At 9am i'd been awake 5.5 hours!! And boy it felt like it, but the excitement of birding in the desert was exhilarating. Maybe 20+ Greater Hoopoe Larks were the highlight, some being very, very close, but several Bar-tailed Larks were also pretty cool.
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| Always a stunner - Greater Hoopoe-Lark |
Both Blue-cheeked and European Bee-eaters were streaming north on migration making for a spectacular sight, whilst a female Western Marsh Harrier had other ideas and was heading south! We'd been searching for 5 hours for the elusive, mysterious, enigmatic, nomadic, unpredictable and flipping annoying Arabian Lark..... Needless to say it remains invisible and the news of zero sightings for 2.5 months continues..!!!
But the best birding was an hour away in a narrow wadi. A small pool attracted an Ortolan Bunting, and some lush grasses proved enticing to 6+ Willow Warblers and a female Menetries's Warbler. But the standout species was White-throated Robin, two of which we found without too much effort.
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| I managed to phone-scope the first White-tailed Robin.... |
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| Trumpeter Finch was a good find today... |
Add to this Rufous-tailed Bushchat, Red-throated Pipit, Barred Warbler, several Spotted Flycatchers & Common Redstarts, a few White-crowned Wheatears, Brown-necked and Fan-tailed Ravens, Whinchat and even a Trumpeter Finch were all much appreciated. So not a bad day!
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