Western Palearctic ticking 2026

Well 2026 has started very well. We had 2 long weekends in The Netherlands that produced some pretty spectacular flocks of geese. 

Snow Goose © Gottlieb Dandliker

Iceland Gull © Gottlieb Dandliker

It doesn't get much better than seeing a Red-breasted Goose in the morning sunshine

In fact everywhere we went there were large flocks of wildfowl, none more so that an impressive 4,500+ gathering of Tundra Bean Geese that also held a Cackling Goose and even a Ruddy Shelduck! We also tracked down a stunning Red-breasted Goose in Zeeland and saw a couple of really quality rarities in Bufflehead and Falcated Duck. 

Black-faced Bunting © Gottlieb Dandliker

The passerine highlight was undoubtedly the Black-faced Bunting on Texel (10^th record for The Netherlands), where we also saw a large mixed flock of Shorelarks and Twite. Other highlights from these 2 trips included Bewick’s & Whooper Swans, White-tailed Eagle, several Hen Harriers, 58 Smew on one day, many Woodcocks, Iceland Gull, Hawfinch & Brambling.

Kurdish Wheatear

Oriental Honey Buzzard

The highlights of a short trip to Jordan was finding the 9^th Kurdish Wheatear in the mountains above the Dead Sea and an Oriental Honey Buzzard at Aqaba Bird Sanctuary. 

One of the rarest Western Palearctic birds - Algerian Nuthatch

You've got to go to Algeria to get Red-billed Firefinch on your WP list

I still think Maghreb Owl is a good species....

Another mega WP tick - Sudan Golden Sparrow

And finally a short visit to Algeria produced the hoped for endemic Algerian Nuthatch, Maghreb Tawny Owl, African Silverbill, Red-billed Firefinch & Sudan Golden Sparrow – all mega Western Palearctic species. But what's been so outstanding is sharing these great birds with some really fun groups, sharing laughs, some good beer (well, not in Algeria) and some great memories.

NEW TOUR: ANDALUCIA - GRAN CANARIA

 I've just added a new tour to the Zoothera Birding website. This one is centred around a ferry that runs from Cadiz in southern Spain to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and we're expecting some great seabirds for our Western Palearctic list. High up there is White-faced Storm-Petrel but there's going to be Bulwer's Petrel, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Barolo Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird and i'm sending positive vibes out to the universe for something rarer. There's been some whacky seabirds in the northern hemisphere over the past few years so i'm hopeful.....

Either side of the ferry crossing, which takes roughly 30 hours, we will spend time looking for some extremely localised Western Palearctic species. In Andalucia we will target Scopoli's Shearwater, Ruppell's Griffon Vulture, and Little & White-rumped Swift amongst others. On Fuerteventura there's African Houbara & Canary Islands Stonechat and Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch on..... Gran Canaria. 

For the full tour info please follow this link: Southern Spain - Canary Islands Pelagic

White-faced Storm Petrel

White-rumped Swift

Merry Christmas!

 

OMAN UPDATE 3

This is the third rarity round-up so far for November and what a month it is proving to be. 

The 6th Red Collared Dove for Oman remained at Al Ghaftain and the 3rd record of Sykes’s Nightjar was seen a few times at Maqshin Water Treatment Works, where up to 7 Egyptian Nightjars seem to be set to spend the winter. 

Muntesar Oasis had another Baillon’s Crake, along with White-breasted Waterhen & Olive-backed Pipit, a Ruddy Shelduck was at Barka Sewage Works, a Collared Kingfisher at Filim Mangroves, and 50+ Great Knot were present at Filim mudflats. Al Shamkaiah Park on Masirah Island had 3 Asian Koels & Baillon’s Crake, with 5 Pallas’s Gulls on the coast nearby. 

The Crowne Plaza at Duqm held White-breasted Waterhen, Green Warbler & 3 Olive-backed Pipits. Both the Black Heron and Watercock remained throughout the month at Mughsayl, with a Yellow Bittern, Malachite Kingfisher & yet another White-breasted Waterhen also seen there. An immature Black-headed/Red-headed Bunting was seen at Ayn Tobruq, a Hume’s Warbler was at Wadi Bani Habab on Sayq Plateau, Asian Koels were seen at Mudday & Haima Park, a Long-toed Stint remained at Ayn Taqah for a few days and another White-breasted Waterhen was at the Golden Tulip Resort, Nizwa. 

