Helsinki Birder
Stealth Birder
Trip Report – Oman – 12th – 25th of July 2009
(May contain strong Language asterixed out)
Flights cost c.a. 700 euro with a combination of Aer lingus, KLM and Oman air.
Car rental cost 330 euro for a 1.3 L Nissan Tiida automatic.
Petrol cost 0.12 Omani Rial per litre (c.a 25 cents per litre)
Hotel accommodation is generally pretty expensive, even some of the shabbier motels in the dessert charge more than you could get away with in Ireland.
The 2nd edition of the Bird watching guide to Oman was used for gen. An excellent book, with high production values and up to date information on species status.
12th of July.
Arrived in Muscat at around 4 am. Collected my car and walked out into 33 degree heat. Death heat! :eek!:
Bit of an experience getting used to the automatic transmission...a few hairy moments on the highway with frequent swearing. Headed strait for nearby al ansab lagoons for dawn. Straight out of the car I was greeted by a stunning Little green bee-eater on overhead wires, with Common mynah abundant. The lagoons held several Red wattled plover, as well as a single mallard, little ringed plovers, wood and green sandpiper and a single marsh sandpiper. A male purple sunbird was singing from bushes here, with numerous graceful prinia in the area. A brief view of an unstreaked acro here went unidentified.
Then moved on to al amrat dump. Lots of Egyptian vultures here giving excellent views as well as my first African Rock martins. Good numbers of Hume’s wheatear present also. A single eagle present here gave me some trouble, but eventually showed well as a sub adult Steppe eagle. A black kite in the area showed features of eastern black kite. I will have to do some research on that one.
No joy here with lappet faced vulture unfortunately.
Made my way back to Muscat and Al qurm beach. Several ticks sat here waiting for me, in the form of Sooty gulls, Swift terns, Lesser Crested Terns, White Cheeked Terns and good numbers of Bridled terns feeding off shore. The mangrove inlet held little and great white egret, Striated Heron, Spoonbill, Osprey and a single Intermediate Egret. A single adult Terek Sandpiper was also present. White Cheeked bulbul and House crown were easily seen in the area.
Made my way to Sohar for late evening. Stayed in the sohar beach hotel (the only hotel I managed to find) over priced, which is typical for Oman. 70 Rial a night, which is about 150 euros, but after 24 hours travelling from Dublin and all day birding I was desperate to just crash out and eat something (in that order) .
Did some birding around the hotel area. Lots of plantations around the hotel, with numerous Little green and Blue cheeked bee-eaters, purple sunbirds, and Indian Rollers. A Scops owl sp. Late at night was probably a striated scops.
13th of July
Up at dawn and munched down a quick breakfast. Drove straight to Liwa. 2 Lichtenstein’s sand grouse were flushed by a pack of dogs roving the dry area near the mangroves landing in near the car. Awesome birds. A white collared kingfisher was found relatively easily in the mangroves and gave good views. Several striated herons present here. Sykes warbler gave me a bit more trouble, but I eventually found 2 birds together. Waders present included Whimbrel, Curlew, Greater sand plover and redshank. Arctic skuas were present off shore.
Drove on to Sohar sun farms and straight away came across a large covey of Grey Francolin near the cow sheds. A large flock of Black crowned finch lark were present just beyond these sheds and a Steppe Grey Shrike was present at the end of the farm, giving excellent views.
Little green and Bluecheeked bee-eaters were present in good numbers, hunting over the water fields along with good numbers of Indian rollers. Both yellow vented and white cheeked bulbuls were also here. The settling ponds had breeding Red wattled plovers, good numbers of collared pratincole, green sandpiper, black winged stillt, wood sandpiper and common sandpiper. A single ruff and Glossy ibis were also present.
Drove on to Ras as sawadi and a seawatch here produced 2 sooty tern in amongst many bridled tern. A single osprey was offshore as well as my first Western reef herons. The Gardens of the Ras as sawadi had numerous red vented bulbuls with sooty falcon and African rock martin also present here.
