Whilst birding at Jubail I found a female Eversmann’s
Redstart, a new species for me. Birding up to that point had been rather poor
due to the overcast and windy conditions but it was made up for with this bird.
I noticed a redstart on the track between the large reed beds and it almost
immediately flew up into the reed bed but luckily stayed on the edge. Initially
I could only see it through the windscreen of the car making views poor but it
looked very interesting due to the pale panel in the closed wing. I moved the
car slightly to get a view through the window and got a few photos of to look
at when I got home but the combination of wing markings and covert edges made
the identification as a female Eversmann’s Redstart look very positive. I have
never seen this species and on checking details in books and photos on the
internet combined with Yoav Perlman’s confirmation of my identification I was
happy I had found a very good vagrant for Saudi Arabia as well as another new
species for my Saudi Arabian list. This was the third new species I had found
in ten days after Black-throated Thrush and Redwing.
The only records I know of for Saudi Arabia are as
follows:
Five at Ras Tanurah in December 1970 until January
1971 - Eastern Province
One Haradh 31 January 1980 - Eastern Province
One Kurais 14 November 1980 - Eastern Province
One at Dhahran from 21 January to 28 February 1982 -
Eastern Province
A male at Thumamah, Riyadh, in alfalfa fields 8
December 1990 to 11 January 1991 - Central Province
Two at Jubail near the Holiday Inn on 17 November 1991
one remaining until 19 November 1991 - Eastern Province.
A female was found on 27 January to 9 March 2000 at
Thumamah - Central Province
