Birds of Saudi Arabia: Arabian Waxbill & Arabian Serin

Phil and I were taken to Wadi Waj, a site near the center of Taif, by a local birder Ali. He very kindly showed us the site and drove us around it in his four-wheel drive car, as our hire car could not make it. This site is a wastewater runoff stream that permanently flows and has good growth of reeds and sedges nearby. It is a place where Ali regularly sees Arabian Waxbill and Arabian Serin, two species that Phil and I were still trying to get decent photographs of. We saw the Waxbills almost as soon as we arrived but they were high in the tall trees and only average photos were obtained. We later saw them again when returned in the evening but again high in the trees. We did, however, get good views of Arabian Serin on several occasions. There were plenty of other birds about including Nile Valley Sunbirds, Graceful Prinias, Black Scrub Robins and plenty of Green Bee-eaters. An unusual bird seen almost immediately on arrival was a Scaly-breasted Munia, a species that Ali had not seen here before, but this may have been an escape from somewhere? A few wetland birds were seen as well including three Squacco Herons and a Green Sandpiper. On our return visit and as it was getting sark we located a Bruce’s Green Pigeon in a tall tree rounding off a good selection of birds at a good local site.