Summer time birding - Tanoumah

Last summer I visited Tanoumah, and have just sorted out my photos from the trip. Below are a few species I managed to see and photograph including Abyssinian White-eye, Brown-necked Raven, Common Kestrel, Crested Lark, Little Rock Thrush, Tristrams Starling and Violet-backed Starling. I also saw a few Arabian endemics including Arabian Serin, Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Serin and Yemen Warbler.

Abyssinian White-eye

Arabian Serin

Arabian Wheatear

Brown-necked Raven

Brown-necked Raven

Common Kestrel

Crested Lark

Little Rock Thrush

Tristram's Starling

Violet-backed Starling

Yemen Serin 

Yemen Warbler

African birds at the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment - Abha

Whilst birding the lower areas of the Raydah Escarpment in late March I saw a number of African species. Birds seen included African Grey Hornbill, Violet-backed Starling, Black-crowned Tchagra, Bruce’s Green Pigeon and White-browed Coucal. Bruce’s Green Pigeon is an interesting species as it only eats the fruit of a single type of fig tree. No White-throated Bee-eaters or Grey-headed Kingfishers were located so maybe we were too early for these birds to have arrived back from Africa. A few passerine migrants were also seen including a number of Common Blackcap. Resident species seen included Blackstart as well as Arabian Green Bee-eater and endemics recorded included the scarce Arabian Waxbill and the commoner Arabian Serin.

White-browed Coucal

Bruce Green Pigeon

Bruce Green Pigeon

Bruce Green Pigeon

Bruce Green Pigeon

Common Chiffchaff

Tristrams Starling 

Blackstart

Birding Tanoumah – Tanoumah

The Tanoumah area is probably the best area in the country for seeing the endemic species. It holds all the endemics occurring in Saudi Arabia with the exception of Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak as well as the three subspecies often also regarded as species, Arabian Magpie, Arabian Spotted Eagle Owl and Arabian Green Bee-eater. I saw all the endemics and the three subspecies with the exception of Arabian Partridge on my last visit to the area and saw the Arabian Partridge at the Raydah Escarpment near Abha as well. Apart from all the endemics, there are many other southwest specialities such as Arabian Warbler, Brown Woodland Warbler, Dusky Turtle Dove, Gambaga Flycatcher, Little Rock Thrush, Spectacled Bulbul and Tristram’s Starling. As the area is in the high mountains at around 2000 metres above sea level, some other interesting birds such as Alpine Swift and Rock Dove may be seen. As the tempertures are much lower in the mountains than the nearby plains and coast it is possible to spend the entire day birdwatching on foot making for a pleasant and enjoyable day in the field. 

Yemen Thrush

Yemen Warbler

Philby's Partridge

Tanoumah

Arabian Warbler

Arabian Wheatear

Arabian Wheatear

Brown Woodland Warbler

Dusky Turtle Dove

Gambaga Flycatcher

Little Rock Thrush

White-spectacled Bulbul

Rock Dove

Tristram's Starling

Birds in the desert near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wlson was out birding at the weekend but some rain and a cloudy day with strong wind meant not a great deal was around at either Disa or in the desert. Viv managed to find a Common Kestrel on the cliffs and took a few nice photos of it. On the cliffs in the desert he also found Tristram’s Starling a species that is resident in the region along with a late wintering Eastern Mourning Wheatear. I thank Viv for sending me the details and allowing me to use his photographs of the birds on my website some of which are reproduced below.

Common Kestrel

Common Kestrel

Eastern Mourning Wheatear

Eastern Mourning Wheatear

Tristram's Starling

A few interesting birds near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv Wilson a birder from Tabuk has sent a number of photos to me over the last few weeks and has kindly allowed me to reproduce a few below. These birds include resident species such as Tristram’s Starlings, White-spectacled Bulbuls, Palestine Sunbird, Southern Grey Shrike and Desert Lark, all species that do not occur in the Eastern Province where I bird watch with the exception of Desert Lark and Southern Grey Shrike, both of which are uncommon in my region. The other species are limited to the west of the Kingdom although some occur as eastwards as far as the Riyadh area.

Tristram's Starling

Tristram's Starling

Southern Grey Shrike

Desert Lark

Palestine Sunbird

White-spectacled Bulbul

Shabanah Wild Park – Bird records by Khalifah Al Dhaheri

This site is a location I have not been to myself and lies off route 15 between Tanoumah and Al Baha in the Asir mountains. Khalifah saw a number of good birds in this area including the following: Eurasian Moorhen, four Rock Pigeons, two Dusky Turtle-Doves, five Laughing Doves, Alpine Swift, 25 Little Swifts, three Eurasian Hoopoes, Fan-tailed Raven, two Pale Crag-Martins, five White-spectacled Bulbuls, two Scrub Warblers, Brown Woodland-Warbler, two Graceful Prinias, Gambaga Flycatcher, two Blackstarts, four Arabian Wheatears, three Violet-backed Starlings, two Tristram's Starlings, three Palestine Sunbirds, seven Cinnamon-breasted Buntings and nine Rueppell's Weavers. He has kindly allowed me to use two of his photographs below for which I am very grateful.

Dusky Turtle Dove

Tristram's Starling

Last couple of weeks near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Viv has been out birding the Tabuk area the last couple of Weekends and has sent a few photos of his trips. This area is in the northwest of the Kingdom and is very good for both migrants as well as resident species. Viv normally either goes to the desert areas where there are plenty of rock formations or to the large Tabuk wetlands. He takes photos of quite a number of species that are either absent or extremely difficult to see in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where I live and bird so the photos are always interesting to look at. This selection include Scrub Warbler and Tristram’s Starling that do not occur in the Eastern Province and Pale Crag martin that does occur but is only seen near the escarpments in the desert in areas like Shedgum. The main passage migrants seen by Viv cross the country in broad fronts so are seen throughout the Kingdom at the right time of year and these include Barn Swallows, Eurasian Blackcaps, Eurasian Hoopoes, Northern Wheatears and Ortolan Buntings with Common Kestrel being a resident in the area. Viv has kindly allowed me to use some of his photos on my website that are shown below.

Tristram's Starling

Scrub Warbler

Barn Swallow

Common Blackcap

Eurasian Hoopoe

Northern Wheatear

Ortolan Bunting

Common Kestrel

Pale Crag Martin