Quwaiiyah to Ruwaidhah

The second half of my trip west out of Riyadh on Friday was the much better than the first half.

The area 200 kilometres and more west of Riyadh between Quwaiiyah to Ruwaidhah is rocky and hilly with green wadis. 

My main stop was brought about by spotting three steppe eagle while driving westward just before reaching  Ruwaidhah.

steppe eagle

I needed to get out of the car and walk round to see the eagles with the sun at my back. From the car the eagles were directly into the sun. As I did this I stumbled upon a large wadi which was invisible from the road. 

another steppe eagle in flight

It was this wadi where I spent over 2 hours birding on foot and which provided quite a diversity of bird life.

wadi just east of Ruwaidhah

On of the first birds seen and one of the most common was blackstart. They were not only tame but inquisitive too.

blackstart

The only wheatear species seen in the valley was white crowned wheatear which was not at all tame especially compared with its relative the blackstart. 

immature white-crowned wheatear

As at Tebrak there were plenty of Spanish sparrow but this area must mark the southern edge of its wintering range. Indeed I hadn't expected to see any in this area.

male Spanish sparrow

My hopes of seeing Dunn's lark were dashed again even though the distribution maps have it in west central Saudi Arabia. Instead the main lark of the wadi was surprisingly desert lark.

Desert lark

Desert lark even outnumbered crested lark here.

crested lark

I saw no bulbuls all day in either Tebrak or further west. Instead I came across a mobile group of Arabian babbler which is a much rarer sight for someone based in Riyadh.

Arabian babbler

There were two types of warbler seen. Three desert whitethroat evaded my camera. This area is towards the south western edge of their wintering range.

a well hidden Menetries warbler

A Menetries warbler also evaded my camera pretty well. You can just make out its pink legs if you look hard in the photograph above. This bird hardly overlaps its wintering with desert whitethroat but it clearly does here.

little green bee-eater

Little green bee-eater were observed. This is ideal habitat for them.

blue rock thrush

I am always on the look-out for little owl in habitat like this. However I failed to see one once again. Nevertheless, this habit keeps me looking up on hill sides as well as at any clump of rocks. It was this way I picked out a blue rock thrush way up high and a hoopoe unusually on a rocky outcrop.

hoopoe

Although the wadi just west of Ruwaidhah was the main birding venue for me in the area, I also stopped off at a couple of other places near-by which added a small number of other species to the day list. 

black bush robin

Near the (dry) dam at Quwaiiyah I came across black bush robin in what looks like a range expansion over the map the main regional guide. 

white wagtail

I also picked up white wagtail and pale crag martin at a service station west of the town.

My main conclusion for the day was that the next time I head west out of Riyadh on the Mecca Road, I should not bother stopping in the Tebrak area but head out further west quickly.

The area near Ruwaiadhah and beyond looks more inviting. 

Below is a list of all the birds seen on Friday:

	Tebrak	Quwaiiyah
Steppe eagle		x
Black headed gull	x
Eurasian collared dove	x	x
Laughing dove	x
Feral pigeon	x
Hoopoe		x
Little green bee-eater		x
Arabian babbler		x
Brown necked raven		x
Desert lark		x
Crested lark	x	x
Pale crag martin		x
Menetries warbler		x
Desert whitethroat		x
Black bush robin		x
Isabelline wheatear	x
Blackstart		x
Desert wheatear	x
Eastern mourning wheatear	x
White crowned wheatear		x
Blue rock thrush		x
House sparrow	x
Spanish sparrow	x	x
White wagtail	x	x
Tawny pipit		x