Adult Indian Roller – Dhahran Hills

I finally managed to get a couple of photos of the Indian Roller that has been around for a while on 23 October. I found it hiding under the cover of a power generator, the same place where I originally located the bird, but it quickly flew and landed on a post before flying off again. I could not get close to the bird but hopefully will get lucky one day. Indian Roller has a status in Saudi Arabia as a rare winter visitor, with the only recent records I know being an adult, Mansouriyah, Riyadh, 21 December 1989; an adult, Thumamah, Riyadh, 8 October 1999 until 17 February 2000 and the wintering bird in Dhahran from 2020 returning each year. The bird is difficult to find and most times it is not seen but I have seen it four times, always on the cricket field, since I first found it on the Cricket Field on 22 September. It was also seen on the overhead power lines neat the Waste Water lake 19 October. Assuming this is the same bird returning again for another winter it should stay around until early spring.