Grey-headed Kingfisher with young – Wadi Tarj

Whilst birding Wadi Tarj in the Asir mountains recently we found at least three pairs of Grey-headed Kingfisher. One pair was feeding two freshly fledged young that looked like they had just left the nest as their flight was very poor and short distance (top three photos). The young were being fed by both adults that were bring food, mainly beetles to the youngsters. We found a number of holes in the sand backs that could have been Kingfisher nests but did not examine them too closely in case of disturbance. Grey-headed Kingfisher of the subspecies H. l. semicaerulea, breeds only in southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and western Oman and appears to winter in Somalia. In Saudi Arabia it has a status as an uncommon breeding migrant with around 1,500 migrating across the Red Sea from Africa to breed in the southwest Saudi Arabia, making it the most common kingfisher in the Kingdom. It mainly occurs below 2,300 m in the foothills and highlands in thick acacia scrub, woodland edge, bushy areas around cultivated fields, often near watercourses and marshy areas. It feeds mainly on insects, especially beetles, grasshoppers and locusts where it hunts by waiting on a perch before dropping suddenly onto prey below. 

Birding Malaki Dam Lake

We visited Malaki Dam Lake recently and saw quite a few Pied Cuckoo including adults and juveniles. This species is restricted to the southwest of the Kingdom where it is an uncommon summer visitor. Another summer visitor seen was White-throated Bee-eater, where again we saw both adults and juveniles. At the lake itself we located a few Pink-backed Pelican and plenty of Little Grebes as well as a Grey-headed Kingfisher and a calling Abyssinian Roller.

Abyssinian Roller

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Pied Cuckoo

Pied Cuckoo

Pink-backed Pelican

Pink-backed Pelican

White-throated Bee-eater

White-throated Bee-eater

Birding in the mountains - Abha

Abha is in the mountains of the southwest of Saudi Arabia where the weather is much cooler and wetter than other parts of the Kingdom. As a result, many different species of birds, animals and plants live in the area that are not seen in the area where I live in the east of the country. My last trip to the area allowed me to see and photograph a few species I do not see very often including Arabian Babbler, Little Rock Thrush and Little Swift and as I was there in the breeding season Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Gambaga Flycatcher and Grey-headed Kingfisher. Another bird I photographed was Laughing Dove, a common bird throughout the Kingdom and seen daily in Dhahran where I live.

Arabian Babbler

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Gambaga Flycatcher

Grey-headed Kingfisher 

Laughing Dove

Little Rock Thrush - juvenile 

Little Rock Thrush - adult

Little Swift

Bottom of Raydah Escarpment in summer

I was at the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment in late June and the number of birds was significantly less than in May. There were a lot less African Grey Hornbill and Violet-backed Starlings but White-throated Bee-eaters had arrived that were not present in early May. The number of Bruce’s Green Pigeons remained high and a few Ruppell’s Weavers were building nests. A single Black-crowned Tchagra was seen at a location where I saw my only other sighting in the Kingdom. Grey-headed Kingfishers were seen and heard a number of times with one bird allowing some reasonable photos to be taken of it. 

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Bruce's Green Pigeon

Bruce's Green Pigeon

Long-billed Pipit

White-throated Bee-eater

White-throated Bee-eater

Sallal al-Dahna - Tanoumah

Whilst in the southwest of Saudi Arabia Phil and I visited Sallal al-Dahna an upland valley at 1955 metres above sea level on the outskirts of Tanoumah. This is a good location to see Arabian (Asir) Magpie that is generally regarded as a sub-species of Eurasian Magpie but sometimes treated as a separate species. They are becoming increasingly rare with the total population estimated to be between 135-500 birds. The valley holds mature acacia and Juniper trees and has a permanent water supply at one end. Our visit was to try to get good views and photos of the Arabian Magpie. You normally locate the species by hearing its loud contact calls that to my ears sounds very different to the calls of Eurasian Magpie, and this was the case on both days we visited the site. We saw the birds late one evening and again after lunchtime and although we got reasonable views we did not get really close to the birds. There were at least two birds present and possibly three with one being a well grown youngster with browner overall plumage. Other birds seen In the valley included House Sparrow, Palestine Sunbird, Shining Sunbird, Gambaga Flycatcher, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Arabian Babbler, Brown Woodland Warbler, White-spectacles Bulbul, Yemen Thrush, Abyssinian White-eye, Fan-tailed Raven and Long-legged Buzzard.

