When we last left our intrepid hero, he was crossing the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia. However, unlike his pseudo-namesake, Lawrence of Arabia, who crossed the Nefud on a camel (at least according to the movie), our hero did it on Saudia Airlines…and landed in the city of Tabuk in the far northwest of Saudi Arabia near the border with Jordan.
As a reminder of Act I, which can be found here, the route of the full tour of Saudi Arabia started in the southwest of the Kingdom. It took in the mountains around Jizan, Abha, and Al-Baha, where most of the Arabian endemic species are found.
Act II took place in the north of the Kingdom. It started in Tabuk and Jebel Al-Lawz (the Mount of Almonds) in the far northwest of the country. We then drove along the route of the old Ottoman Hejaz Railway to Al Ula where we visited the ancient Nabatean ruins at Madain Saleh (aka Hegra), Saudi Arabia’s biggest pure tourist site. From Al Ula, we drove across the north of the country to Ha’il, then finished up in Sakaka/Al Jawf in the northeast of the Kingdom and the Nefud Desert for a couple of specialties.
Tour Route
As I noted in Part 1, this part was mainly looking for desert birds that are shared with the more continental part of the Middle East (Israel, Jordan, and Iraq). The targets included quite a few larks and wheatears, which for the most part are not the most charismatic species. However, we also turned up a few owls and eagles, and a couple colorful birds. We also found a rarity that was only the third record for Saudi Arabia.
Also if you want to see more pictures or even video from the tour, you can view the official trip report from Saudi Birding here or the eBird trip report for the tour here.
But now on to the birds!
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The tour started early in the morning on Jebel al Laws.
Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
If you think it looks cold, you’re right. It was just above freezing.
The first target we were after was Chukar. It took us quite a while to find one, but eventually we got a decent look:
Chukar — Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
It’s a fairly common species from Turkey through to Mongolia and China, as well as the US where they were introduced for hunting. I’ve seen them in quite a few countries and have much better pictures than this from elsewhere. However, the NW corner of Saudi is the only place you can find them in the Kingdom, so it was nice to connect with one.
While we were hunting for that we turned up a White-crowned Wheatear:
White-crowned Wheatear — Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
White-crowned Wheatear breeds from the Western edge of the Sahara in Morocco and Mauritania all the way to the Persian Gulf. We saw it most days in northern Saudi, but this was my lifer of the species. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I assume this was some sort of display.
We then moved further up the mountain, looking for one of the key targets of the northern extension, Syrian Serin. It’s a little yellow finch that’s found in the mountains from Lebanon and Syria through Israel and Jordan, with an outlier population on Jebel al-Laws. Most people see it in the Golan Heights in Israel, since Lebanon, Syria, and up until recently, Saudi Arabia have been off limits.
However, we discovered the upper part of the mountain road was a hive of construction. It seems that the Saudis intend to build a ski resort there, so the roads were torn up and all the habitat along the roads was being paved under. So despite a couple hours of trying, Syrian Serin was nowhere to be found.
On the other hand, all our searching for the Serin turned up a great record for Saudi Arabia: Rock Bunting:
Rock Bunting — Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
Rock bunting is found from Portugal and Morocco through the Himalayas and Tien Shan Mountains of Kazakhstan and China. I’d seen them before in the ‘Stans as well as the Caucasus. But they’re not usually in Saudia Arabia. In fact this was only the third record for the Kingdom.
Another goodie we found while serin-hunting was this Scrub Warbler:
Scrub Warbler — Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
Scrub Warbler (or Streaked Scrub-warbler to some) is a little bush-warbler found in the deserts from Morocco to Central Asia. Some authorities put it in its own family, but Cornell does not. They include it with all the other bush-warblers. I looked for it in the UAE a few years ago but only heard it, so this guy was my lifer.
After a few hours of searching for the serin, we were forced to concede that they weren’t going to grace us with their presence. So we headed back down the mountain to find some lunch. The only place we found out there was a dodgy looking Pakistani restaurant (truck stop?), whose owner essentially begged us to eat there.
