8/4/2020 (2) Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic | Facebook This note is published. Edit Note Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic SAUDI BIRDING · TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020 · READING TIME: 33 MINUTES 2 Reads Total Avian Species: 151 Total Endemics and Near-Endemics: Highlights: Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris mitratus Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei arabica Philby's Partridge Alectoris philbyi Arabian Partridge Alectoris melanocephala Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor Dusky Turtle-Dove Streptopelia lugens African Collared-Dove Streptopelia roseogrisea Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata Bruce's Green-Pigeon Treron waalia Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii White-browed Coucal Centropus superciliosus Pied Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus Dideric Cuckoo Chrysococcyx caprius Nubian Nightjar Caprimulgus nubicus Plain Nightjar Caprimulgus inornatus Little Swift Apus affinis African Palm-Swift Cypsiurus parvus Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus Small Buttonquail Turnix sylvaticus Crab-Plover Dromas ardeola White-eyed Gull Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus Abdim's Stork Ciconia abdimii Pink-backed Pelican Pelecanus rufescens Hamerkop Scopus umbretta https://www.facebook.com/notes/saudi-birding/jizan-to-al-namas-a-saudi-birding-epic/10220207353088478/?av=1408551245942611&eav=AfZPL8u0cWbUV… 1/19 8/4/2020 (2) Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic | Facebook Verreaux's Eagle Aquila verreauxii Gabar Goshawk Micronisus gabar Shikra Accipiter badius Yellow-billed Kite Milvus migrans aegyptius Arabian Scops-Owl Otus pamelae Arabian Spotted Eagle-Owl Bubo africanus milesi Little Owl Athene noctua African Gray Hornbill Lophoceros nasutus Gray-headed Kingfisher Halcyon leucocephala White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis Arabian Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis cyanophrys Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinicus Arabian Woodpecker Dendrocoptes dorae Black-crowned Tchagra Tchagra senegalus African Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis Asir Magpie Pica asirensis Fan-tailed Raven Corvus rhipidurus Singing Bushlark Mirafra cantillans Rufous-capped Lark Calandrella eremica Mangrove Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus avicenniae Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis Brown Woodland-Warbler Phylloscopus umbrovirens Yemen Warbler Sylvia buryi Arabian Warbler Sylvia leucomelaena Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus Arabian Babbler Turdoides squamiceps Violet-backed Starling Cinnyricinclus leucogaster Tristram's Starling Onychognathus tristramii Yemen Thrush Turdus menachensis Gambaga Flycatcher Muscicapa gambagae Black Scrub-Robin Cercotrichas podobe African Stonechat Saxicola torquatus Buff-breasted Wheatear Oenanthe bottae Blackstart Oenanthe melanura Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides https://www.facebook.com/notes/saudi-birding/jizan-to-al-namas-a-saudi-birding-epic/10220207353088478/?av=1408551245942611&eav=AfZPL8u0cWbUV… 2/19 8/4/2020 (2) Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic | Facebook Nile Valley Sunbird Hedydipna metallica Palestine Sunbird Cinnyris osea Arabian Shining Sunbird Cinnyris habessinicus kinneari/hellmayri Rüppell's Weaver Ploceus galbula Arabian Waxbill Estrilda rufibarba African Silverbill Euodice cantans Arabian Golden Sparrow Passer euchlorus Yemen African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus eximius Arabian Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis arabicus Olive-rumped Serin Crithagra rothschildi Yemen Serin Crithagra menachensis Yemen Linnet Linaria yemenensis Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Emberiza tahapisi Non-Avian Vertebrate Highlights: Hamadryas Babboon Papio hamadryas African Wildcat Felis lybica (possible) Cape Hare Lepus capensis Indian Porcupine Hystrix indica Egyptian Fruitbat Rousettus aegyptiacus (possible) Yemen Carpet Viper Echis borkini Arabian Tree Frog Hyla felixarabica Dhofar Toad Duttaphrynus dhufarensis Arabian Toad Sclerophrys arabica Sinai Agama Pseudotrapelus sinaitus My wife, Michelle, Adam Harris, and I arrived to Jizan from Dammam in the early evening on July 23, 2020. After sorting out the booking with Al Wefaq Rent a Car, we stepped out the coastal plain ,(ا) of the airport terminal into the hot and humid air of the Tihamah running nearly the entire west side of the Arabian Peninsula. Adam called our attention to several large fruitbats rousing from their roosts in some palm trees just outside. Before being transported over to the rental lot, I made a quick recording of these megabat’s vocalizations to help us pin down the ID—both Egyptian Fruitbat and African Straw-colored Fruitbat occur in the southwest. Then it was off to our hotel, Al Borg Al Watheer, right across from the Red Sea on the south side of the city, to sleep up for our first full day of birding. Day 1: Sabya, Either, and the coast of Jizan https://www.facebook.com/notes/saudi-birding/jizan-to-al-namas-a-saudi-birding-epic/10220207353088478/?av=1408551245942611&eav=AfZPL8u0cWbUV… 3/19 