Thursday 5 April 2012

An update on my Saudi list

Back on February 22nd I wrote an article in my blog about the state of my Saudi list. At the time it stood at 141. It now stands at 171. Considering I am not really a "lister" progress on this still gives me some pleasure.


pale rock sparrow, lifer seen on 23 March at Rawdhat Khuriam

These numbers don't compare well with the largest list i have seen for Saudi Arabia at 336 by Per Anders Bertilsson. He left the Kingdom about 10 years ago. His birding humbles me!


one of 20 white stork flying to the NE near Riyadh on 30 March


There are an estimated 525 species possible to see apparently.


Here is a list of my recent additions taken from my ebird account.



142 Little bittern Al Ha'ir pivot fields 23 Feb 2012
143 Common swift Al Ha'ir pivot fields 23 Feb 2012
144 Menetries's warbler Al Ha'ir pivot fields 23 Feb 2012
145 European starling Al Ha'ir pivot fields 23 Feb 2012
146 Arabian partridge Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
147 Dusky turtle-dove Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
148 Common house-martin Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
149 White-breasted white-eye Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
150 Little rock-thrush Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
151 Yemen thrush Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
152 Song thrush Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
153 Cretzschmar's bunting Al Baha 01 Mar 2012
154 Philby's partridge Al Baha 02 Mar 2012
155 Arabian woodpecker Al Baha 02 Mar 2012
156 Scrub warbler Al Baha 02 Mar 2012
157 Brown woodland-warbler Al Baha 02 Mar 2012
158 Common redstart Al Ha'ir new quarry pools 08 Mar 2012
159 Eurasian reed-warbler Al Ha'ir south of pivot fields 08 Mar 2012
160 Rufous bush-robin Mansouriyah 09 Mar 2012
161 Eurasian crag-martin Mansouriyah 15 Mar 2012
162 Common nightingale Bird ringing centre, Al Ha'ir 16 Mar 2012
163 Pallid harrier Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
164 Lesser kestrel Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
165 European bee-eater Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
166 Greater short-toed lark Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
167 Common whitethroat Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
168 Tree pipit Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
169 Red-throated pipit Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
170 Pale rock sparrow Rawdhat Khuraim 23 Mar 2012
171 White stork Al Ha'ir pivot fields 28 Mar 2012

To be honest one of the best ways to expand your list in Saudi Arabia is to be willing and able to travel. The birding in south west, north, east and central Saudi Arabia can be quite different. If I stayed in Riyadh for all my birding I might add another 30 species over my period here and that would be it!

The rare Arabian endemic, Philby's partridge near Baha on 2 March

I am posting this from Jizan in south west Saudi Arabia where in the next few minutes, I am starting birding for the weekend. I'll be more than a bit unhappy if I can't add to the list.

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