Phil and I went to Al Uqayr in late February and stopped at a small farm where I saw a nice Eastern Black Redstart in the palm plantation. The bird disappeared but after gaining entry to the farm we looked around and managed to re-find it. Eastern Black Redstart a species that is not commonly seen by us. The species is regarded as an uncommon migrant and winter visitor most areas of Saudi Arabia but is a common winter visitor to the western mountains of Hejaz and Asir. Most records are Eastern Black Redstart semirufous although Western Black Redstart also occurs in very small numbers in the northwest of the Kingdom. Whilst looking around the farm we also found at least five Common Chiffchaff and several House Sparrow that looked small with whitish cheeks and underside so could be the hofufae subspecies.
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
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| Eastern Black Redstart |
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| Eastern Black Redstart |
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| Eastern Black Redstart |
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| House Sparrow |
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| House Sparrow |