Whilst birding the Abha area recently we went
to Azeeza to look for Blandford’s Short-toed Larks as birds had been seen here
by us in previous years. The area has had some building and construction work
done in the last couple of years and despite quite extensive searching we
failed to find any birds. Very little occurs in this relatively barren and stony
area, with Long-billed Pipit and Common Kestrel the only birds of note seen. Luckily
we found a new site for Blandford’s Lark (see earlier post) so were not so disappointed
with our failure. After this we went to look for Olive Pigeon in a step sided
valley where birds had been seen some years previously by local birders but again
our luck was out. We did see some good birds here including Arabian Woodpecker
and Arabian Serin. Other good birds included Dusky Turtle Dove and adult and
Juvenile Red-rumped Swallow that clearly breed nearby.
 |
| Common Kestrel |
 |
| Arabian Woodpeckers |
 |
| Arabian Serin |
 |
| Red-rumped Swallow - juvenile |
 |
| Red-rumped Swallow - adult |