Lark. Both of these species like large grass fields and there are a few in the area. The Zitting Cisticola is easily seen and heard over the fields in flight but also occasionally lands on exposed glass stems and sings. They are not easy to photograph as they are small and grass stems always seem to be cutting across their body but this time I did manage to get a few photos of the birds out in the open so was quite pleased with my efforts. The Singing Bush Lark is always moving about and sings in flight but they are very difficult to photograph on the ground. I failed to get any photos of the birds this time. The other good bird seen and heard calling was the Harlequin Quail a species that had not been recorded in Saudi Arabia for twenty plus years until I saw a few in the same fields in 2015. The birds were heard calling in a couple of different places in the fields and when compared to the call on the Birds of the Middle East app on my phone it was identical. On two occasions birds flushed from the wheel tracks of the irrigation equipment and flew fast and low over the fields before disappearing into dense cover. A nest of African Silverbill was found attached to the main pivot irrigation sprayer where a few Western Cattle Egrets were also seen sitting. Other good birds seen included African Collared Dove and Arabian Babbler.

Zitting Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola

African Collared Dove

Arabian Babbler

African Silverbill

Western Cattle Egret

Phil’s Fields near Sabya Southwest Saudi Arabia – Bird records by Phil Roberts

Phil Roberts went on a birding trip for a few days to the southwest of the Kingdom in December 2014 and saw a number of good birds. Phil also managed to photograph a few and has sent them to me and allowed me to reproduce them on my website. On the 10 December he went to Phil’s Fields a site that has produced good birds over the last few years including seven Sociable Lapwings and Small Buttonquail to name but two. This site is also a great place to see Singing Bush Lark and Zitting Cisticola both of which Phil saw. He took photogrpahs of the following species there: Singing Bush Lark, White Spectacled Bulbul, African Silverbill, Red-throated Pipit, Long-legged Buzzard, Yellow-billed Kite and Western Cattle Egret

Singing Bush Lark

African Silverbill

Long-legged Buzzard

Red-throated Pipit 

Western Cattle Egret

White-spectacled Bulbul

Yellow-billed Kite

Zitting Cisticola & Four Crested Honey Buzzards – Phil’s Fields

We spent midday of 4 April birding two very large grassy fields inland from Sabya along the main Ad Dabi to Sabya road (17 07.58N, 42 41.62E) known as Phil’s Fileds. The fields were on the right hand side of the road going towards Sabya and had large pivot irrigation equipment stored by them. The fields were very green with tall plants growing in them and some quite wide tracks where the pivot irrigation wheels had driven. The area is good for Zitting Cisticola & Singing Bushlarks but the first birds seen on getting out of the car were four Crested Honey Buzzards. All four birds were using the midday thermals to migrate and remained quite high but low enough for the main identification features to be seen.

As soon as we entered the field we heard Zitting Cisticola with a number of birds song flighting over the field and occasionally landing on the vegetation where they could be viewed. A walk across the fields soon produced 10+ Singing Bushlarks flushed from the grass and the small size and bright underwing coverts could clearly be seen. Several birds gave song flights but most were silent and flew and went to cover in the long grass.

Zitting Cisticola

Singing Bush Lark

Singing Bush Lark

Other good birds seen included two Little Green Bee-eaters, six Black Bush Robins and 20+ African Silverbills. 37 Western Cattle Egrets, several Crested Larks and four African Palm Swifts were flying about. Five Common Myna, 20+ Ruppell’s Weavers and a large flock of House Sparrows were also seen and shortly after leaving the fields we found a pale Long-legged Buzzard flying over.

Black Bush Robin

African Silverbill

African Palm Swift

Long-legged Buzzard