Birds of Saudi Arabia: Resident birds

Phil Roberts and I made a couple of trips down and up the Raydah Escarpment in October. We did not see many birds and some of the common birds seen every summer such as Dusky Turtle Dove and Laughing Dove were almost absent suggesting they may move to lower altitudes in the winter. Resident birds were still seen in small numbers including Arabian Wheatears, Abyssinian White-eyes, Green Bee-eaters and Blackstarts. A couple of Black-crowned Tchagra were at the bottom near the village but unfortunately, move off before any photos could be taken. A single Long-legged Buzzard was also flying around mid-elevation on the way down and unusually was of the pale type not the dark morph normally seen in the area. On the way up we stopped at the farm for the last few minutes of daylight and were rewarded a beautiful sunset as well as a few Fan-tailed Raven flying around.