Whilst birding the Gayal area of the northern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia in early January I came across a Western Osprey perched in a tall tree. I noticed the bird whilst driving down the main road and stopped and then managed to manoeuvre the car into a position where I was very close to the bird. Luckily it did not fly off and I managed to obtain some close-up photos before leaving it still sitting in the same tree. Western Osprey is a common breeding resident on the Red Sea coast and offshore islands of the Kingdom, with this young bird almost certainly raised nearby.
