The 2025 Spring Tour: Another Record-breaking Bash around the Kingdom
- saudibirding
- May 5
- 21 min read
Updated: May 10
Tour Dates: April 18 - 26, 2025
Duration: 9 days
Species Recorded: 238
Participants: Bert de Bruin, Miguel Demeulemeester, Arthur Geilvoet, Piet Opstaele, Michel Watelet, Graham Woods
Leader: Gregory Askew
Co-leader: Ibrahim Al Shwamin
Avian Highlights:
Helmeted Guineafowl
Harlequin Quail
Arabian Partridge
Philby's Partridge
Rameron Pigeon
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Nubian Nightjar
Montane Nightjar
Plain Nightjar
Red-knobbed Coot
Greater Painted-Snipe
Small Buttonquail
Crab-Plover
White-eyed Gull
Saunders's Tern
White-cheeked Tern
Lesser Flamingo
Red-billed Tropicbird
Abdim's Stork
Yellow-billed Egret
Black-headed Heron
Goliath Heron
Great White Pelican
Gabar Goshawk
Western Barn Owl
Arabian Scops-Owl
Arabian Eagle-Owl
Little Owl
Desert Owl
White-throated Bee-eater
Arabian Green Bee-eater
Red Sea Collared Kingfisher
Arabian Woodpecker
Sooty Falcon
Barbary Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Black-crowned Tchagra (Arabian)
Asir Magpie
Rufous-capped Lark
Arabian Lark
Common Reed Warbler (Mangrove)
Yemen Warbler
Arabian Warbler
Abyssinian White-eye (Mangrove)
Arabian Babbler
Violet-backed Starling
Tristram's Starling
Yemen Thrush
Gambaga Flycatcher
African Stonechat
Buff-breasted Wheatear
Arabian Wheatear
Nile Valley Sunbird
Shining Sunbird (Arabian)
Arabian Waxbill
Arabian Golden Sparrow
African Pipit
Olive-rumped Serin
Yemen Serin
Yemen Linnet
Other Wildlife Highlights:
Hamadryas Baboon
Brandt's Hedgehog
Yemen Rock Agama
Anderson's Rock Agama
Arabian Toad
Eurasian Marsh Frog
Arabian Skittering Frog
Asir Garra (Garra buettikeri)
Garra tibanica
After hitting 212 species in February, I hardly imagined we'd do much better during the April tour, yet much better we did indeed. By the end of our nine-day tour of Riyadh and the Kingdom's southwest we had recorded a total of 238 confirmed species, a significant jump from the previous record. Not only did we see all of the Arabian endemics and near-endemics, including the challenging Arabian Lark and Arabian Grosbeak, we also saw loads of fun migrants, nearly all of the Afrotropical residents and summer breeders, and several of the more uncommon species occuring in the southwest. Spring migration is a killer time to bird Saudi Arabia. If you haven't yet, consider joining me for the spring 2026 tour (March 26 - April 3, 2026).
Day 1—Riyadh
While nothing compares to Saudi's northwest for larks, Saudi Birding's shorter endemics tours can only fit in a morning's worth of desert birding near Riyadh before we shift our focus to the southwest exclusively. During all but one of our visits to Riyadh since 2022, this has proved enough to track down one of the species highest on most birders' target lists—Arabian Lark. No other tour companies have done as well with this difficult species as Saudi Birding despite often following the same itinerary.
On our recent stomp around Rawdat Nourah we in fact found Arabian Lark at two different spots, the first in an area we've seen them several times before and the second in an area just north of the road that crosses the desert here in the direction of the rawdah proper. Both birds were fairly vocal, yet I unfortunately missed another recording opportunity. Thankfully though both posed well for the long and satisfying photo sessions that ensued.
The desert was quite active with courtship and breeding behaviors from several of the more common species, including Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, and Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark. There were a few surprises out in the desert as well. We found my first Little Owl and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse for the spot and the sky overhead was noisy with passing Blue-cheeked and European Bee-eaters.
