Birding Alsharaf Park - Tanoumah

Alsharaf Park is a beautiful park in Tanoumah with the highest oeak in the area in it. It has excellent habitat nearby and plenty of the resident common species can be seen. Dusky Turtle Dove is common as is Yemen Thrush that can be heard calling commonly in the area. Brown Woodland Warbler is a common bird but one that is difficult to get excellent views of as it is normally deep in cover. White-spectacled Bulbul, however, perch out on the open frequently, often along the roadside. Violet-backed Starling is a summer breeding visitor and not too easy to photograph which is the same for African Shikra. Fan-tailed Raven are often seen flying over the large rocks calling.

Brown Woodland Warbler

Dusky Turtle Dove

Fan-tailed Raven

Fan-tailed Raven

Gambaga Flycatcher

Shikra

Violet-backed Starling

White=spectacled Bulbul

Yemen Thrush

Yemen Thrush

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

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

Fan-tailed Raven on the Abha to Baha road – Recirds by Jean-François Frey

Jean-François Frey is an engineer working occasionally in Saudi Arabia who is interested in birds and photography. He very kindly sent me a photograph of a Fan-tailed Raven on the road between Baha and Abha that he has allowed me to reproduce below. Although the species is common in the area they are not so easy t photograph due to their liking for steep cliffs and their black colour.

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

Eurasian Griffon Vultures - Tanoumah Park

Tanoumah Park is positioned along the edge of the main escarpment and is reached by taking a left turn at the main junction in Tanoumah town. The park has a parking area with picnic tables and some trees and grass. The rocky edge of the escarpment has had Yemen Serin previously and is an excellent place to see Fan-tailed Raven and Eurasian Griffon Vulture flying over these cliffs. We had good views of two Eurasian Griffon Vultures flying over as well as locating a single bird sitting on the high rock face. This species is declining rapidly, with this location probably the best site in the Kingdom for seeing this species. The species is an uncommon, resident breeder, in the mountains of western Saudi Arabia with a few scarce records elsewhere in the Kingdom. In the Eastern Province where I live it is a vagrant with six records of seven birds.

Eurasian Griffon Vulture

Eurasian Griffon Vulture 

Fan-tailed Raven