OMAN DAY 4: NIZWA - BAR AL HICKMAN - FILIM

After returning to the hotel in the early hours we had a later start than usual and left shortly after 9am on the drive south to Mahout, located very close to the famous Barr Al Hickman. Heading out into the desert on the 300kms drive we saw a few good roadside birds including Desert Wheatear, Egyptian Vulture, Persian Wheatear, Brown-necked Raven, and an aucheri Great Grey Shrike. 

Probably the best find we had was a superb little Asian Desert Warbler that flew around us a few times and we watched it characteristically feeding in the shade of the small bushes that dot the landscape. Lunch was at a petrol station where a Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark flew in and landed on the petrol forecourt right in front of us. However, ice-cream and cold drinks were also well received here as much as the sparrow-lark! 

Asian Desert warbler

On arrival in Mahout we dumped the luggage into our rooms and headed immediately down to Filim, arriving at 3.45pm. Within seconds a superb Crab-Plover was teed up in the monster Swarovski scope, and despite the tide being way out it was still a decent view - in all, we estimated 55+ were present. There was a mass of shorebirds spread all over the exposed mudflats and amongst the many, many Dunlins were Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Sanderling (!), close Tibetan Sandplovers, many monster Greater Sandplovers, quite a few extraordinarily long-billed Eurasian Curlews (asiaticus), Whimbrel, Grey Plovers, Common Redshanks and others. It was quite a spectacle but just a little tittivating taster of what would come tomorrow…. There was also 100+ Greater Flamingo’s, 250+ Grey Herons, 3 Eurasian Spoonbills, many Little & Great Egrets, an Indian Pond-Heron, Striated Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, and an Osprey perched on a post. Walking over to the mangroves we scoped a Clamorous Reed Warbler posing beautifully, and found a very close Temminck’s Stint in a little puddle, as well as a very odd-looking cold, grey Yellow Wagtail that I feel sure must have been an Eastern Yellow Wagtail(a very rare bird in Oman), but it flew away before any photos could be taken or we could see if it had a long hindclaw. A few days later another birding crew claimed an Eastern Yellow Wagtail from the same spot…. Hmmm….?