It turns out the food was good (and safe), but the birds were better. As we were leaving our assistant guide found one of the other key targets of the extension sitting on the roof of the restaurant:
Sinai Rosefinch — near Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
This is a Sinai Rosefinch, and a lifer for me. As you might surmise, it’s found in the Sinai Peninsula, but also in Southern Israel and Jordan, and northern Saudi. Most birders find it in the Negev, north of Eilat, Israel. We certainly didn’t expect to find one where we did, but it was nice to get it “in the bag” in case we missed it at Mada’in Saleh where they’re usually found on the official tour. Full disclosure: We saw it there, too.
Since we were back in birding mode, we discovered that a patch of scrub next to the restaurant held a few good birds. One of the most colorful is Arabian Green Bee-eater:
Arabian Green Bee-eater — near Jebel al-Laws, Saudi Arabia
They’re found exclusively on the Arabian Peninsula and the Jordan River Valley. Arabian Green Bee-eaters were lumped with African and Asian Green Bee-eaters in 1990, but they were all re-split in 2020. This one wasn’t a lifer – I saw them in the UAE two years ago – but they’re so gorgeous I had to share it.
After that we moved on to some farm fields, with another target, Sociable Lapwing:
Sociable Lapwing — Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
It’s also known as Sociable Plover. They breed in the steppes of Kazakhstan (where I saw my lifer), but winter throughout the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. They’re called “sociable” because they tend to be found in flocks. Although it’s critically endangered, we actually saw nine of them.
They also flock with other species, which in this case was Spur-winged Lapwing (aka Spur-winged Plover):
Spur-winged Lapwing — Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Spur-winged Lapwing is a common species in the Middle East and Equatorial Africa. I’d seen them before in Kenya and Ethiopia. We estimated over 100 of them at these fields.
We also had a huge flock of Spanish Sparrows:
Spanish Sparrows — Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
We estimated the flock was as at least 500 of them. Spanish Sparrow is found throughout the Mediterranean all the way to Northeast China. They seem to be fairly common in the Middle East.
As you can tell, we’ve moved on from the colorful birds to the LBJ’s, so here’s another one, Desert Finch:
Desert Finch — Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
You can’t see it in this picture, but they have a little pink on the wing coverts, so they’re not completely brown, but they’re otherwise pretty nondescript. Desert Finch is found from the Middle East to the deserts of Northern China. They only one I’d seen before was in the Kyzyl-Kum Desert of Uzbekistan.
The tour continued down the western edge of Saudi Arabia following the route of the old Ottoman Hejaz Railway.
Ottoman Fort, Hejaz Railway — Saudi Arabia
The route was dotted with old Ottoman forts from the time of Lawrence of Arabia. In fact, if you remember the scenes in the movie where the Arabs attacked a train, that was the Hejaz Railway.
Which brings us to my namesake, the Lanius of Arabia:
“Arabian” Great Grey Shrike — Saudi Arabia
This is the “Arabian” Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor aucheri. This subspecies is found throughout the Arabian Peninsula plus Israel and Jordan. At one point it was part of a complex called Southern Grey Shrike, but that didn’t last (grey shrike taxonomy is a mess). In the background is the Al Mu’azzam Fort, which is an Ottoman fort converted from an old caravanserai built in 1622.
The next stop was the Al Gharameel Nature Reserve located about halfway between Tabuk and Al’Ula. While it may resemble the Road Runner cartoons…
Al-Gharameel Nature Reserve — Saudi Arabia
…this stony desert was lark country. We saw four species of larks at this site, three of which were lifers.
The first lifer was Bar-tailed Lark:
Bar-tailed Lark — Al Gharameel Nature Reserve, Saudi Arabia
Of course, you can’t see the barred tail. All you get is a little sandy bird with a tiny bill (that feature is important) in the middle of a sandy desert. Bar-tailed Lark is found from Mauritania across North Africa to Arabia and Iran.
