Vultures so close to Riyadh

On Thursday, after visiting the Kararah lake area, our birding party doubled back away towards Riyadh on the Mecca road before turning off north west. This was on route 505 according to the map but route 902 according to the road sign. 

This is an occupational hazard in Saudi Arabia, road sign numbers and map numbers often don't agree.

The aim was to use a road (route 505) on the plain which ran parallel with the Tuwaiq escarpment and to come off this road from time to time to visit the foothills of the escarpment.

Desert lark

In the back of my mind was the possibility that we might finally see two of my nemesis birds - Egyptian vulture and hooded wheatear. Both have been reported as rare around the escarpment but not reported at all in other parts of central Saudi Arabia.  

Egyptian vulture is relatively common in the west and hooded wheatear in the far north west of the country but both are very rare near Riyadh.

We chose to come off the main road and head to the escarpment at Dhurma and we found an excellent side road to do so.

100 metres before the slope we had to get out and walk down a shallow wadi because the road came to an end.

It didn't look that promising at first, only desert lark and white crowned wheatear to see.

white crowned wheatear

We noticed three dead camels which in retrospective were a clue to what happened later. At the time I didn't think it was anything special because the whole frontage of the escarpment on the plain was scattered with camel herds and presumably the occasional carcass.

Three dead camels. Photo taken by George Darley-Doran

We stopped, watched and listened once we were close to the slopes. We could hear and see white spectacled bulbul (a.k.a yellow vented bulbul) and then we noticed a wave or two of birds of prey flying in various directions above the escarpment. The time was about 11 am and the air had warmed up making flying easier for these types of bird.

adult steppe eagle

We were given an aerial display by four or five steppe eagle. A fan tailed raven also made an appearance.

three steppe eagle of varying ages

However, I spotted a single unknown bird which returned a few minutes later as part of a group of three.

Griffon vulture

Almost unbelievably they were all griffon vulture. We came in search of Egyptian vulture and in return we saw the much less likely griffon vulture. Unfortunately, the pictures are poor as they flew high and fast but have nevertheless been verified by an expert.

second picture of Griffon vulture

Griffon vulture hold wide territories but we also can't rule out that they were all wintering birds. The map in the Helms guide for the Middle East does show them reaching the western side of the Tuwaiq escarpment in places as the eastern limit of their residential range. However, what I also know is they have been very rarely recorded around Riyadh.

I am pretty sure the dead carcasses seen and presumably others in the plain next to the escarpment are important factors in why we found the vultures. 

Resting steppe eagle at "the edge of the world"

The rest of the day was an anti-climax.  We drove on into more desolate areas but with little reward. 

It had been a speculative day that is to say one where we drive into new areas with no known previous birding and so not knowing what to expect. It turned out to be worth the eight hours of relatively low key activity for the 15 minutes of great excitement. 

On the way back and near sunset we stopped off on the top of the escarpment at the place known as "the edge of the world" A lone steppe eagle was perched on a pylon to greet us.

 A list of Thursday's birds has been compiled by Lou Regensmorter:

Eurasian Griffon Vulture (new to my Saudi list and species number 261)	Crested lark
Steppe Eagle	Desert Lark
Common Kestrel	Pale Crag Martin
Laughing Dove	Scrub Warbler
Eurasian Collared Dove	Asian Desert Warbler
Namaqua Dove	Desert Wheatear
Pallid Swift	Eastern Mourning Wheatear
Hoopoe	White-crowned Wheatear
Little Green Bee-eater	Blackstart
Brown-necked Raven	House Sparrow
Fan-tailed Raven	Spanish Sparrow
White-spectacled Bulbul	Tawny Pipit
Greater Hoopoe Lark	White Wagtail