We wrapped up the morning with heaps of migrants in the scrubby desert around Rawdat Nourah, the best of which were five shrike species, 8 Old World warblers, and 7 Old World flycatchers. A big "thank you" to Mischa Keijmel for joining the hunt for the lark.
Day 2—Al Bahah
Like in Riyadh, we had but one morning in Al Bahah to find yet another challenging species—the uncommon and highly local Arabian Grosbeak. We started our search before 6:00 AM, a little past sunrise, and didn't finally connect until after 11:00. During the intervening time, with my anxiety over possibly dipping yet again growing with every passing hour, we searched spots grosbeaks had been seen during previous visits, sometimes more than twice.
With lunchtime fast approaching and bellies starting to growl, Ibrahim went off to grab lunch for everyone so that we could stay out a little longer, staking out the area where Stefan Hirsch and his group found grosbeaks the morning prior. We had already searched this area a couple hours before, but our second attempt proved successful. We found a male Arabian Grosbeak in nearly the same spot Hirsch and Co. saw one. If it weren't for their discovery, we might not have seen any since this spot, at the center of a more developed public park in the Al Khairah Forest, is one I would never have considered promising for this otherwise shy and flighty endemic finch. I certainly wouldn't have expected my recordings below to have been tainted by the chatter of picnicking locals.
When Miguel first spotted the grosbeak, it was gleaning fallen juniper berries off of patches of turf grass that had been layed out beneath the trees in the park. Most of the previous season's crop had disappeared from the spots where I had seen the grosbeaks before, but here there were even berries still on the branches. In Saudi, the berries of African junipers (Juniperus procera) have proven one of the species primary food sources, if not the most significant. Why the grosbeak's numbers appear so low and its distribution so local when juniper stands extend the entire length of the Sarawat Range is a mystery. To date, virtually all sightings have been from the Makkah and Al Bahah regions with only one probable encounter from the Asir Region in over 20 years.
During the morning we also did quite well with several of our other target species, with distant views of Philby's Partridge on a ridgeline high above us, Black-crowned Tchagra in a spot I have come to expect them, several Yemen Thrush, recently returned Gambaga Flycatcher, Arabian Wheatear, Arabian Waxbill, Arabian Serin, and Yemen Linnet.
At the park we saw the grosbeak, we even lucked upon a male Arabian Woodpecker escavating a nesting cavity quite near the footpath.
With full bellies and a sense of relief, we check out of our hotel and hit the road for Tanomah. At our hotel for the night, we saw our first Asir Magpies, two of which were observed from the parking lot. Just after sunset we visited one of my owling spots in Tanomah, where we bumped into Stefan and his group. Unfortunately, the spot was uncharacteristically unproductive. The eagle-owls were entirely MIA aside from a fleeting and distant glimpse by a member of our group. We had no response from the local Desert Owls, and only distant calls from two Montane Nightjars. A couple nightjar flybys weren't enough to pin down as Montane since Plain Nightjar also occur here during the spring and summer months. Thankfully Arabian Scops-Owl showed well for the guys.
As I had a few other spots for the larger owls, I wasn't nearly as anxious as I had been with the possibility of dipping on the grosbeak.
Day 3—Tanomah
We started off at Wadi Al Ghathal, a spot I had never visited in the early morning. Here the birding was quite good. Almost as soon as we got out of the cars we were greeted with views of Bruce's Green-Pigeon, Asir Magpie, and African Pipit along with the more common Long-billed Pipit among others.
A short hike back into the valley bottom produced better views of Philby's Partridge, Dusky Turtle-Dove, nesting African Paradise-Flycatcher, Brown Woodland-Warbler, as well as our first Yemen Warblers and Violet-backed Starlings of the tour.
We added several more nice migrant species here as well, including Lesser Gray and Masked Shrikes, Thrush Nightingale, and Whinchat.
