Birds of Saudi Arabia: Birding the Taif Area – Bird records by Phil Roberts

Phil went to Taif, in the western mountains, for a few days birding in early May and saw a lot of good birds. He was trying to see Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak again but failed in his attempts this time. Phil spent most of his time in Wadi Thee Gazal. Phil mentioned how good this site was, and the last time we were both there together earlier in the year we spend a good many hours birding the site and saw a few really good birds. Phil did likewise this time and added a few new species compared to our last trip including Shikra and Long-legged Buzzard. He also saw and photographed Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Green Bee-eater, Eurasian Bee-eater, Eurasian Blackcap, Ruppell’s Weaver, Violet-backed Starling and Long-billed Pipit. Phil very kindly sent me a number of his photos that he has allowed me to use on my website and that are shown below.