Sallal Al
Dahna is a wadi or valley with large mature trees and a permanent pool of water
with a small waterfall. The valley is situated about two kilometres from
Tanoumah on the road to Abha. This site is good for seeing the increasingly
rare Arabian Magpie. The taxonomic position of the Arabian Magpie Pica pica asirensisis is uncertain, but
it is generally regarded as a subspecies of the European Magpie Pica pica with an isolated population
endemic to the Asir mountains, Asir Province, southwest Saudi Arabia. The birds
have a very restricted range from Abha about 150 kilometres north to An Numas.
Unfortunately when we went on 11 & 12 July 2014 we could not find any
Arabian Magpies but did find a disused nest of the birds in a mature tree in
the valley bottom. In the same area we also located a breeding pair of Shikra.
Shikra is a scarce breeding resident of the southwest of Saudi Arabia with a
few scattered records of migrants elsewhere. The birds we saw were adult male
and female and a juvenile. One was seen in flight high over the waterfall when
we arrived but we later got very good views of all three birds sat in mature
trees in the valley bottom. This was a new species for Saudi Arabia for Phil
and I and with the excellent views made up for not seeing the Magpies.
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| Shikra |
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| Shikra |
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| Shikra |
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| Shikra |
Other good
birds seen in the valley included at least two African Paradise Flycatchers
that gave very good and close views as well as Brown Woodland Warbler and
Abyssinian White-eyes. The most obvious birds were Fan-tailed Ravens seen on
arrival with well over 50 birds flying about calling over the waterfall area. A
few Palestinian Sunbirds, two Bruce’s Green Pigeons and a male Violet-backed
Starling were other good birds seen here.
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| African Paradise Flycatcher |
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| Fan-tailed Ravern |
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| Sallal Al Dahna |
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| Arabian Magpie Nest |