Then we were off to look for more Asir Magpies and Buff-breasted Wheatear at my normal spot. We first stopped at the Wadi Dahna dam. Here we got our first views of Arabian Partridge. We also found our first Red-knobbed Coot, an Afrotropical species quickly becoming ubiquitous on even smaller bodies of water in the southwest highlands. Usually this is a good spot for Hamerkop during the spring and summer months, but we had to satisfy ourselves with distant views of a soaring bird. Many swifts and swallows were coming in to drink at the water's surface, including Alpine Swift and Eurasian Crag-Martin.
We were making our way to the overlook in the village of Quraysh when Arthur spotted a Little Owl perched in a tree beside the road. After initially losing it in a rock wall, we were able to relocate it on our way back through, allowing everyone a chance to get nice views.
Out at the overlook we found three Asir Magpie, a few passing Eurasian Griffon, and a covey of Arabian Partridge in the valley below us. The Buff-breasted Wheatear pair I had seen along this route several times before were nowhere to be found, I suspect due to the fact that their favored set of terraces had become overgrown.
Before preparing to leave Tanomah, we tried for Yemen Serin at one of the very few spots they have been reliable. This time around I couldn't find any serins, but in the same area I flushed my first Great Spotted Cuckoo for Saudi. After a little fevered searching, the group and I were able to relocate it so everyone could enjoy this uncommon treat.
In a denser stand of junipers at this site, we had good views of Shikra, Arabian Woodpecker, Yemen Warbler, Yemen Thrush, and Yemen Linnet. Then on our way back to the hotel, Miguel spotted a pair of Buff-breasted Wheatear on a rock wall literally seconds after I had commented on how they were actually fairly common and how surprised I was we hadn't seen any yet.
Having seen all but one of our targets for Tanomah, we were off to Abha for the next two nights. On the way we stopped at Wadi Reema, where it didn't take long to add our first Rufous-capped Larks of the trip. During spring and summer this near-endemic from the highlands of southwest Saudi, western Yemen, and the Somaliland is all but guaranteed. What wasn't expected at all, especially given our elevation, was a flight of migrating White-throated Bee-eaters passing overheard. Over the next two days we witnessed a few more large flights of this species, one group numbering around 40 birds.
That evening we made an unsuccessful attempt at a nightjar spot near our hotel.
Day 4—Abha
The next morning we set out early to try for night birds again, trying first for the Arabian Eagle-Owl at Soudah Creek, where we found a film crew setting up in the dark near where the owls are known to roost. After another unsuccessful search, we headed in the direction of Raydah Preserve, where we'd try for Montane in the spot I had seen one in June of last year. On the way, we flushed a Plain Nightjar from the roadside and with a little searching were able to get everyone on it.
Having spent time trying to refind the Plain Nightjar meant getting to Raydah a little too close to sunrise. The sky had already brightened quite a bit, but I scanned beneath the moss-laden junipers along the track for Montane settling in to roost. No luck there, but we did find a nice male African Stonechat in the still dim light.
Raydah Preserve, where we met back up with Stefan, Carmen, Werner, and Kathrin, proved quite good that morning. Both groups descended into the park at the same time and soon stopped to scan for one of our few targets of the morning—Rameron Pigeon. First, eagle-eyed (or I should say falcon-eyed?) Miguel spotted an adult Barbary Falcon feeding four fuzzy-headed nestlings high on the cliff face opposite us, its mate soon arriving with a fresh delivery. While both groups were enjoying the sight, Stefan picked up a lone Rameron Pigeon perched on a tall bare juniper.
Having already seen Arabian Partridge earlier in the trip, the fifteen we saw on the descent deeper into the preserve were a nice bonus. Our next planned stop, however, was for Black-crowned Tchagra, some of the guys not having had great views up in Al Bahah. Once we reached the village and wadi bottom, we soon had our first African Gray Hornbill, White-browed Coucal, and Gray-headed Kingfisher of the tour. By the end of breakfast, we had seen more Bruce's Green-Pigeon, two large flocks of White-throated Bee-eaters, and three more Shikra for the trip.