The second Streak-throated Swallow of the month was at Ayn Hamran, with the previous one reported at Al Qurm Park, Muscat last seen on Al Fahal Island being eaten by a Sooty Falcon! Small Pratincoles were seen at Khawr Raysut & East Khawr, Little Crake on Ayn Tobruq Crake Pool, the Fulvous Whistling Duck was last seen on the Hilton Wetlands, Salalah and at least 17 Sociable Lapwings remained at the same site with a Caspian Plover and a White-tailed Lapwing nearby. 

Rufous-backed Redstart

Another White-tailed Lapwing was lingering for several days at upper Muscat Rivermouth as well. A visit to Musandam during the last week of November produced 6 Rufous-backed (Eversmann’s) Redstarts, Black Kite, 2 Variable Wheatears, Siberian Stonechat and a Hume’s Warbler, but they were overshadowed by the 1st Paddyfield Pipit for Oman found on Masirah Island. 

Variable Wheatear

Hume's Warbler

Meanwhile on the Sayh Plateau at Jabal Akhdar there was a flock of 25 of the rare & elusive local race of Common Woodpigeon, as well as Eurasian Crag-Martin, another Hume’s Warbler, Black-throated Thrush and amazingly 4 Rufous-backed (Eversmann’s) Redstarts - making this a bumper month for that particular species. 

And there’s going to be more to come…! 

Oman rocks!

OMAN UPDATE 2

Well Oman keeps on getting better and better and since my last update on 11th November the fast pace of rarity finding has continued. 

There’s been a Fulvous Whistling Duck (possibly 2 constituting the 4th & 5th records for Oman) moving between the small khawrs east of Salalah, a Cotton Pygmy-Goose in Al Qurm Park, a flock of 17 Sociable Lapwings were a fantastic sight at the Hilton Hotel Wetlands in Salalah, with another Caspian Plover nearby.

Up to 17 Sociable Lapwings were present at the Hilton Wetlands.....

Small Pratincoles were at Khawr Raysut & East Khawr, Baillon’s Crake at Muntesar Oasis, a Red Collared Dove at Al Ghaftain (6th for Oman), possibly two different Malachite Kingfishers around Khawr Mughsayl, along with a Little Swift & Lanner Falcon, the 3rd Sykes’s Nightjar for Oman was at the site I found at Maqshin Water Treatment Plant where up to 7 Egyptian Nightjars have been seen hawking for insects in the street lights, Yellow-browed Warbler & Little Bunting at Muntesar Oasis, Hume’s Warbler at Maqshin Oasis, Bimaculated Lark near Uber, Blyth’s Reed Warbler (9th for Oman) at Ayn Hamran along with a Common Hawk Cuckoo (6th for Oman) & Little Swift at Ayn Razat.

And the long-staying Black Heron (3rd for Oman) at Khawr Mughsayl, Watercock at Wadi Ashawq, Bay-backed Shrike in Mirbat Public Park & Plain Martin (1st for Oman) at Muntesar Oasis all remain. There’s also been several White-breasted Waterhens & Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, regular sightings of Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels on the Mirbat Pelagics, a Diderik Cuckoo being fed by a Ruppell’s Weaver & an ‘eastern’ Common Nightingale in Ayn Hamran and Lappet-faced Vultures reported from many localities. 

Swinhoe's Storm Petrel

Oman continues to rock and I’m now off to Musandam seeking more rares!

Oman Update 1 - The Start of an Amazing Month

Oman has provided exceptional birding during November and the quality of rare birds has been above and beyond my wildest expectations. My Oman Birding website (www.oman-birding.com) has no doubt contributed to more birders than ever before visiting but also now with the WhatsApp Group as well providing a real sense of community and the ability to twitch rarities easier than ever before has resulted in much bigger lists for everyone. SO i'm going to give an overview in 3 parts of the major highlights during this peak period.....

And there was phenomenal birding right from the get-go.

I was pleased to contribute to a fine set of rarities when I found a male Eversmann’s (Rufous-backed) Redstart at Shisr Fields (a dream bird of mine to find here), which was hot on the heels of another found near Muscat a few days earlier. 

Rufous-backed Redstart - what a stunner!

I took my group down to Khawr Mughsayl for a stunning Black Heron (3rd for Oman) and just across the road at Wadi Ashawq was the very rare Watercock – so vagrants from Africa and India meeting here in Oman. 

Black Heron - Khawr Mughsayl

Watercock - Wadi Ashawq

Oh, and we also saw a Sociable Lapwing at Raysut Settling Pools as well, whilst 2 days previous we were watching the 1st Plain (Brown-throated) Martin for Oman! We also saw White-tailed Lapwing, Shikra, Oriental Turtle Dove, Green Warbler, Wattled Starling, Forest Wagtail, had multiple Asian Koels and a Common Rosefinch.

