Whilst birding the Hanidh area with Phil Roberts we drove around a fenced off farm with trees growing around the fence-line. Here we located three Black Redstarts, two males and a female all of the Phoenicurus ochruros semirufus race. They were continually moving and difficult to photograph but as neither Phil or I had any good photos of the species in Saudi Arabia we stuck at it trying to rectify the situation. Although we were not successful if getting really good photos were did get the best ones we have taken so far. The Black Redstart is mainly a scarce winter visitor to Saudi Arabia passing between March and April, then again October and November. They are also a scarce/uncommon winter visitor encountered mainly December to February, usually in ones and twos only. In the Eastern Province it is a scarce but widely distributed winter visitor from October to March where they are normally seen in well vegetated places such as parks and gardens. Females are less common that males. Phoenicurus ochruros semirufus occurs from southeast Turkey, Western Syria, Lebanon and northeast Israel, possibly northern Iraq and winters east of its breeding range to Iraq, Iran and Oman.
