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...

EGYPT - THE END!

The alarm rings at 5am and I’m away quickly and heading south along the coast road to Hamata Mangroves, some 54kms away. A dirt road takes me from the awful highway to the mangroves and I make several stops to scan and in no time at all pick up a few distant Crab-Plovers (what a great Western Palearctic tick), and I also note several flocks of White-cheeked Terns flying past, along with a few Great Crested Terns, and a couple Sooty Gulls. All good Western Palearctic species but my favourite sighting of the morning is of a Sooty Falcon pursuing a shorebird across the mudflats. 

Hamata Mangroves

There’s also many Western Reef Herons dotted around, flocks of migrating Garganey heading south, Slender-billed Gulls, Caspian Terns, an Osprey and Common Kingfisher as well. Further down the coast I come across a mixed roosting group of White-eyed and Sooty Gulls, which allow me to get quite close and take some decent photos. The same spot produces another Crab-Plover but this one is much closer here.

Mainly White-eyed but there's Sooty Gull as well.

Crab-Plover

So buoyed by these great sightings I decide to begin the long drive south to Shalateen – the only reliable site in the entire WP for Lappet-faced Vulture. However, the local police had something to say about this and another bullshit & bollocks reason was given at the first checkpoint to halt my journey. So I had to turn back, leaving me feeling very frustrated. So I return to the mangroves, finding more Crab-Plovers than before and wade across a channel to try and get closer to them but no matter how much I think I hide amongst the mangroves, the birds know I’m there and I just can’t get any closer. So then I try driving a back road near Wadi El Gemal where some lappets had been seen back in April but the road is very old and in ruin and after about 10kms I chicken out and head back to the hotel for lunch. And that was pretty much my birding done and dusted in Egypt. I spend the evening feeling frustrated at the poor wifi, and our initial impressions of what a good resort this is have started to fade…. Being an all-inclusive resort means the food is very reminiscent of what I had for school meals all those years ago! Being the only Brits at an Italian-run resort does make us stand out, not least due to the weird and wonderful dress sense of the other 1,000+ guests, most of whom must have bought their clothes at an 80’s charity shop!!! There are weird rules about getting towels to use around the pool, I have another run-in with a room attendant who insists that he needs to know who is staying in my room when I don’t allow him to enter, and finally the electric cart fails to arrive to collect our luggage for check-out and we have to haul everything back to the car, which is parked quite some distance away. The journey back to Luxor is uneventful and I drop the rental car off and we head into the airport to face the security checks etc. it wasn’t too bad but I was told to put my binoculars in hold luggage – and that was it. Oh, the plane left very late and boarding was a chaotic scrum – hardly surprising really!

Upon arrival in Cairo we’d booked an airport hotel via booking.com, which stated was 1km away. Turns out this was a lie and the hotel was beside the pyramids, some 40 minutes away and was basically 2 rooms on the 5^thfloor of a more or less abandoned building. Driving through back streets full of rubbish, donkeys, and a few men fighting at 11pm at night was a little unsettling. The alleged shuttle bus service was an old, beaten up saloon car and we had to have our suitcases on our laps and by the time we eventually got to the right place and into our rooms, we were all ready to cry! I asked for towels as we were in desperate need of a shower and was given a small hand towel and then forced to pay for a return taxi to the airport at 6.30am the following morning. And in the morning we had to pay more money as the hotel (and I use that term extremely loosely) guy had lied last night about the price and instead of a ‘big’ car we had the same saloon car as last night. And yes, suitcases on our laps again! Oh and there wasn’t a restaurant for breakfast as their advert suggested on booking.com. WTAF! Safe to say we were all relieved when the plane left Cairo (not on time I hasten to add) and we finally got home feeling like a shadow of our former selves! 

Footnote – 10 days later I am still poorly with an, as yet, undiagnosed virus and staring down the barrel of a month away in Oman looming on the horizon....