OMAN AGAIN...!! CYPRUS HIGHLIGHTS & A BIT MORE!

Been a busy couple of months following on from the Epic Cape Horn Cruise way back in February/early March, with another Oman trip fitted in and a recent Zoothera House Party in Cyprus. Migration was in full swing everywhere and I was really buzzing to return to Oman and visit Musandam in the far north to see if I could catch up with any lingering migrants. I've already scouted out a fair few new sites over my past couple of visits and Musandam would be the final piece in the jigsaw for putting on the ultimate Oman tour. 

For those of you who don't know about Musandam (and why would you?) its the very far northern tip of Oman, cut off from the rest of the country by the UAE. Musandam is like no other region in Oman or Arabia. The spectacular coastal cliffs plunging straight into the sea create fjords that are more reminiscent of western Norway than the desert landscapes most people associate with Arabia. A quick look at a map of Arabia will show Musandam as forming part of a land bridge between Arabia and central Asia and indeed, parts of mainland Musandam is less than 60 km from Iran. On rare, clear days the mountains of Iran are clearly visible. So the potential for rarities is outstanding and I visited in late April.... 

My personal highlights were adding 5 new Oman ticks - Barred Warbler, Black-headed Bunting, Chukar, Variable Wheatear and White-throated Robin, bringing my Oman list up to 323. Although finding a flock of 140 Ortolan Buntings on 26th April on the Sayh Plateau, along with 17 Turkestan Shrikes, 12 Isabelline Shrikes, 25 Common Rock Thrushes, 32 Isabelline Wheatears, 80 Yellow-throated Sparrows and a whole bunch of other migrants. 

There's huge potential here for finding rarities and I will return later this year, as Eversmann's Redstart is meant to winter here. 

Al Waym Fields

Sayh Plateau

Sall Ala

Pied Wheatears were everywhere

Rufous Bushchat is a common spring migrant

I saw several Upcher's Warblers

White-cheeked Terns were common at this time of the year

White-cheeked Terns

Socotra Cormorants breed around Musandam

This is the only place to see Chukar in Oman

Anyway, back to Cyprus and the undoubted highlight was the mega rare Western Palearctic tick of Lesser Moorhen - around the 10th record for the WP region...

Lesser Moorhen

 

 Everyone knows how good Cyprus in the Spring is, so here's a few highlights from our week:

We enjoyed awesome views of Alpine Swift

Found this Baillon's Crake at Agia Varvara

Cyprus Scops Owl was very obliging

Great Spotted Cuckoo was seen in numerous places

Little & Baillon's Crakes were also at Agia Varvara

Oh, the Oman Birding website is up and running but still more work is required. But for now it is filling a gap in the market: See the Oman Birding website here