Amazingly
in the same small field near Sarrar where Phil and I found two Woodlarks on 15
January, we found shortly afterwards a Black Scrub Robin Cercotrichas podobe a species that has only been recorded four
times in the Eastern Province making this fifth record. The species is
apparently extending its range north and east. Phil has seen the species once
before in the Eastern Province but this was a new Province species for me. Although
very rare in the Eastern Province, they are an uncommon breeding resident along
the Red Sea north to Yanbu, the Tihamah, Asir, Hejaz, and Northern Hejaz to 160
km north of mecca. They are not found on the juniper summits of mountains in
Asir or Hejaz but are regularly seen as far east as Riyadh.
