Taif to south of Baha

I had been back in Saudi Arabia for less than a week when I got a message from Brian James asking whether I fancied birding the south west mountains over Eid. 

Brian introduced me to serious bird watching when we were both in Azerbaijan and as luck would have it we have both ended up in Saudi Arabia. 

Since the planes were fully booked I took the bus to Taif where Brian met me and our road trip south began.

a first year semi collared flycatcher - one of several of the species seen on the trip

Today, I returned to Riyadh after four full days birding with a list of 93 species seen. Nine were lifers and there are 13 additions to my Saudi list making a total of 224 species since I arrived just under a year ago. The species seen this week were a good mix of Arabian endemics, African species and Western palearctic residents and migrants.

Over the next couple of days I will be sorting out the photos and notes for a series of blog entries and to input onto the ebird database.

In short, the birding was excellent. Even the weather was pleasant, never rising much above 30C - not bad for Saudi Arabia in August.