Whilst
birding the NADAC Farm area of Haradh 14 October I saw plenty of Harriers
including at minimum of five Montagu’s Harriers including adult and juvenile
harriers over the pivot irrigation fields. Male Montagu’s Harriers are easily
identified by their upperwing pattern amongst other details but Juvenile
Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers are difficult to identify with certainty at times
and good views are needed. The birds were mainly at some distance but luckily
for me the one bird that chose to come close was a fine adult male bird. It was
hunting over the fields catching large Migratory Locusts by dropping into the
pivot fields and catching them on the ground and then either eating them there
or flying to the field side and doing likewise there. Birds are uncommon passage
migrants in the Eastern Province mainly from April to May and from September to
October with a few birds apparently wintering and up to eight seen in a day at
Haradh in September. Birds of the Riyadh Region by Stagg 1994, says they are a
common passage migrant and increasingly frequent winter visitor that passes
March and again late August to mid-October. Since 1988, winter visitors have
taken up residence around alfalfa fields south of Riyadh during December and
January. Other records have come from all areas from the southwest to the
northeast of the Kingdom although the species is not common anywhere.
