Whilst birding the Tabuk area recently Phil Roberts and I found more than twenty Pale Crag Martins flying over large pivot irrigation fields. Normally they are associated with cliffs, but these birds were catching insects well away from the cliff line which was some five kilometres distant. Pale Crag Martin is a common breeding resident in all areas wherever there are rock outcrops or cliffs, and have in the past formed flocks in winter of over 300 but there have been no records like this that I am aware of for many years. This was the largest gathering we have seen in the Kingdom and some of the views the birds gave were excellent flying around almost overhead at times.
