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

Hamerkop – Bisha

Whilst birding the Bisha area in the late afternoon in July we came across a large gathering of Hamerkop. Birds were originally seen perched on a palm tree stump and then others on overhead wires, where we counted a minimum of 23 birds, easily the largest number I have seen together in Saudi Arabia. They seemed to be gathering to roost, but a couple of birds were seen feeding on small fish on a roadside pool, allowing close photographs to be taken. The Hamerkop occurs mainly in Africa south of the Sahara & Madagascar but also occurs in south-west Arabia from the lowlands to the top of Mount Soudah at almost 3000 metres above sea level. In Saudi Arabia they occur in wetland habitats including irrigated land, lakes and wadies and are of the sub-species Scopus unbretta umbretta. It is a locally common breeding resident in Saudi Arabia at all permanent watercourses of the Tihamah, Asir and Hejaz, in the south-west, with one record as far north as Rabigh.

Waterbirds - Malaki (Jizan) Dam Lake

Malaki (Jizan) Dam Lake, near Abu Arish is probably the best birding location in the Kingdom and when we were there, we saw quite a few birds including Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron and Hamerkop. Hamerkop is a species that is regularly seen at this location, with it being the best site in the Kingdom to record it. They are quite widespread in the southwest of the Kingdom but very local and uncommon. A good number of Terns were flying over the water including up to ten Whiskered Tern and several Gull-billed Tern. Hundreds of Black Kite were present mainly perched in the trees surrounding the lake but also a few in flight and good numbers of Western Marsh Harrier and a single Greater Spotted Eagle were also located.

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Hamerkop

Purple Heron

Western Marsh Harrier

Western Marsh Harrier

Western Marsh Harrier

Whiskered Tern

Birding Talea Valley

Whilst birding the western mountains we visited an area near Abha called the Talea Valley. This is a very good birding location with several endemic species. We saw Arabian Warbler, Arabian Waxbill Arabian Wheatear, Arabian Woodpecker, Yemen Linnet and Yemen Thrush. I have seen Arabian Woodpecker in the area previously but the last few years despite many visits to the area I had failed to locate them again the the Talea Valley. We saw an adult male and also heard it calling but could not get close enough for good photos. Another species seen here previously, but nor regularly by me, is Arabian Waxbill. They were seen in flocks up to fifty birds mainly feeding on the seeding grasses, but again did not allow close approach. Apart from the endemic species other good birds can be seen in the valet and we located Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Hamerkop, Dusky Turtle Dove and Ruppell’s Weaver amongst others. We also saw a few interesting insects including Common Grass Yellow and Azure Skimmer.

 

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Arabian Waxbill

Arabian Waxbill

Hammerkop

 

Hammerkop – Talea Valley

Whilst birding the Talea Valley near Abha I came across a Hammerkop on two separate days at a small pool of water. The bird was shy and would not allow any sort of approach and flew almost immediately it saw me. I did manage a poor photo on the ground as well as a few flight shots as it flew off and circled around before disappearing from sight. The Hammerkop occurs mainly in Africa south of the Sahara & Madagascar but also occurs in south-west Arabia from the lowlands to the top of Mount Soudah at almost 3000 metres above sea level. In Saudi Arabia they occur in wetland habitats including irrigated land, lakes and wadies are of the sub-species Scopus unbretta umbretta. It is a locally common breeding resident in Saudi Arabia at all permanent watercourses of the Tihamah, Asir and Hejaz, in the south-west, with one record as far north as Rabigh.

Hamerkop at Rabigh Wadi – Bird record by Marios Mantzourogiannis

Marios Mantzourogiannis is a bird photographer and bird watcher from the west coast of Saudi Arabia at KAUST. He went to Rabigh Wadi on 22 February 2018 and found a Hamerkop. This is a locally common breeding resident in Saudi Arabia at all permanent watercourses of the Tihamah, Asir and Hejaz, in the south-west, even at high altitudes, but it does not occur as far north as Rabigh so this is a very interesting record. I thank Marios for sending me details of this bird and for kindly allowing me to add his photo to my website.

Yellow-billed Kite & more – Malaki Dam Lake

Malaki Dam (also known as Malakiyah, Wadi Jizan Dam or Hakima Dam) is probably the largest and most variable expanse of freshwater habitats in the southwestern provinces of Saudi Arabia. This area is a large lake (17 04.72N, 42 97.88E) at the edge of the Asir foothills, 15km east of Abu Arish and is regarded by many of the birders who have bird-watched Saudi Arabia as the best single site in the entire country. It is fed by four main wadis and at high water levels the lake spreads to over ten square kilometres and has a large catchment area extending south into Yemen. The reservoir is bordered to the north by basaltic lava plains and to the south several rocky outcrops which form the edge of Wadi Juwwah, another excellent birding area. The surrounding acacia and salvadora scrubland is interspersed with Tamarix where the hills are grazed and cultivated with some areas with shallow water, the dead remains of flooded trees forming ideal roost sites for herons and egrets. The Lake is on a main migration route and its surrounding area has one of the highest diversities of breeding birds in Arabia with many species being of Afro-tropical origin accounting for the large number of species recorded. We bird-watched a small arm of the lake on 5 April that is less disturbed and has easier access than the other areas. This site is excellent for the endemic Arabian Waxbill in the winter and spring, when flocks can be seen in the reeds and other vegetation near to the water. We managed to find this species after several hours with a number of birds seen flying over calling from one reed bed area to another. Three birds seen well included two adults and a juvenile, but we never got views that allowed photographs to be taken. This was a new species for me in Saudi Arabia and is an Arabian endemic, leaving me two more Endemics to see of the eleven species occurring, Yemen Serin and Arabian Scops Owl. The lake itself held a good amount of water and therefor had good numbers of water birds. Waders included Black-tailed Godwits, Spur-winged Plovers, Common Sandpipers, Kentish Plovers, Common Greenshanks, Common Redshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Temminck’s Stints and Black-winged Stilts. Seven Eurasian Spoonbill,three Hammerkops, with several Glossy Ibis, Grey Herons, Western Cattle Egrets & Squacco Herons were present. Other water birds included Whiskered Little Terns, Common Moorhens and plenty of Little Grebes. Non water birds included African Collared Doves, Zitting Cisticolas, Graceful Prinias, Ruppells Weavers, Laughing Doves, Namaqua Doves and Arabian Babbler. A few swifts were seen including 10+ Common Swifts, 10+ African Palm Swifts, two Alpine Swifts and a Little Swift hunting insects low over the water. We also had two White-browed Coucals, Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, Nile Valley Sunbird, three White-spectacled Bulbul and three Black Scrub Robins. Migrants included eight Barred Warblers in a very small area of acacia along with a female Eurasian Blackcap and several Common Chiffchaffs and two Willow Warblers.

Hammerkop

Alpine Swift

Barred Warbler

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

 We also saw several birds of prey including a second calendar year Greater Spotted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier and a Yellow-Billed Kite. The status of this species/sub-species within the genus of Black Kite Milvus migrans is still imperfectly understood. Up until the mid-1990’s the yellow-billed African breeding populations, aegyptius and parasitus (including tenebrosus) were generally maintained as a subspecies of Black Kite. However, recent work based on DNA shows that the yellow-billed race is significantly distinct from the Black Kite elevating it to full species status Yellow-billed Kite Milvus aegyptius. In the field, the Yellow-billed Kite is distinguished from the Black Kite based on several characters, the most obvious being its all-yellow bill.

Yellow-billed Kite