This is also where we had our next endemic with great views of Arabian Sunbird for the crew. The near-endemic Arabian Green Bee-eater was also new for the trip here.
Next up was Soudah Creek, where I promptly led the guys to the very same pair of roosting Arabian Scops-Owls that we discovered during the February tour.
We didn't add anything new at this spot, which was actually still quite dry despite the heavy rains that had visited other parts of Abha the weeks prior. Capturing some of my best audio of African Stonechat here was nice though.
After lunch we took a siesta at the hotel for awhile in anticipation of spending a few hours birding in the afternoon and evening. We still had Arabian Eagle-Owl to find after all.
Around 5:00 PM, we headed to a place I had never visited before—the Al Okass dam area. With the daylight remaining, we made a brief survey of the waterbirds gathered in the shallow, southwest end of the reservoir here. As I half-expected, we found numerous Eurasian Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot, and Little Grebe. We also found a large group of Black-crowned Night-Herons and singles of Gray and Purple Heron. As elsewhere up to that point, there were several migrants around as well, including a probable female Eastern Black-eared Wheatear.
After dark we made our way over to the spot were Jacky Judas had seen Arabian Eagle-Owl. This village was quite nice—I was surprised I had only just learned about it, especially given how close it is to where we were staying. Upon getting out of the car, we had a calling Arabian Scops-Owl and shortly after a Plain Nightjar flyby. Nearing the spot Jacky had seen the eagle-owls, we heard a male calling from the ridgeline above us and soon had he and his mate in view. And with that our second-to-last Arabian endemic in the bag!
Day 5—Habala to Jebel Al Aswad
Our success the previous night meant we had only one order of business for the morning—finding Yemen Serin, our final Arabian endemic. Stefan and his group had tried, without success, the afternoon before and on our way there that morning he messaged that they still hadn't found any, which was making me nervous. While the cliff at Habala has proven to be the most reliable spot to find this tricky endemic, we did have trouble ourselves here back in February. The worry was short-lived though. Within minutes of arriving at my usual spot, we found a small flock perching on the fencing that runs along the cliff's edge here. I messaged Stefan and soon our two groups joined up again to enjoy these quintessential little brown jobbies.
Pleased with our early success, we went to my breakfast spot at a nearby farm. Birding here was quite good with the open field hosting Rufous-capped Lark, Buff-breasted Wheatear, and singing African Pipit, among others.
I was just cleaning up while the group ventured off on their own when up popped a male Buff-breasted Wheatear onto a power line directly above me and began singing. Needless to say I scrambled to assemble my recording rig before he had time to fly off. Thankfully he stayed put a few minutes longer—the results of which are my best recordings of the species to date.
Until recently there were no publicly accessible audio recordings of Buff-breasted Wheatear (Oenanthe bottae). During my 2023 and 2024 tours I managed to capture and upload the first recordings of this species, which had only recently been split from Red-breasted Wheatear (Oenanthe frenata), a highland species from the Horn of Africa. Likely due to time of year, those recordings consisted mostly of calls and, the very best, subsong. What I captured during the last tour represents the first publicly accessible recordings of this Arabian endemic in full song.
It was time to bid adieu to the Asir highlands and make our way to the Jazan Region. As we were leaving Habala, we stopped briefly to enjoy close views of a flock of Rufous-capped Larks before setting off for Wadi Amoud, where we'd stop for lunch.
On the way to Wadi Amoud, we added Booted Eagle to the trip list and saw the first of two Bonelli's Eagle. I had seen a pair of Verreaux's Eagles back in 2021 but no luck with those, nor with Yellow-billed Kite and Dark Chanting-Goshawk, on this trip.
After lunch in Wadi Amoud, we drove to Wadi Lajab for a quick shoof around. The birding was unspectacular, in sharp contrast to the geology here. A few of the guys and I did hike into a narrow canyon, looking specifically for one of Saudi’s endemic freshwater fish (Garra sp.). Besides these fun little sucker fish, which felt like they could suck the flesh from my bones if I let them, we found Arabian Skittering Frog, Eurasian Marsh Frog, including a ginormous one, and the remains of a freshwater crab (Potamidae sp.).
