Residents and migrants – Abha Area

Apart from the endemics the area also held resident African Stonechat, Dusky Turtle Dove, Pale Crag Martin, Fan-tailed Raven, Graceful Prinia, Hamerkop and Long-billed Pipit. Migrants had just started passing through with a few Barn Swallow and lots of Common Chiffchaff seen. Two White-winged Tern in full breeding plumage were seen on one lake visited.

African Stonechat

Barn Swallow

Common Chiffchaff

Common Chiffchaff

Dusky Turtle Dove

Fan-tailed Raven

Graceful Prinia

Graceful Prinia

Hamerkop

Long-billed Pipit

Pale Crag Martin

White-winged Tern

White-winged Tern

Asir mountains in May

Whilst birding the Asir mountains in May I saw a lot of good birds. This included six endemic bird species including Yemen Thrush, Yemen Warbler, Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Serin, Arabian Serin and Phiby’s Partridge. I also saw Asir (Arabian) Magpie that is now being considered an endemic species as well. Several other good specialities of the southwest were seen including Shikra, African Pipit, African Stonechat, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting and White-spectacled Bulbul. Violet-backed Starling and Gambaga Flycatcher are summer visitors from Africa and were common and another African summer visitor Grey-headed Kingfisher was seen in a couple of places. Laughing Dove was common and there were also plenty of Dusky Turtle Doves a much less common species restricted in range in Saudi Arabia to the southwest. 

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 residents and migrants – Talea Valley

I visited the Talea Valley eerier this year and found a few good birds including several good resident species and a few migrants. The migrants were mainly Ortolan Buntings and Northern Wheatears but some good residents were seen including Blanford’s Lark both in flight and on the ground. Other residents included endemic species such as Yemen Serin and Yemen Linnet as well as the localised African Stonechat and Chestnut-breasted Bunting. This valley in the southwest on the country near to Abha is an excellent site but involves some time and effort to see the good birds.

Blanford's Lark

Blanford's Lark

Ortolan Bunting 

Ortolan Bunting

Ortolan Bunting 

African Stonechat

African Stonechat

Arabian Serin

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Yemen Linnet

Yemen Linnet

Raydah Escarpment – Abha

Whilst in Abha I went to the Raydah Escarpment a designated nature reserve run by the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA). This is a well-vegetated section of escarpment dropping down steeply from the top near the ranger’s station to a small village and a large wadi at the bottom. Most of the endemics occur in the reserve and I saw Arabian Waxbill, Arabian Partridge, Arabian Serin, Yemen Thrush and Yemen Linnet around the farm area near the top of the reserve. Other good birds seen include Dusky Turtle Doves, Palestine Sunbirds, Little Rock Thrushes, Little Swifts and Abyssinian White-eyes. At the bottom of the reserve near the village Shinning Sunbirds, Blackstart’s and Green Bee-eaters were all seen in good numbers. One of the rangers mentioned he had seen an Arabian Magpie in the reserve the day before near the mosque on the side of the main road. This is the first time I know of one being seen here since 2010. I failed to find Olive Pigeon, however, despite walking up and down many kilometres of road looking. This species is sometimes seen at this location but I am still yet to see it in Saudi Arabia. A few Fan-tailed Ravens and a Himalayan Griffon Vulture were flying over as were a couple of Common Kestrels.

African Stonechat

Arabian Partridge 

Arabian Serin

Brown Woodland Warbler

Dusky Turtle Dove

Fan-tailed Raven

Palestine Sunbird

Red-breasted Whearear

Shining Sunbird

Violet-backed Starlings

Yemen Linnet - male

Yemen Linnet - male

Raydah Escarpment – Bird records by Khalifah Al Dhaheri

Khalifah Al Dhaheri sent me details of his trip last weekend to the Abha area. He managed to see most of the species he was keen to locate and took some great photographs of many of the birds seen. He has very kindly allowed me to use some of his photos from his flickr account which is here and has many more excellent photos on. The Raydah Escarpment is the premier birding site near Abha and is a Saudi Wildlife Authority protected reserve with a very steep road going from the guards point at the top to a village at the bottom. It is one of the best places in the Kingdom for see Arabian Partridge and Khalifa saw the following species there: Two Philby's Partridges a species not seen in the location for a few years, three Arabian Partridges, two African Gray Hornbills, Brown-necked Raven, five Fan-tailed Ravens, Crested Lark, African Stonechat, two Blackstarts, three Arabian Wheatears and five Red-breasted Wheatears.

Philby's Partridge

Philby's Partridge

African Stonechat