Arabian Magpie

Arabian Magpie

Arabian Magpie

Arabian Magpie

Arabian Babbler

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Raydah Escarpment - Abha

The Raydah Escarpment is a first class site 15 kilometres from Abha signposted off the Al Souda road on the Sarawat escarpment and has been protected to some degree since the 1980’s. The site is a very steep west-facing slope with crags. The escarpment, approximately nine square kilometres in size, supports a more or less intact forest of mainly Juniperus excelsa with Olea europa on the uppermost slopes. Here the cloud woodland has many juniper trees draped with lichens and is one of the most densly wooded mountainsides in Saudi Arabia. Lush more deciduous vegetation occurs on the lower slopes. In the foothills below 1,500 m vegetation becomes much more Afrotropical with numerous Ficus trees and genera such as Commiphora, Aloe, Ceropegia and Caralluma being well represented. These lusher habitats of the foothills soon give way on the tihama to arid sandy deserts interspersed with very fertile irrigated fields where water runoff from the highlands can be controlled or where water is close to the surface. It is located in the biologically rich Asir Mountains and is also an Important Bird Area encompassing strata of highland and foothill habitat from 2800 meters to Wadi Jaw at 1350 meters, including a succession of vegetation from juniper dominated upper regions, with olive Oleo europaea, through to the Afrotropical foothills at Wadi Jaw with Ficus trees and where coffee growing occurs. This reserve also holds several excellent mammal species including African small-spotted Genet, Caracal, Red Fox, Hamadryas Baboon and Arabian Wolf. Indian Crested Porcupine and Rock Hyrax can also be seen here. We saw many good birds here including 13 Arabian Partridges, six Dusky Turtle Doves, Bruce's Green Pigeon, Dideric Cuckoo, Eurasian Hoopoe, two Grey-headed Kingfishers, four White-throated Bee-eaters, five Fan Tailed Ravens, five Tristram's Starlings, Yemen Thrush, Pale Crag Martin, 10 Red-rumped Swallows, two Brown Woodland Warblers, Yemen Warbler, five Abyssinian White-eyes, Arabian Wheatear, two Blackstarts, three Little Rock Thrushes, 20 Palestine Sunbird, Shining Sunbird, two African Silverbills, Arabian Serin, 50 Yemen Linnets and a Cinammon-breasted Bunting.

White-throated Bee-eater

Yemen Thrush 

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Dusky Turtle Dove

Cinamon-breasted Bunting

Sallal Al Dahna – Bird records by Khalifah Al Dhaheri

This is a sheltered valley at 1955 metres elevation above sea level, with a small waterfall at one end and a permanent small pool. The valley has large mature trees growing in it and is an excellent place to look for the endemic subspecies of Eurasian Magpie the Asir Magpie. Khalifah visited this area and saw the magie with two adults and a flightless juvenile showing breeding had occurred nearby. Both the adults started alarming near the nest, when Fan-tailed Ravens were above, and the young juvenile then move into the thickest tree. Other birds seen included one Philby's Partridge, three Hamerkop, Shikra, two Gray-headed Kingfishers, four Arabian Woodpeckers, Eurasian Kestrel, two African Paradise-Flycatcher, seven Fan-tailed Ravens, three Pale Crag-Martins, two Red-rumped Swallows, seven White-spectacled Bulbuls, eight Brown Woodland-Warblers, Blackcap, four Abyssinian White-eyes, six Arabian Babblers, four Gambaga Flycatchers, five Little Rock-Thrushes, Arabian Wheatear, four Yemen Thrushes, eight Violet-backed Starlings, four Tristram's Starlings, and two Rueppell's Weavers.