Plain Martin - Muntesar Oasis

Shikra - Masirah Island

Green Warbler - Qatbit Gardens

Wattled Starling - Masirah Island

Forest Wagtail - Masirah Island

Oriental Turtle Dove

Other mega birds around the country at the start of the month include a Bay-backed Shrike at Mirbat Public Park – another mega rare bird, Black-headed Heron (6th for Oman) hiding somewhere around Salalah, Streak-throated Swallow (v rare) at Al Qurm Park in Muscat, Little Bunting & White-breasted Waterhen at Muntesar Oasis, Caspian Plover at West Khawr, Siberian Stonechat at Wadi Darbat, Fulvous Whistling-Duck (4th for Oman) somewhere around Salalah, and there’s been Pied Bushchat at Khawr Durf (10th for Oman) earlier this month, plus a Malachite Kingfisher, Eastern Yellow Wagtail and several Amur Falcons.

Bay-backed Shrike - Mirbat Public Park

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something but you get the idea. 

Best birding in Arabia….? I think so!

Oman rocks!

This Isn't Oman!

 So I stopped off in Kuwait on my way for a month-long sojourn in Oman, with the intention of ticking off Afghan Babbler. Kuwait is the only available place in the Western Palearctic to see this species...

As you can see Kuwait is the only place to see it in the WP. And you don't want to go to Iraq!

I'd been in touch with the main man of Kuwait birding - AbdulRahman Al-Sirhan and he'd given me some pointers. Take a look at his excellent website: www.birdsofkuwait.com  It was just a shame he wasn't in the country at the time of my visit as i'd have liked to have gone birding with him! 

Anyway, after a late arrival at the hotel in Kuwait city last night I'd set my alarm for 6am and when it went off I did have second thoughts about getting up! But after just 3 hours sleep I dragged myself out onto the empty streets, getting a well needed coffee from a petrol station on my hour long drive south. When I reached the semi-desert habitat on the gps I started driving around the area, following some dirt tracks. Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were noisy and obvious, as were White-eared Bulbuls - and I think the latter must be a Western Palearctic tick. And there it is.... do I do the Classic WP or Greater WP..? At the moment I have no idea and to be honest, i'm not bothered either way! I just enjoy birding, and frequently feel these man-made boundaries are a bit futile.... It's just a bit of fun right..?

Anyway, I kept driving slowly and stopping frequently to listen and scan. Having seen Arabian Babbler and Iraq Babbler, I kind of knew how this species would be behaving and I was looking for a group of long-tailed birds feeding on the ground amidst the low bushes somewhere out here in a quite large, open landscape. I saw 2 female-type Menetries's Warblers quite close in an area of thorny bushes and they seemed really unconcerned by my car and were acting totally out of character by not skulking in the deepest parts of the bushes. Instead, they were working the outside of the bushes and even perching on top of the bushes giving me the opportunity to get some decent photos. It's a very interesting plumage and it was very pleasant to be able to study them at leisure. 

Menetries's Warbler

With the day warming up I left them in peace and followed a network of sandy tracks, picking up Isabelline, several Pied and a few Desert Wheatears along the way, and a pair of Asian Desert Warblers were also very confiding. 

Who doesn't love an Asian Desert Warbler?

But still no babblers. So I went over to the tarmac road and checked out the lush, green lawns thinking any self-respecting babbler would be there. More bee-eaters were on show, about 7 Water Pipits (coutelli) were enjoying the lush lawns and an Isabelline (Daurian) Shrike was perched up nicely. 

Isabelline Shrike

White-eared Bulbul... Possibly a WP tick....?

Driving slowly along the road I had some nice close White-eared Bulbuls and stopped in a shady spot to take a quick pic. Just then I heard a babbler and sure enough a couple were flying towards the trees I was sheltering under... Yes! Result! 

Afghan Babbler baby!

Finally I had nailed Afghan Babbler - and what a sighting. There was a group of 8 birds feeding all around me, but a couple of them posed very nicely and pretty close to my car, so I spent about 20 minutes watching them and getting a really good look at them. I'd begun to get a bit despondent so this felt like a real bonus and was very pleasing. You've got to love that adrenaline rush of nailing a new bird!!!

With that in the bag I headed off to look for a reported Persian Wheatear, but the less said about that the better! So I returned to the hotel for a well earned sleep before hitting the Grand Motel with Mrs B this evening. And i'm already looking forward to heading out early tomorrow for some more general birding...