I’ve yet to discover any information online about the possible crab species. The only species from the genus anywhere in the wider region are found in the Levant and Socotra. What if we discovered a yet undescribed species of Potamidae on the Arabian Peninsula? How cool would that be? Next time we visit I should set out crab traps and see if we might catch one.
Setting out from our hotel on top of Jebel Al Aswad around 5:00 PM, we had an hour and a half of light before sunset. This allowed us to do a little birding from the road as we made our way to our owling spot for the night. As expected, we picked up our first Red-eyed Dove before we had fully descended the Black Mountain. We found another further on in the town of Al Reeth.
We met back up with Stefan, Carmen, Werner, and Kathrin for the night's owling session and both groups were treated to staggering views of a male Desert Owl.
Day 6—Al Baish to Jazan
We had a slightly later start the next morning to allow the guys to take in the sunrise on Jebel Al Aswad, but then we were off to the Al Baish area to search for Arabian Golden Sparrow.
We drove through a bird-rich farming area outside Al Baish, where we saw our first Abyssinian Rollers and Black-winged Kite.
Our next stop was Abu Rayyan village, where Stefan and his group failed to find golden sparrow the day before. That news worried me as I knew the sparrows would be nesting and expected to find a breeding colony in the acacias west of the village, a place they had been found nesting the previous year. They're also known to be nomadic even in nesting site selection, though, and similar acacias groves can be found throughout the lowlands. If the other group had trouble, then we might be forced to search more widely.
A search of the acacias outside the village produced the same as the day before. Dark, ball nests were the only evidence that the sparrows had nested there in the past, but we couldn't find any active colonies. With that, we focused our efforts on the puddles from leaking irrigation lines at different places around the village. Near one of those sites we noted a lot of bird activity, with House Sparrows and Ruppell's Weavers drawn to a seeding weed growing in clumps near one of the houses. Thinking it looked promising, we staked out the nearby puddle and, sure enough, a flock of Arabian Golden Sparrow arrived to drink. The birds were flighty and never stayed long, but by the time we lost sight of them for the third time everyone had had good views.
We visited the Either Mangroves next, where we found the water level a little too high for getting as close as we'd need to find the white-eyes. The crew got their first views of "Mangrove" Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus avicenniae) and heard the resident Clamorous Reed Warblers. We also added several waders and shorebirds, including less common species like Terek and Broad-billed Sandpipers.
Collared Kingfisher was also a target here, but we didn't find any on this visit. A follow-up on our last day produced the goods, but in the meantime we had to head to Jazan to arrange our tickets for the Farasan Ferry.
After we had sorted out our tickets and checked in to our hotel for the remaining days of the tour, we went back out to hit a couple of coastal spots before sunset. First, we stopped at the wastewater treatment plant where we added Lesser Flamingo and Saunders's Tern. We also tried for the white-eyes, two international tours having reported encounters from the mangroves here, but couldn't turn up any sign of them.
We concluded the day working over the congregations of birds at the nearby Sea Park, which included a few hundred Greater Flamingo and our first Crab-Plover.
Day 7—Farasan Islands
Our morning crossing to the Farasans was quite productive, but unfortunately the viewing conditions weren't great, particularly as passengers are forced to peer out through dirt-streaked windows. The group was able to add several good seabirds though, including Brown Noddy and my second Saudi tick for the tour—Red-billed Tropicbird.
During our boat tour out of the eastern marina, ours and Stefan's group were treated to close approaches to many of the same seabirds we saw at a distance on the ferry. By the end of the tour, we had seen White-eyed Gull, Bridled Tern, White-cheeked Tern, and the two resident Thalasseus species, literally, by the dozens.
