A second European Robin near Jubail – Bird records by Phil Roberts

Phil Roberts was in the Juabil area looking for the European Robin last week but without luck. This would have been a new species for him if he had seen it, but unfortunately he could not locate it. On the second attempt on 9 December Phil managed to find a second European Robin quite some distance from the first. At the time, as European Robin is a scarce winter visitor to the country we assumed the bird was the same but the original bird is still in its original location making the bird Phil found a new one?  We have been suffering a very cold spell in the Eastern province and further north, with temperatures down to 6 degrees Celsius and this has probably driven the birds further south than normal trying to find somewhere slightly warmer. Whilst in the area Phil also saw a Western Marsh Harrier feeding on a dead Greater Flamingo, showing that they scavenge almost anything. Phil has kindly sent me photos of the European Robin and Western Marsh Harrier and allowed me to reproduce them on my website.

European Robin

Western Marsh Harrier