Whilst birding the Talea Valley near Abha I came across a Hammerkop on two separate days at a small pool of water. The bird was shy and would not allow any sort of approach and flew almost immediately it saw me. I did manage a poor photo on the ground as well as a few flight shots as it flew off and circled around before disappearing from sight. The Hammerkop occurs mainly in Africa south of the Sahara & Madagascar but also occurs in south-west Arabia from the lowlands to the top of Mount Soudah at almost 3000 metres above sea level. In Saudi Arabia they occur in wetland habitats including irrigated land, lakes and wadies are of the sub-species Scopus unbretta umbretta. It is a locally common breeding resident in Saudi Arabia at all permanent watercourses of the Tihamah, Asir and Hejaz, in the south-west, with one record as far north as Rabigh.
