Whilst birding the Dhahran Hills Waste Water Lake last weekend I saw a small flock of about six Red-rumped Swallows with a single Barn Swallow flying around in the very early morning. The species breeds in the southwest highlands and locally in central Arabia and is an uncommon migrant elsewhere. They are early spring migrants with birds seen most years in February and numbers peaking in March with the last records in mid-April. Numbers are much reduced in autumn passage with only a few birds seen and rarely flocks like those that occur in spring with birds occurring from August to October. There are a handful of records in the winter months of November, December and January but they are scarce during this period. These birds are always difficult to photograph due to their quick flight action and rapid movements but I managed to take a few shots shown below.