Drove on through the desert making it to al gaftayn motel that night. A desert eagle owl was hunting in the lights of the grounds here. The motel charged 20 Rial per night. Not bad accommodation. And the restaurant here was quite good and reasonable.
14th of July
Up at dawn, Hoopoe lark, Black crowned finch lark and spotted sandgrouse seen I the grounds of the motel. Drove straight to muntasar oasis. The bevelled road out is a bit of a suspension wrecker, but the track off it to the oasis is quite good. It was amazing to suddenly see what I thought was low scrub suddenly start walking away from my car. Hundreds of Spotted sandgrouse littered the desert around the stream. Amazing birds! When I think of all the time I wasted looking for sandgrouse in Morocco....
A dozen Crowned sandgrouse were present amongst these and two Aucheri race southern grey shrikes were present behind the reeds. A dunns lark was a nice find feeding off one of the racks amongst the trees.
Qatbit motel had dozens of brown necked ravens and laughing doves and a single adult Rose Colored Starling. An adult hoopoe lark was on the track out to the oasis with a spotted thick knee seen near the oasis itself. More spotted sandgrouse were present here as well as 2 arabian gazelle.
Wadi Rabkut, after 2 hours or more of searching finally produced a single Houbara bustard and 2 sand partridge as well as some large pale iguana like lizards.
Pushed on to dhofar making it to Mirbat by late evening. Once over the mountains tristrams grackles and Ruppells weavers were abundant as were fan tailed raven.
Couldn’t resist a brief seawatch off Mirbat that evening, ticking Jouanins petrel, Flesh footed shearwater and Brown booby. Wilsons petrel and Persian shearwater were abundant.
Slept in the car on the beach.
15th of July
A couple of hours seawatch in the morning produced the same seabirds as the previous evening plus a common noddy and a masked booby. Mooched around the area and made my way out towards Ranjari. Wasn’t brave enough to attempt the track out to the watchpoint as the ford in the wadi put me off. Took a look at the golden tulip resort being constructed here. Very swish. It will be very handy when this is finished, you would probably be able to seawatch from a 3rd floor balcony very effectively too! But id put money on this hotel being very expensive.
Made my way out along the coast towards sallalah. Drove up into the hills just after Mirbat and found a little gem of a site. A small patch of native vegetation with a house being built, this area held shining sunbird, Grey headed kingfisher, Arabian warbler,African Rock bunting, Booted warbler, Ruppells weavers, Arabian Partridge and Bruces green pigeon.
Kwhar Rawri had Greater flamingos, Spoonbill, Glossy ibis, and whiskered tern.
Tawi aytr had 2 Yemen serin, Dhofar swifts, African Rock buntings, Long billed Pipit, South Arabian wheatear, Blackstart, with tristrams grackles abundant. Wadi darbat produced bruces green pigeons, African Paradise flycatcher, Didric Cuckoo and Palestine sunbird. Whilst watching a paradise fly I felt the all too familiar feeling of bird Sh*t hitting my shirt...I looked up and was amazed to see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me. African Scops owl......I dumped the shirt....
A Verraux’s eagle glided effortlessly up the valley.
Kwhar taqah produced Kentish plover, Saunders tern, Squacco heron and yellow bittern.
East Kwhar had Lesser Sandplover, Little bittern as well as greater sandplover, Kentish plover, Western Reef egret and roosting terns and sooty gulls.
Jahariz farm produced numerous singing bush lark and African silverbill.
Stayed in al haffa house hotel (after checking several hotels with no vacancies). 52 Rial per night.
16th of July
Drove out early to Al mugsail. Seven brown boobies, all adults, were present offshore as well as a few Wilsons petrels and flesh footed shearwaters. The Kwhar here had green sandpiper, greenshank, a few moorhen and western reef egret. A small group of flamingo was in the small pool up towards the wadi, with an Osprey hunting here.
