Whilst birding Haradh 1 April we saw plenty of Wheatears indicating a
big movement had occurred. The species involved where Northern Wheatear,
Isabelline Wheatear and Pied Wheatear and they were spread over a large area of
the pivot irrigation field edges as well as nearby rough ground and shrubs. All
three species are common passage migrants through the Eastern Province of Saudi
Arabia but Northern Wheatear is normally only seen singly or in very small
numbers not in tens of birds as seen in Haradh. Isabelline Wheatears and Pied
Wheatears are commoner and pass over a longer period in spring but seeing all
the wheatears together in good numbers was unusual. The weather in Haradh was
poor the day we went which may have grounded the birds with overcast sky, wind
and cool temperatures that remained at 16 degrees Celsius for most of the day.
It also made photography difficult due to the light bit as there were so many
birds some photographs were possible some of which are shown below.
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| Northern Wheatear |
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
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| Pied Wheatear |