Arabian Magpie

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Raydah Escarpment

The Raydah Escarpment (18 12.374N, 42 24.613E) is a first class site 15 kilometres from Abha signposted off the Al Souda road and has been protected to some degree since the 1980’s. The site is a very steep west-facing slope with crags. The escarpment, approximately 12 square kilometres in size, supports a more or less intact forest of mainly Juniperus excelsa with Olea europa on the uppermost slopes. Lush more deciduous vegetation occurs on the lower slopes. In the foothills below 1,500 m vegetation becomes much more Afrotropical with numerous Ficus trees and genera such as Commiphora, Aloe, Ceropegia and Caralluma being well represented. These lusher habitats of the foothills soon give way on the tihama to arid sandy deserts interspersed with very fertile irrigated fields where water runoff from the highlands can be controlled or where water is close to the surface. These tilled areas usually have high bunds around them and grow a variety of crops, including sugarcane, millet and maize. It is located in the biologically rich Asir Mountains and is also an Important Bird Area encompassing strata of highland and foothill habitat from 2800 meters to Wadi Jaw at 1350 meters, including a succession of vegetation from juniper dominated upper regions, with olive Oleo europaea, through to the Afrotropical foothills at Wadi Jaw with Ficus trees and where coffee growing occurs. This is the premier site in Saudi Arabia for trying to find the Arabian Endemic species with ten Arabian endemic bird species recorded in this reserve, as well as the Asir subspecies of the Eurasian Magpie and there are numerous Afrotropical species in the lower altitudes. The contrast in climate can be tremendous with cool, damp, cloudy and temperate conditions at the top to hot, oppressive tropical conditions at the bottom. The tarmac road down the escarpment is extremely steep and quite dangerous with numerous sharp turns and is not for the faint hearted. There are a number of places to stop off-road to look for birds but the best plan for birding would be to walk down the road birding on the way and then hitch a lift back up with one of the locals who also infrequently use the road. Care would, however, have to be taken, as there are plenty of Hamadryas Baboons in the park along with Arabian Wolf. One of the best areas for birding is Raydah Farm (18 11.876N, 42 24.579E), which is approximately 300 metres down from the summit, and there is a small garden of less than a hectare beside a tiny perennial stream. You will see the terraced fields on the way down and can park in a pull off area by the left side of the road just by the farm and walk back up and into the interesting areas. We birded the Raydah Escarpment on the late afternoon of 4 and 5 July, in the company of Lou Regenmorter, as well as the morning of 6 July.

Yemen Thrush

Yemen Linnet

Little Rock Thrush

Palestine Sunbird

African Paradise Flycatcher

Abyssinian White-eye

Several good birds were seen at the Raydah Farm including a female African Paradise Flycatcher, 10+ Dusky Turtle Doves, five Little Rock Thrushes, one Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, one Arabian Serin, five Abyssinian White-eye, three Yemen Linnets, 5+ Ruppell’s Weavers, one Palestinian Sunbird, ten Violet-backed Starlings, two Fan-tailed Ravens and four Yemen Thrushes. All of the Arabian Endemics can be found in this area but despite our efforts we failed with the ones we were looking for; Philby’s Partridge, Yemen Serin and Arabian Waxbill. There were good numbers of the Arabian Endemic Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Thrush and Yemen Linnet on the way down to Raydah Village as well as a few Red-breasted Wheatears which are restricted to the highlands of Saudi Arabia. 

Arabian Wheatear

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Arabian Partridge

Arabian Partridge

Arabian Partridge

A very good dried up wadi was located on the left hand side of the road by Raydah Village that went towards a farm and then on down a dried up wadi. Here we had two Grey-headed Kingfishers, one African Grey Hornbill (Phil), 30+ Bruce’s Green Pigeons, 10+ Arabian Serins, one Palestine Sunbird, one Shinning Sunbird, one Green Bee-eater, one Eurasian Hoopoe, 5+ White-spectacled Bulbuls and one White-browed Coucal on two different days. A large number of Little Swift (50+) were seen flying over every visit and twice we saw Arabian Partridge here, the first time a group of six flew across the road and landed on the far side of the wadi giving reasonable views and the second on the last day whilst leaving the site we saw two on the roadside that gave excellent views as they moved away from us. Luckily their reluctance to fly aided in getting good views.