8/4/2020 (2) Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic | Facebook As we were expecting nigh intolerable weather the next day— a “real feel” of 42° C (108° F)—we decided to bird Sabya early for the best chance at our first target, Harlequin Quail in the agricultural fields around the area. We arrived just before sunrise to the spot where Jem Babbington, Brian James, and others had seen them in the past. To the east we White-throated Bee-eater, a common summer breeder in the could see the dark shape of Jebel an ancient ,( ة) lowlands and foothills of southwest Saudi Ekuwah volcanic crater, one of many scattered around Jazan Province. Around us the morning came alive with the sound of birdsong and we were enveloped in a veritable din of Singing Bushlark, Zitting Cisticola, and African Silverbill. Soon White-throated Bee-eater, Arabian Babbler, White-spectacled Bulbul, Ruppell’s Weaver, and Common Myna joined the chorus. We started walking down the dirt access road, taking stock of the surge of birdlife around us, all the while African Palm-Swifts careened overhead. Soon we added Black Scrub- Robin, Pied Cuckoo, a feldegg Western Yellow Wagtail, and Abdim’s Stork to the morning’s count, a small group of the latter having flown in just after sunrise to forage in a newly mown field to the right of the road. Through the din, just across an overgrown field we were skirting I heard the rhythmic, cow-like lowing of a female Small Buttonquail and then it was on! Buttonquail are notoriously difficult birds to see, but having heard one fired us up for the hour’s worth of productive tromping that followed. We moved off the road and into the field, following a rut made by one of the wheels of the pivot irrigation arm used to water the field. After just a few minutes, Adam kicked up our first Small Buttonquail of the morning, told from the similarly small, fast, and fleeting Harlequin Quail by its stiff- winged flight and pale, contrasting upper wing coverts. After failing to relocate it, we continued on through the field and then I began to hear something different—not one but three Harlequin Quail calling not far from our position. We stalked closer until I was able to capture some decent audio in case we weren’t able to actually see them, these recordings representing the first of this species in Saudi Arabia. Gregory Askew Harlequin Quail Share Cookie policy 2 The Arabian Harlequin Quail, a subspecies of the widespread African species, occurring in extreme southwest Saudi. Listen here past the noisy Zitting Cisticolas for the "wit-wit wit" of a Harlequin Quail in Sabya. As we neared closer still, the quail suddenly went quiet and we began zigzagging around the area in the hopes of flushing one. Eventually what appeared to be a younger, duller male put up, flying away from us but thankfully quartering back towards us before dropping out of sight, allowing us to note the harlequin head pattern and rich coloring on the breast and flanks. We were psyched to have successfully tracked down the two biggest skulkers on the target list and in such short order. Then while reveling in our quail encounter, I heard https://www.facebook.com/notes/saudi-birding/jizan-to-al-namas-a-saudi-birding-epic/10220207353088478/?av=1408551245942611&eav=AfZPL8u0cWbUV… 4/19 8/4/2020 (2) Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic | Facebook another female Small Buttonquail calling from beside a plantation of fig trees, so we headed in that direction. We couldn’t find the buttonquail but here we did add Nile Valley Sunbird and Arabian Green Bee-eater. Rounding the pivot field back towards the car, we kicked up another five Harlequin Quail, each time one or two birds bursting out from nearly under foot, and at virtually every point on our trek through the field we were surrounded by incessantly zitting Zitting Cisticola and huge twittering flocks of African Silverbill, the largest flocks by far I’ve ever seen. On our way back to the car, our attention was drawn to the mown field across the road by six Pied Cuckoo feeding on the ground. It was then we realized just how active the field actually was. Before long Adam got on what he thought was a Small Buttonquail and walked off to relocate it. A short time later he called out to me and I caught sight of a buttonquail flying past from his direction and then settling in the field a short distance away. I set up the spotting scope and started scanning the area where it landed. Before long, I found a richly colored female, brighter than the males, crouching low and making her way towards the center of the field. She would pop into view every few seconds or so as she clambered over the ridges of piled mowing. While I was watching her, Adam called out another possible quail not too far beyond the buttonquail, so we made our way in that direction. The quail, in fact, was yet another buttonquail, and as we moved further into the field, by and by, we either flushed or had a flyby of another six buttonquails, making the final count for the morning an astonishing 11 birds, the most ever seen at one location in Saudi as far as I know. From here we set off to the Sabya Outfall, an area that has received treated wastewater over the years and played host to such rarities as breeding Greater Painted-Snipe and Black- headed Heron.