The cliffs of raysut had several Redbilled tropicbirds giving amazing views, as well as numerous house crow, a recent invader, they are present in dozens here. Presumably the invasion of these and Common mynah could affect the Tristrams grackles?
The mudflats at raysut were an excellent little site. Numerous terns here included 2 caspian terns, lesser crested terns, whiskered terns, swift terns and white cheeked terns. 2 curlews here had the longest bills of any curlew I’ve ever seen prompting scrutiny. Just Eurasian curlew unfortunately. A juvenile Terek sandpiper was present here, with 2 spoonbills, 2 striated heron and a juvenile night heron.
The Hilton hotel produced the star rarity of the trip, a sub adult female Shikra, which gave excellent views.
The sallalah reserve had a single moulting adult Pacific Golden Plover, with a greater spotted eagle nearby. This made me think of checking the dump nearby, but I was denied access.
Ayn Hamryn had 4 golden winged grosbeaks near the pool, with the usual dhofar specialities here, especially good numbers of Arabian partridge.
Various parks and hotel grounds failed to produce nile valley sunbird (better chance in winter).
Braved the ford and made my way out to ras ranjari for the evening bout of seawatching. Large numbers of flesh footed shearwaters moving, one ten minute count yielded a count of 6500 per hour for flesh footed shearwater. Hundreds of Persian shears, dozens of Wilson’s petrels, a single dark phase wedge tailed shearwater and a sooty shearwater.
Slept in car over night.
17th of July.
Up early and began seawatching. Counts: 2 lesser noddy, 1 juv Brown booby, 12 redbilled tropicbirds, 3 wedgetailed shearwaters (dark phase), 2 ten minute counts for Flesh footed shears, 9800 and 8100, Persians in the hundreds, large numbers of Wilsons petrels. Jouanins petrel in small numbers.
Mid day made my way back to mirbat for supplies, however everything closes on a Friday (news to me) so If I wanted to eat I would have to make for a hotel. Checked several hotels around sallalah, all full (prime season for sallalah), in the end I had to check into the Crowne plaza (100 rial per night...ouch). The grounds were great for birding though, with lots of whitebreasted white eyes, ruppels weavers, grackles, ring necked parakeets, common mynah (presumably invaders) and the best views of whiskered terns Ive ever had.
The hotel may be expensive, but the food was good.
18th of July
Up and out the door, Went to ayn razat and the numbers of Palestine sunbird here was amazing. The hillside was covered with them. No shining present with them. Bruces green pigeon and other specialities here also.
Wadi darbat had more of the same with 2 bonellies eagle fighting with an adult Verraux’s eagle here. Awesome sight.
A juvenile Barbary falcon was on power lines outside Mirbat with a flock of 18 spotted sandgrouse opposite the shell garage.
Visibility off ranjari was reduced with heavy fog present. 2 lesser noddy, 10 common noddy, 2 wedge tailed shearwater, 8 masked booby, 1 brown booby and 2 swinhoes petrel. Hundreds of Flesh footed and Persian shearwaters and Wilsons petrel. Large numbers of Jouanins petrels.
Slept in car
19th of July
1 socotra cormorant, 5 redbilled tropicbird, 6 common noddy, 1 lesser noddy, 3 wedge tailed shearwater, masked booby, 5 brown booby, 2 swinhoes petrel, 1 white faced petrel. Hundreds of flesh footed shear, Persian shear, Wilsons petrel and Jouanins petrel.
Slept in car
20th of July
10 masked booby, 12 brown booby, 1 swinhoes, hundreds of Flesh footed, Persian and Wilsons petrels. Dozens of Jouanins petrels. 1 Swinhoes petrel.
The car had trouble starting at lunchtime, which put the sh*ts up me big time, so once I had her started I kept her going made my way back along the coast towards sallalah, seeing much of the same as was at the kwhars along the way. 2 namaqua doves were at sawnaht farm. Had the same trouble getting a hotel and had to take the crowne plaza again. (90 rials this time)
21st of July
3 days in the car and I deserved to sleep in a decent bed. Rose late and had breakfast and made the long drive through the desert to Barr al hikmann for late evening. Brown necked ravens and spotted sandgrouse seen in the desert.