The next lark up is Greater Hoopoe-lark:
Greater Hoopoe-lark — Al Gharameel Nature Reserve, Saudi Arabia
It’s another sand-colored bird in the sandy desert, but this guy is bigger than the other sandy larks. And look at the large downcurved bill, which gives it its name (named after the Eurasian Hoopoe). I’d seen a couple of these before in Dubai, but this was a much better look than there. FYI there is also a Lesser Hoopoe-lark, but it’s endemic to Somalia, so I’m not likely to ever see one.
The next lark is a bit more showy. It’s a Temminck’s Lark:
Temminck’s Lark — Al Gharameel Nature Reserve, Saudi Arabia
As you might guess, it’s related to the widespread Horned Lark. Look closely and you can see the “horns”. But where the Horned Lark is yellow underneath, Temminck’s lark is cream-colored. They’re another bird that ranges from North Africa to Iran.
The last of the four larks at this site was the Arabian Lark:
Arabian Lark — Al Gharameel Nature Reserve, Saudi Arabia
Yes, we’re back to sand-colored birds in the sandy desert. But take a look at the big honkin’ bill! That’s how you distinguish Arabian Lark from the other sandy larks. It used to be part of a much larger species called Dunn’s lark, but Arabian Lark was split as a separate species in 2021. Dunn’s Lark is now restricted to Africa. Arabian Lark is a Saudi near-endemic. Although it can also be seen in Israel, it’s more reliable in Saudi. So Arabian Lark is a real specialty of the tour.
We continued to Al’Ula where we enjoyed (?) a late lunch of baby camel over rice:
Would you walk a mile for camel?
Ok, enjoyed isn’t the right term. Camel meat is extremely fatty and I’m not a big fan of red meat. I guess “tolerated” is more accurate. But I was willing to give it a go.
In the evening, we went out to look for nightbirds in Al’Ula. We came up empty there, but before it got dark, we turned up a flock of a Middle Eastern specialty, Hypocolius:
Hypocolius — Al’Ula, Saudi Arabia
Hypocolius is another bird in its own family and a Middle-eastern specialty. They breed in Iraq and Iran and winter in Arabia. They form feeding flocks at dusk. They eat fruit, so you need to have a supply of berries to find them. But once they find a site they like, they’ll be reliable there, at least until the fruit is gone.
The next day in Al’Ula we birded the area near the Al’Ula Reservoir. Our main target was Sand Partridge, which you can see here. Sand Partridge is found from the deserts of the Jordan Valley to Arabia. As opposed to larks this is a large sand-colored bird in a sandy desert, although they like the rock walls of the wadis.
In that same wadi, we also saw a Blackstart:
Blackstart — Al’Ula, Saudi Arabia
Blackstart is actually a kind of wheatear. They’re found from Lebanon to the Red Sea and Arabian Sea with a population also in the Horn of Africa. I saw my lifer a few years ago in Ethiopia. As you may know, “start” in this case is an old English word meaning tail.
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And now we take a break for some sightseeing. First we made a stop in the mountains overlooking Al’Ula:
Overlooking Al’Ula, Saudi Arabia
After that came one of the big moments of the trip: our visit to the ancient Nabatean city of Hegra, aka Mada’in Saleh.
Hegra was the southernmost and second largest city of the Nabateans after their capital, Petra, in Jordan. It was a major trade center during the first century, C.E. However, when the Roman Empire expanded to the region, they shifted the trade routes from overland to the Red Sea, and Hegra declined and was abandoned.
Nabatean Tombs at Hegra, Saudi Arabia
The city features the same type of “tombs” carved into the rock walls of the valley. It’s not as extensive as Petra, but it’s still pretty amazing. It was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Saudi Arabia and is really the only major tourist site in the Kingdom other than the pilgrimage sites. Access is limited to organized tours only, which protects the monuments, but doesn’t give you a lot of time to explore.
Local Tourists at Hegra, Saudi Arabia
Nabatean “Tombs” — Saudi Arabia
This is the Qasr Al-farid (The Lonely Castle) also known as the Tomb of Lihyan son of Kuza:
Qasr al-Farid — Hegra, Saudi Arabia
It’s the largest tomb at the site.
