OMAN DAY 2 - AL HAJAR MOUNTAINS

We returned to the same wadi as last night, but needed some sleep so didn’t leave until 8am! What?! Still we scored all of our target birds by 1pm and by then it was 30 degrees Centigrade! You need to know how to bird these wadis and from my experience of 9 visits species tend to remain faithful to the same areas and that makes my job easier. We began at my usual spot where Red-tailed (Persian) Wheatear performed nicely, along with a pair of Arabian Babblers that always seem to be around here, along with a couple of Striolated Buntings & Indian Silverbills. 

Red-tailed (Persian) Wheatear

Neil and some of the other guys found a skulky warbler that eventually proved to be a Menetries’s Warbler, which gave some of the best views I’ve ever experienced here. Lynzi had prepared a fine picnic breakfast with hot tea and coffee, yoghurt, muesli, croissants & jam etc before we drove to my usual site for Hume’s Wheatear. Here we had a pair and although they weren’t too close one bird in particular hung around for ages. This year, I had to go further up the wadi to find Plain Leaf Warbler, but we did find two individuals and really enjoyed repeated close views. 

Plain Leaf Warbler

All we needed was Streaked Scrub Warbler, but by now it was midday and none seemed to be calling, despite trying at all of the usual locations I normally see them. So by now we had to retreat to the comfort of the air-conditioned SUV’s and start heading back to the hotel for a rest. But I still had one more site to try and thankfully after a short burst of tape a very inquisitive Streaked Scrub Warbler flew into a small Acacia right next to us and perched right on top. In fact it circled us and posed beautifully on numerous occasions, all the while swinging its long tail.

 

After lunch and a bit of time off back at our hotel in Barka we drove just under half an hour to the coast where we found our first Terek and Broad-billed Sandpipers, as well as Western Reef Heron and Common Kingfisher along a creek. 

Beach birding...

We walked out across the exposed sand to view a large gathering of gulls and terns at the shoreline, but couldn’t find any Pallas’s Gulls once again amongst the crowd of Heuglin’s and Steppe Gulls. 

Spot the Lesser Crested Tern....

We did get Lesser Crested, 4 Caspian and a few Sandwich Terns, along with Greater Crested Tern, a flock of Slender-billed Gulls and Bar-tailed Godwit all being new birds for the trip. It was a lovely late afternoon session with the sun setting behind us and scoping Greater and Tibetan Sandplovers, Kentish Plovers and others. As we decided to forego the delight of staring at skyscraper high cliffs in the dark for mythical owls, we enjoyed an excellent meal in a local restaurant and an early night!