We weren't there just for the seabirds though. Our prime target was Sooty Falcon, of which virtually every islet northeast of the marina produced a pair. During perhaps the most incredible encounter, we even had four Sooties harrassing a migrating Peregrine Falcon, which had flown through their territories and had tried to rest on one of the islets. The excitement must have kept up for the better part of 15 minutes as the Peregrine made a few passes overhead before carrying on out to sea.
Things were rather quiet at the mangrove forest compared to my visits in October and November. African Collared-Dove had begun nesting, one allowing us to come within one meter of where it was perched at the edge of a narrow channel. Back out past the northern mouth of the lagoon, however, Abu Ibrahim, my trusty boat captain, took us to a spot where a Goliath Heron had been hanging out. The guys were thrilled at the chance to get so close to the world's largest heron.
Back on the main island, we had enough time to make a quick run through some nearby villages. Besides Egyptian Vulture, which is resident on the Farasans, there wasn't anything that we hadn't already seen.
While the light was poorer on our way back to Jazan, the seabirding was nearly as good, with a few species that we hadn't encountered in the morning. Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers offered a welcome charge of excitement, especially since Parasitic was a Saudi tick for me. Then, while staring hard out over the water, we were all suddenly startled by a migrating Eurasian Nightjar fluttering up against the glass just outside and flying up out of view. Hopefully he took advantage of the chance to ride the ferry the rest of the way to the Jazani coast.
Once back to port, we had enough time before sunset to hit a couple more of our coastal stops. We headed to the heritage village, first, to check in on the Abdim's Stork nest near the entrance. Two birds were present with one apparently sitting eggs or chicks. Beyond that, the spot wasn't as productive as it had been in February. The tide was low though, which meant good numbers of shorebirds and waders, including our best views of Crab-Plover. That smartly plumaged bird is one I know I can't get enough of.
Day 8—Sabya to Al Aridhah
The next morning we were at the Sunbah pivot fields just past sunrise for a couple of our shyest targets—Harlequin Quail and Small Buttonquail. Having chosen a promising field, we slogged around, our feet getting progressively wetter, following the sound of calling quail and buttonquail. While we couldn't flush the buttonquail we heard calling, as the morning progressed we were able to successfully hone in on a few of the male Harlequin Quail but had to satisfy ourselves with flight views. At a recently cut field we finally managed to flush a Small Buttonquail as well. That was after nearly two hours of tromping around the same two fields, but our persistence paid off.
The fields were also active with the usual cast of characters, but a familiar call drew our attention to a Pied Cuckoo perched in a nearby acacia, a target for one of the guys in our group.
Having found Arabian Golden Sparrow earlier in the tour meant we could skip my usual stops on the way to Al Sadd Lake. Besides a brief pulloff for an adult Oriental Honey Buzzard circling over the center of Abu Arish, we drove out towards the lake to search for our next target—Helmeted Guineafowl. The day was already getting hot, hovering around 40° C ( 104° F), when we reached the stretch of Wadi Juwwah where we had seen the guineafowl in June 2024. Just before we reached the location, Arthur spotted a guineafowl crossing a dirt track just uphill from the road. We all jumped out and followed the track until, by and by, we had flushed and got to observe around 30 individuals, all showing the distinctive features of what is likely a currently unrecognized Arabian subspecies.
By the time we made it back to the car, it might have already hit 41° C and was threatening to go higher, so I decided we'd make a quick stop at the overlook at the south lake at Al Sadd Dam and then take a siesta at the hotel until it got closer to sunset. Good thing we didn't decide to head back without visiting the lake because the less common species present were quite something. Two shorebirds creeping one after the other along the edge of the reeds below us turned out to be a male and female Greater Painted-Snipe, which is known to be a rare breeder in southwest Saudi. Then scanning the opposite shoreline we picked up, first, a Great White Pelican and then, a short distance further, a Black-headed Heron among the numerous other waders and waterbirds.
Just before 5:00 PM we returned to scan from the overlook at the north lake and were similarly rewarded with more uncommon species. While there are usually Eurasian Coot in good numbers here, we actually only found one among the ten Red-knobbed Coot present, the first I've seen at this site, two of which were chicks. Among the shorebirds nearer to us, we found another Greater Painted-Snipe, a solo male, and a Pacific Golden-Plover, and among the waders we had upwards to four Yellow-billed Egret.