After our short visit to Hegra it was back to birding mode.
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Our next day was basically a driving day as we traveled deeper into the Nefud Desert from Al’Ula to Ha’il. We saw more of the same larks, but also picked up some new species. The first was this Steppe Eagle:
Steppe Eagle — Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia
Steppe Eagles breed on the Asian steppes, hence the name. They winter in Saudi Arabia among other places. Fun fact: They are the only eagle that nests on the ground (according to Wikipedia).
We also turned up an Imperial Eagle:
Imperial Eagle — Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia
Imperial Eagle is a widespread species. It’s found from Eastern Europe through the Central Asian and Mongolian Steppes. It’s another eagle that winters from East Africa to China. In fact, my lifer Imperial Eagle was in Hong Kong.
And from the big to the small. Here’s a Desert Wheatear:
Desert Wheatear — Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
Desert Wheatear is found from Morocco to China. As you’d guess from the name, it’s found in dry scrubby habitats. I’ve seen them in about a half a dozen countries.
Also Isabelline Wheatear:
Isabelline Wheatear — Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
Isabelline Wheater is found from the Black Sea to Kenya and east to China. The name isabelline refers to the tan color of the bird. There’s an apocryphal story that Queen Isabella of Spain refused to change her undergarments until a certain battle was won. The war took several years and the white underwear turned “tan”. It’s a fun story, but totally untrue.
From Ha’il we continued across the Nefud Desert…
Nefud Desert — Saudi Arabia
…to the city of Sakaka in the far northeast of Saudi Arabia. On the way we stopped at a farm for some more field birds.
The first was Siberian Stonechat:
Siberian Stonechat — near Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
To me, Siberian Stonechat is a bit of a misnomer. They’re found from the Middle East through Mongolia and Western China. In Russia they’re found west of the Urals, i.e. not Siberia. And some authorities even split the subspecies in the Caucasus at a separate species. OTOH, there’s a stonechat that’s found east of the Urals all the way to Kamchatka, i.e. in Siberia, plus in Mongolia and Manchuria. That’s called Amur Stonechat by Cornell, or more commonly known as Stejneger’s Stonechat. In other words, stonechats are another mess.
At that field we had yet another wheatear, Northern Wheatear:
Northern Wheatear — near Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Northern Wheatear is widespread in Europe and Asia. It’s the only wheatear that occurs in North America. They breed in Alaska. The entire population winters in Africa, but sometimes they miss Africa when migrating and wind up on the East Coast. I’ve actually seen them in PA and NJ.
Once we got to Sakaka we spent time at some reedy ponds, where we saw this Bluethroat:
Bluethroat — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Bluethroat is another Old World bird that breeds in Alaska. It’s most easily seen near Nome. They also are found from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe through Central Asia and all of Siberia. They’re not especially common in Saudi Arabia.
A surprise bird around Sakaka was this Eurasian Linnet:
Eurasian Linnet — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Eurasian Linnet is found throughout Europe into Central Asia, but they are vagrants in Saudi Arabia. In fact, there are only four records in eBird for Saudi Arabia. It was a new bird for Saudi for our guide, Greg.
Far more common in Saudi Arabia is Common Chiffchaff:
Common Chiffchaff — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Chiffchaff is one of the little green leaf-warbler species that all look alike. It’s abundant in Europe and relatively common in Central Asia. They winter in Saudi Arabia. We had them most days of the tour – pretty much anywhere there were trees or bushes, but not in the true deserts.
We ended our first night in Sakaka at a date plantation where we found a Pallid Scops-owl:
Pallid Scops-owl — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Pallid Scops-owl is primarily a desert bird found from Israel to Central Asia and Western India. This was the sixth owl species I saw on the trip (one in Qatar and 5 in Saudi). I was scraping dates out of my sneakers for days, but it was worth it.
