At the base
of the escarpment across the road from where we had initially been birding we
saw plenty more Desert Larks and Trumpeter Finches and then I spotted a large
lark under an overhang of the escarpment in the shade. This turned out to be an
adult Thick-billed Lark and a juvenile was close by. This was my third new
species of the day and a bird I have not seen previously anywhere in the world.
It was possible to get quite close to the birds but they always stayed in the
shade so photography was difficult. When the birds flew the white in the wing
was obvious and they were really good birds. Despite the lack of species we saw
some very good birds most of which do not occur in the Eastern Province. We
will be back to this location next spring to see what else we can find. The
species extends from western North Africa to Libya with an isolated population
in the Middle East including northern Arabia. Wintering birds occur in central
Saudi Arabia and breeding birds occur in rocky, pebble and gravel deserts of
the extreme north of Saudi Arabia. These records near Thumamah indicted the
birds have bred here or nearby, an area where they have been seen previously
and have been suspected of breeding but not proven. The good winter rain and
large amount of greenery in the area may have led the birds to breed and stay
in the area, but this is just my thoughts and there is no proof this is the
case.