While we did see some good larks in Riyadh, one that we had missed up to that point was Desert Lark. Michel, in particular, expressed an interest in seeing one on this tour and I knew a good spot near the lake. Just before sunset, we stopped near an old volcanic cone and using playback I called one in. It's moments like that that reinforce how valuable it can be to have a local guide. Who else would've known the best spot to try?
From there we headed to a spot where I was also confident we'd find Gabar Goshawk. On arrival it was still just light enough that eventually Graham called our attention to two thin, gray raptors perched on a telephone pole about 100 meters away. Getting them into the scope, this might have been the same pair of goshawks we saw June 2024. Once dark, it was time to try for nightbirds. We had no luck with Nubian Nightjar or Arabian Eagle-Owl here but Plain Nightjar were actively hunting over the stony slopes and calling here and there.
As Nubian was the main target for the evening, we went back to the lake to check my usual go-to spot. Rather than hike down in, to save time I decided to take the SUVs and no sooner had we pulled off the road and dropped down the embankment did we have a Nubian Nightjar in our headlights. Then just a few meters more we found an adult with a nearly fledged young bird, so still and well camouflaged we might have run it over if we hadn't stopped when we had.
Our penultimate day was full of good birds from nearly start to finish, but the birding gods had one more surprise for us—just after passing through Abu Arish, where we had dinner, a Western Barn Owl crossed the road in front of us. This is one I had tried for several times during the previous tours, so of course we'd see one when I was least expecting it!
Day 9—Jazan
Our final day arrived and a plan had come together. Having seen virtually everything else, it was time to try again for the "Mangrove" White-eye and Red Sea Collared Kingfisher. This time we arrived to the mangroves before 7:00 AM and had a completely different experience than a few days before. The water level was low enough to get close to the mangroves' edge and there was good movement of migratory species through the trees and overhead. At the spots we previously tried for both our targets, shrikes and warblers were actively flitting from tree to tree. We even had a Gray-headed Kingfisher flying past on a strong northerly heading. Yellow Wagtails of a few different races were still numerous around the area and we had singles of Spotted Flycatcher and Common Nightingale. Lots of birds around to ID to keep us busy, but still no white-eyes or collared kingfishers.
One noteworthy observation was finding an Eurasian Collared-Dove with nesting material in its beak among the many African Collared-Dove. This is a species that has been reported from the Jazan region with increasingly frequency over the past few years, but that was presumed to only occur around the larger agricultural tracts, not the more natural habitats like the acacia plains and mangrove forests. This is also a species that is highly adaptable, exploits a range of habitats across Europe and Asia, some quite inhospitable, and has colonized virtually the entire continent of North America, so perhaps not that noteworthy after all!
We tried one last spot at the mangroves, one that offered denser stands of more mature trees, and here we finally got lucky. We found two (why are there always just two?!) "Mangrove" White-eyes along with a few similarly plumaged Willow Warblers, perhaps just to confound us a little, and a short time later two Red Sea Collared Kingfishers (Todiramphus chloris abyssinicus). Crab-Plover showed well here in the morning light. A Little Tern that briefly convinced us that it might be Saunders's got us thinking, though, that we really needed to find more before packing our bins for the journey home.
I had two spots in mind along the corniche area in Jazan. The tide at the first proved too high still and only one tern flock was present—five Common Tern, a Saudi tick a long time coming, and two White-cheeked Tern. At the second stop, our last of the tour, we did find a single Sternula sp., a first-summer bird, among a flock of larger terns, but careful study and some indelicate clapping to get it to fly confirmed it as another Little Tern. While Saunders's is generally widespread and common during the breeding season in the Red Sea, it has proven challenging to find along the coasts of Jazan. The Makkah coast, in fact, appears to be one of the easiest places to find them in the Red Sea.
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