Birding the Bahah area – Bahah

Whilst birding recently in the Bahah in mid-June we saw a lot of good birds including a number of Arabian Endemics. The commonest was Arabian Serin with tens of birds seen mainly at distance but occasionally in trees close to the road we were walking along. Yemen Thrush was likewise common alongside Yemen Linnet. Good numbers of Arabian Wheatear were also present and two Pied Cuckoo. Long-billed Pipits and Cinnamon-breasted Buntings were plentiful among the roadside rocks and five Red-rumped Swallow were flying around and perched on the overhead wires. The are we were was full of vegetation with very healty looking trees including juniper.

Arabian Serin

Arabian Serin

Arabian Serin

Arabian Serin

Arabian Wheatear

Long-billed Pipit

Long-billed Pipit

Yemen Linnet

A few endemics – Abha area

Whilst birding the Abha area recently I managed to photograph a few of the endemics. We saw a number of groups of Arabian Waxbill with up to thirty birds in a group. They never allowed close approach as we were on foot, with the below photo the best I could get. Arabian Wheatears were quite common with both males and females seen. Good numbers of Yemen Linnet and Yemen Thrush were in the large trees but only a single Yemen Warbler could be found

Arabian Waxbill

Arabian Wheatear - female

Arabian Wheatear - male

Yemen Linnet

Yemen Thrush

Yemen Warbler

Birding Wadi Tarj

Wadi Tarj is a location close to Tanoumah with a dam and reservoir. The water areas are quire disappointing on our visits but the valley with acacia and wet pools holds lots of birds of various species. We spent a morning and an afternoon birding this location and saw a few Gambaga Flycatcher, African Silverbill, White-spectacled Bulbul, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Arabian Warbler and Palestine Sunbird. Crested Lark, Eurasian Hoopoe and Long-billed Pipit were actively feeding on the ground with Arabian Green Bee-eater catching plenty of food in the air along with a few Little Swifts and Pale Crag Martin. Grey-headed Kingfisher were common, one of which caught a small snake, and Arabian Babbler and Ruppell’s Weaver were also about in small numbers. On the way out we located an adult and juvenile Arabian Wheatear.

Arabian Wheatear

Arabian Wheatear

Palestine Sunbird

Gambaga Flycatcher

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

White-spectacled Bulbul

Dhahran Al Janob

Whilst in the southwest in mid-November we travelled across to Najran birding the wadies and hills in areas where very few birders have ventured in recent years or even before that. The idea was to try to see what the range of some of the commoner birds were. We located a few birds that have not been recorded in the area previously such as Abyssinian White-eye and Arabian Babbler and others that have not been recorded since 1984 such as Arabian Warbler, Arabian Scops Owl & Arabian Wheatear. Other species seen and photographed included Palestine Sunbird, Arabian Green Bee-eater, Graceful Prinia & Arabian Sunbird.

Palestine Sunbird

Graceful Prinia

Arabian Wheatear

Arabian Wheatear

Arabian Warbler

Arabian Sunbird

Arabian Green Bee-eater

Abyssinian White-eye

Birding Wadi Grosbeak

This wadi located near Taif is a site where I have seen Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak on two occasions in previous years but unfortunately not in recent visits. Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak is the scarcest endemic in Saudi Arabia and the most difficult to see. We again failed to locate it on this visit but did see a few good birds including Arabian Green Bee-eater, Arabian Wheatear, Red-breasted Wheatear, Arabian Serin, Arabian Woodpecker, Yemen Linnet, Yemen Thrush and Streaked Scrub Warbler. I hope the species is still present in the area as this is the only area where birds have been seen in the Kingdom in recent years.

Arabian Green Bee-eater

Arabian Serin

Streaked Scrub Warbler

Arabian Wheatear

Arabian Wheatear - male

 

Birding An Namas

Whilst birding the western mountains we visited An Namas an area where we had seen nests of both Arabian Woodpecker and Arabian Magpie previously. The area where we had seen these has been badly damaged by road building and neither nest was seen this visit. We did however see a single male Arabian Woodpeckeras wells a few other good birds including Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Arabian Wheatear and Gambaga Flycatcher. This entire area is very good for finding breeding Little Owl, which can often be seen on the roadside walls. The area is not marked as a breeding area for Little Owl in Mike Jennings Arabian Breeding Bird Atlas, but a good number of birds are present throughout the entire area to Billasmer at least.

Resident birds – Raydah Escarpment

Phil Roberts and I made a couple of trips down and up the Raydah Escarpment in October. We did not see many birds and some of the common birds seen every summer such as Dusky Turtle Dove and Laughing Dove were almost absent suggesting they may move to lower altitudes in the winter. Resident birds were still seen in small numbers including Arabian Wheatears, Abyssinian White-eyes, Green Bee-eaters and Blackstarts. A couple of Black-crowned Tchagra were at the bottom near the village but unfortunately, move off before any photos could be taken. A single Long-legged Buzzard was also flying around mid-elevation on the way down and unusually was of the pale type not the dark morph normally seen in the area. On the way up we stopped at the farm for the last few minutes of daylight and were rewarded a beautiful sunset as well as a few Fan-tailed Raven flying around.

Arabian Green Bee-eater

Arabian Serin

Arabian Serin

Arabian Wheatear - female

Arabian Wheatear - female

Arabian Wheatear - male

Arabian Wheatear - male

Fan-tailed Raven

Fan-tailed Raven

Raydah Farm

Raydah Farm Sunset