Birds of Saudi Arabia: Plenty of Rock Thrushes

Yesterday I went back to the rocky area where I had seen the male Blue Rock Thrush the day before, as I have not seen too many of these on the ‘patch’ and wanted to get more views of the bird. When I got to the first section of boulders I saw a Rock Thrush sitting on top of a rock. This bird looked a little different from a distance and when I put my binoculars on the bird it became obvious it was a female and not the male from yesterday. I watched the bird for a while and when some runners came past the bird flew further down to the boulders where I had seen the bird the day before. There it settled with the male Blue Rock Thrush and as I was watching them both I saw a male Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush on a bank behind them. This bird also flew across the track and landed near the two Blue Rock Thrushes. This was unprecedented for me in the camp and I was very happy made more so when another male joined them and started singing to a second female making four Blue Rock Thrushes in total. I stayed watching these birds for over an hour and as it was getting dark a fine male Hen Harrier flew over the jebals and off. Unfortunately as it was getting late I had put the camera in the car and the views although close and good were too quick to allow me to get back to the car, collect the camera and take a photo. Hen Harrier is a new bird on the ‘patch’ for me making it two within a week. It is only the second time I have seen Hen Harrier in Saudi Arabia with the first a male at Jebel Nayriyah in the winter two years ago.