The University established in 2009 is located on the coast just over 100km north of Jeddah. The Grand Mosque is an elegant balance of traditional arabic architecture and modern design. The golf course has a large water reservoir with surrounding Casuarina pines tucked away in a far corner. The trees hold large numbers of cormorants,…
Soudah Waterfall and Escarpment
The walk at Soudah Waterfall, a well known birding hotspot, is not more than a kilometre or so but it is an eventful one. The track passes through a narrow wadi where the water flow is consistent as it is fed by a spring. The stream sides are thick with emergent rushes and in places…
Wadi Marabah, Asir Mountains
The town of Abha sits on the Asir mountains at over 2,000m where the air is cool all year round and so in summer the population triples as Saudis escape the desert heat. In February it is quiet like any out of season resort; from here we travel north along the mountain ridge where at…
Jazan and Farasan Town
Jazan is a port town in the southwest of Saudi Arabia with an old castle on the hill, complete with flocks of circling black kites. There is a modern corniche complete with enormous hotels and vast play areas, designed to attract tourists; the main inhabitants are the cats that lie around without a care. The…
Dumsuq and Qummah Islands in the Farasan archipelago
After the obligatory sign-off by the coastguard, we take a small boat south beyond the tip of Farasan Kebir and across open water to Dumsuq island. The sea is choppy but not as harsh as it is later in the day when the winds pick up and so we bump, and only at times thump,…
Farasan Kebir’s Wild North Coast
By the bridge to the second largest island of Al-Sajid there are deep green, fringing mangroves and a range of migrant waterbirds along the muddy banks including small numbers of bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, Kentish plovers, slender-billed gulls and various herons. A female brimstone appears to lay eggs on the mangroves. We travel back east towards…
Farasan’s Idmi Gazelles
The entire Farasan archipelago, including all the islands and surrounding marine areas, was declared a nature reserve in 1989 and is managed by the National Center for Wildlife; it is currently seeking admission as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reasons are manifold but include rich coastal waters with fringing reefs and seagrass beds supporting…
Farasan Kebir
The ferry crosses the Red Sea from Jizan to the the main island in the Farasan archipelago called Farasan Kebir or just Farasan. The road from the port runs to the main town where an Egyptian vulture is foraging in a dusty car park; the islands are a stronghold for this species perhaps because they…
January sun
The vixen sleeps in the morning sun under the thick hedge that borders the road and in plain sight of the kitchen window. She looks up when she hears the Sunday joggers bustle down the hill but soon settles back down. She checks our bird feeders regularly mainly for any strewn peanuts; and to date…
Shellness wader roost
The shifting headlands of cockle shells at Shellness provides shelter to a huge saltmarsh and these are some of the wildest and most natural coastal habitats in Kent since there is no sea wall to keep the tidal waters in check. At high tide, the sea almost covers the entire headland but just stops short…
The vegetarian fox
At the start of December, the weather changed from balmy to icy and the sub-zero temperatures stayed for a week. The house sparrow flock returned to the seed holder and blackbirds crossed the valley to feed on the apples. A fox, handsome in its thick winter coat, enjoyed sniffing out an abundance of strewn peanuts…
Goblin Combe
The woodland is muddy, dark and full of hart’s tongue ferns. Limestone cliffs appear behind great yews and tall oaks and ashes. Marsh tits, wrens, blackbirds and nuthatches sound out bringing life to the narrow valley where the winter sun tries hard to penetrate but rarely succeeds. Above the native woodland, plantations of beech are…