Stayed in the motel in hijj
22nd of July
Made my way out to the eastern coast of Barr al hikmann. Lots of waders here, but distance was a factor. Some smalls were unidentifiable, but seemed to be a mix of species (presumably, dunlin, curlew sandpiper and broadbilled sandpiper). A missed opportunity here came in the form of a summer adult knot....which I simply overlooked and though nothing of. Im sure I saw knot here, but I didn’t actually take note of it...turns out its a vagrant species, so Im letting that one go.
Lots of greater and lesser sandplover here with hundreds of Greater flamingo.
At filim a single Crab plover was present here, with green sandpiper, 70+ terek sandpiper, lesser and greater sandplover, Kentish plover, turnstone and oystercatcher.
Made my way to muscat for that night and checked into the al qurm beach hotel for 3 nights (120 rial). Planned on more relaxed birding for the next few days.
23rd July
Birded al qurm early morning, no sign of the intermediate egret. More of the same stuff present around the beach and mangroves as the first visit. Dodged the mid day heat back at the hotel. Did the park in the evening, in search of Arabian babbler. Failed miserably to find any, but a great cormorant was present at the pools, with 3 Sooty falcons hunting over the park. Stupidly forgot my water bottle and only realised it when I was furthest from the car. Heat stroke ensued, and it wasn’t pretty!
24th of July
Birded the beach area again early morning. 2 terek sandpiper on the mangrove channel was the best. Checked various parks and hotels in the area in search of babblers...again failing. Dodged the heat back at the hotel. Birded al ansaab lagoons late evening, seeing 2 chestnut bellied sandgrouse here.
25th of July
Flew out home. Awesome trip. Great birding. Good food and oppressively hot! Loved every minute of it....except the heat stroke part...that was bad.....
