Viv Wilson a birder from Tabuk in the north west of Saudi Arabia sent me a few of his excellent photographs again last week. They contained many photographs for the wetland are he birds most of the time but also a few from the desert area he regularly goes to near Bajda. Viv regularly sees Sinai Rosefinch in this area, a bird with its entire Saudi Arabian range restricted to the north-west of the country. He managed to get a few good photos of the birds and mentioned the males are now in good red plumage. The birds seen in north-west Saudi Arabia are nominate synoicus who’s range is Sinai, north-west Arabia, Israel, and Jordan. They are small with the upper-part ground colour and sides of body rather dark drab-grey, with the pink and red of adult males being extensive, reaching the tips of both the upper and under tail-coverts.
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| Sinai Rosefinch - male |
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| Sinai Rosefinch - male |
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| Sinai Rosefinch - female |
Whilst out there he also photographed a Montagu’s Harrier, a species I only saw for the first time in Saudi Arabia this spring and one I will be looking out for more carefully in amongst the few Pallid Harriers we have passing though each year. Viv managed to get a few very good photos of the bird, which if the two I saw were anything to go by is not an easy feat.
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| Montagu's Harrier |
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| Montagu's Harrier |
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| Montagu's Harrier |