A very early morning trip to Jabal Nayriyyah saw Phil Roberts and I leaving Dahran at 04:00 hrs for the 250 kilometer trip. At first light we were at Jabal Nayriyyah where we had seen a Pharaoh Eagle Owl the year before, but despite a good search of the area we failed to locate a bird this year. We did see most of the other species we were looking for here with at least six Eastern Mourning Wheatears seen as well as a couple of Desert Larks. Other birds seen included two male and two female Desert Wheatears, several Crested Larks, one grey shrike sp. and a Desert Warbler. These jebals (limestone hills) are a very good place in winter to see both Desert Lark and Eastern Mourning Wheatear and photographs were taken of both species this trip. Eastern mooring Wheatear is quite a speciality of the Arabian Peninsula and is bird sought after by the big birding groups who occasionally visit Bahrain where the species can be seen. Numbers in Saudi Arabia are much higher and easier to see, but visiting restrictions to the country make seeing them very difficult.
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| Eastern Mourning Wheatear |
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| Eastern Mourning Wheatear |
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| Eastern Mourning Wheatear |
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| Desert Lark |
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| Desert Lark |
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| Crested Lark |