Species list
1. Little grebe – Common at coastal wetlands
2. Jouanins petrel – Common off the coastal watchpoints of Dhofar, Particularly Ras Ranjari.
3. Pale (Flesh) Footed Shearwater – Common off the coastal watchpoints of Dhofar, Particularly Ras Ranjari.
4. Wedge Tailed Shearwater – Small numbers seen most days off Ras Ranjari.
5. Sooty Shearwater – 1 single bird seen off Ras ranjari 17/07/09
6. Persian Shearwater - Commonly seen off Dhofar watchpoints. None seen off Northern Watchpoints.
7. Wilsons petrel – Common off Dhofar watchpoints
8. Swinhoes petrel – Small Numbers of Ras Ranjari
9. White Faced Petrel – Single bird of Ras Ranjari 19/07/09
10. Red Billed Tropicbird – Small numbers seen off Ras Ranjari daily. Breeding at Raysut cliffs.
11. Masked Booby – Small numbers seen of Ras Ranjari and mirbat
12. Brown Booby – Small numbers seen of Dhofar watchpoints, especially off Al Mugsail
13. Cormorant – Single bird see at Al qurm park 24/07/09
14. Socotra Cormorant – Single bird seen of Ras Ranjari 19/07/09
15. Little Bittern - Seen at east Kwhar and Kwhar Taqah
16. Yellow Bittern – Seen at east Kwar and Kwhar Taqah
17. Night Heron – Juvenile seen Raysut 16/07/09, single seen al qurm park 24/07/09
18. Striated Heron – Common in mangrove areas around the coast
19. Squacco heron – Single bird seen Kwhar taqah
20. Indian Pond Heron – Wadi stimah (date unknown)
21. Western Reef Heron – Common around coasts
22. Intermediate Egret - Single bird, Al qurm park, 12/07/09
23. Great white egret - Single bird, Al qurm park, 12/07/09
24. Grey Heron – Common
25. Glossy Ibis – Single bird seen at Sohar sun farms 13/07/09, 16 at sallalah nature reserve 16/07/09
26. Spoonbill – Small numbers around the coasts
27. Greater Flamingo – Common around coasts, Especially Barr al Hikmann
28. Mallard – Single Drake Al Anseeb lagoons 1207/09
29. Black Kite – Single bird seen Al amrat dump 12/07/09 (Race uncertain – Some features suggest Eastern black kite)
30. Egyptian Vulture – 70+ seen at Al amrat Dup 12/07/09
31. Shikra - Immature female seen Hilton hotel sallalah, 16/07/09
32. Greater spotted eagle – Single adult seen near sallalah reserve 16/07/09
33. Steppe eagle- Single Sub-adult seen al amrat dump 12/07/09
34. Verraux’s Eagle – Wadi darbat
35. Bonellis eagle – 2 adults Wadi darbat
36. Osprey – Common around coasts, single bird seen well inland in desert habitat north of barr al hikmann
37. Kestrel – Small numbers in sallalah
38. Sooty Falcon - Seen at both Ras as sawadi and Al qurm park
39. Barbary Falcon – Single Juvenile seen on telegraph wires near Mirbat 18/07/09
40. Arabian Partridge – Common in Dhofar hills
41. Sand partridge – 2 birds seen wadi rabkut 14/07/09
42. Grey Francolin – Large covey seen Sohar sun farm, near the cattle sheds, 13/07/09
43. Moorhen – Common in coastal wetlands
44. Houbara bustard – Single bird seen Wadi Rabkut – 14/07/09
45. Oystercatcher – Small numbers at East Kwhar and Bar al Hikmann
46. Black Winged Stilt – Common coastal wetlands
47. Crab plover – Single bird seen near Filim, barr al hikmann 22/07/09
48. Spotted Thick-knee – Single seen on track near Oasis at Qatbit
49. Collared Pratincole – Single adult and 12+ juveniles seen Sohar Sunfarms 13/07/09
50. Little Ringed Plover – Common Coastal wetlands
51. Ringed Plover - Small numbers, east Kwhar and Barr al hikmann
52. Lesser Sand Plover – Seen at East Kwhar, larger numbers Barr al Hikmann
53. Greater Sandplover – Common around coasts
54. Pacific Golden Plover – Single moulting adult at sallalah nature reserve
55. Red Wattled plover – Common on northern coastal strip and capital area
56. Ruff - Small numbers seen on all coasts
57. Black Tailed Godwit – Sallalah nature reserve and Barr al hikmann
58. Bar tailed Godwit – Small numbers at coasal wetlands
59. Whimbrel – Common around coasts
60. Curlew – Common around coasts
61. Spotted Redshank – Several at Barr al hikmann
62. Redshank – Common around coasts
63. Marsh sandpiper- Single bird Al anseeb lagoons 12/07/09
64. Greenshank – Common around coasts
65. Green sandpiper – Common in coastal wetlands
66. Wood sandpiper – Al ansab lagoons and Sohar Sun farms
67. Terek Sandpiper – Adult at Al qurm 12/07/09, Juvenile at Raysut, 16/07/09, 70+ barr al hikmann 22/07/09, 2 adults al qurm 24/07/09
68. Common Sandpiper – Small numbers at coastal wetlands
69. Turnstone – Small numbers barr al hikmann
70. Arctic skua - Small numbers off Liwa and Ras as sawadi, 2 birds seen off Ras Ranjari
71. Sooty Gull - Dirt Common around coasts and very confiding
72. Slender billed gull – Small numbers around coasts
73. White headed gull sp – Small numbers of Yellow legged/Caspian types seen at sea off north coast to distant to be Identified
74. Lesser black backed sp – one seen at barr al hikmann
75. Caspian Tern – 2 birds seen Raysut 16/07/09
76. Swift Tern – Very Common around all coasts
77. Lesser Crested Tern – Small but regular numbers seen all coasts
78. Sandwich tern – Common around coasts
79. Common tern – Small numbers seen in Dhofar
80. White Cheeked Tern – Common around coasts
81. