Arabian Scops Owl Otus pamelae is regarded by many as a
regional endemic and last year Phil and I saw a bird near Tanoumah. Al Mehfar
Park in southwest Saudi Arabia, north of Abha at 1950 metres elevation, is a
good place to try to see them and last weekend we heard one calling just aft it
became dark. Eventually we had at least five birds calling. We were lucky
enough to see at least two birds perched in the open calling and managed to get
a few reasonable photos of the birds using a flash attached to the camera.
Whilst looking for the owls we also heard Montane Nightjar calling but were
unable to find any birds during our nighttime birding. The Arabian Scops Owl
only lives on the western side of the Kingdom and particularly favours the Asir
mountain chain from the Yemen boarder to north of Taif.
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| Arabian Scops Owl |
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| Arabian Scops Owl |
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| Arabian Scops Owl |
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| Arabian Scops Owl |
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| Arabian Scops Owl |