Whilst birding
at the weekend I saw a flock of Red-rumped Swallows with a few Barn Swallows
mixed in over the power station. The species breeds in the southwest highlands
and locally in central Arabia, but is an uncommon migrant elsewhere. They are early spring migrants with birds
seen most years in February and numbers peaking in March with the last records
in mid-April. Numbers are much reduced in autumn passage with only a few birds
seen and rarely flocks like those that occur in spring and birds occurring from
August to October. There are a handful of records in the winter months of
November, December and January but they are scarce during this period. The
birds were the first ones I have seen this spring and numbered about 15 birds.
These birds are always difficult to photograph due to their quick flight action
and rapid movements but I managed to take a few shots shown below. The flock
was still present the next day in the same area but birds like this tend not to
stay around very long particularly in the spring.
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| Red-rumped Swallow |
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| Red-rumped Swallow |
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| Red-rumped Swallow |
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| Red-rumped Swallow |
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| Barn Swallow |