Our last full day in Saudi Arabia started with another partridge hunt. This time it was looking for See-see Partridge:
See-see Partridge — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
See-see Partridge is mainly found in Eastern Türkiye and Iran, but there’s a tiny breeding population around Sakaka. Since it wasn’t breeding season they were quiet. This meant we had to spend a few hours hiking around the wadis, but eventually turned up this lone bird.
At that wadi I had my tenth wheatear species of the trip, Mourning Wheatear:
Mourning Wheatear — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Many of the wheatears look similar, but the streaked cap and the rufous undertail ID it as a Mourning. There are three kinds of Mourning Wheater. One kind is found in North Africa and is known as “Maghreb” Wheatear. The second kind is the “Basalt” Wheatear which is found in the Basalt deserts of Israel and Jordan. It’s actually mostly black. The third kind is the nominate Mourning Wheater which is found throughout the deserts of the Middle East and Iran.
In the afternoon we went to a spot in the desert at a place where the treated water from the city wastewater treatment plant is discharged. While this was a fantastic place for shorebirds, the big attraction for me was even more larks.
I did have a couple lark lifers. One was Thick-billed Lark. Nobody on the tour got a picture, but I did get a shot of Desert Lark:
Desert Lark — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Yeah, yeah, I know. Sandy bird on a stony desert. Welcome to Saudi Arabia. Desert Lark is found from Morocco to India. There are 22 subspecies. This one is native to Arabia and used to be its own species, Middle Eastern Lark. This species was a lifer for me earlier in the tour.
Not a lifer was this Eurasian Skylark:
Eurasian Skylark — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Eurasian Skylark is found from Europe all through Asia to Japan. We originally mis-identified it as a Mediterranean Short-toed Lark, but had to settle for skylark. I’ve seen them from Wales to Mongolia and many places in between.
And I can never pass up chance to show a picture of a Hoopoe:
Eurasian Hoopoe — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Hoopoe was my “spark bird”. I saw my first on a trip to Nepal to see rhinos, and it inspired me to start determining what birds I’d seen in the US. The rest is history. Since then I’ve seen hoopoes everywhere from Spain to South Africa and all the way across Asia to China and Myanmar.
Finally we went back to the reed bed from the previous day. We’d had three species of rails there - Water Rail, Baillon’s Crake, and Little Crake (which was a lifer). This time I got a decent pic of the Little Crake:
Little Crake — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Little Crake is found from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. I’d heard them in several places before and even saw one in the hand being released from rehab in Georgia, but this tour was the first countable one for me.
Another goodie at the marsh was Eurasian Penduline-Tit:
Eurasian Penduline-tit — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
This was only the second time I’ve seen this species. The first was 20 years ago in the Danube Delta of Romania. Eurasian Penduline-tit is found in wetlands from Western Europe to Central Asia, but not in Saudi Arabia. In fact, there are four eBird records for Saudi, and ours was the first since 1985. My picture isn’t very good so a better shot is here.
More common is White-throated Kingfisher:
White-throated Kingfisher — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
White-throated Kingfisher is found from the Eastern Mediterranean to Southeast Asia and China. They’re not common in Saudi Arabia, but it’s amazing what a little water will attract.
We finished up the tour back in the sandy desert.
Nefud Desert — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
And here’s another sand-colored bird in the sandy desert. But it’s not a lark. It’s a Trumpeter Finch:
Trumpeter Finch — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
The male has a bright red bill and a pink rump, but this is a female. Trumpeter Finch is found from Spain and Morocco to Western India. I’d only seen them once before in Armenia.
But the reason we headed into the desert on this last morning was for a special stake-out. One of the local birders knew of a roosting Pharaoh eagle-Owl:
Pharaoh Eagle-owl — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Look at those red eyes! Pharaoh Eagle-owl is found from the western edge of the Sahara through the Arabian Peninsula. This was my seventh owl of the trip and my last lifer. In fact, it’s the last lifer I’ve seen since.
But more will be coming next year, Inshaa’Allah.
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So that wraps up the northern half of my Saudi tour.
Camels — Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
So what’s happening in your neck of the desert?
