Khalifah went down the Raydah
Escarpment as mentioned in a previous post and when at the bottom kept right for
a few kilometres until he came to a good looking wadi area. In this area he saw
the following species: Three Rock Pigeons
(Feral Pigeon), two Dusky Turtle-Doves, four Laughing Doves, one Bruce's
Green-Pigeon, two Dideric Cuckoos a species that is not easy to see in Saudi
Arabia and one I have not seen myself. They have a status as a vagrant but this
is clearly not the case as they have been seen every summer in the Abha area in
recent years but is still an excellent find. There were also four White-browed
Coucals, 50 Little Swifts, nine Gray-headed Kingfishers, 20 White-throated
Bee-eaters, five Green Bee-eaters, four Eurasian Hoopoes, African Gray Hornbill,
four Arabian Woodpeckers, three Black-crowned Tchagras another species that is
regularly seen but one I have failed to locate myself up until now. Khalifah
also saw Pale Crag-Martin, three Barn Swallows, four White-spectacled Bulbuls,
three Abyssinian White-eyes, four Arabian Babblers, Gambaga Flycatcher, five Black
Scrub-Robins, Blackstart, six Violet-backed Starlings, six Nile Valley Sunbirds,
five Shining Sunbirds and two African Silverbills. Khalifa has very kindly allowed me to use some of his excellent photographs below for which I thank him.
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| White-throated Bee-eater |
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| Violet-backed Starling |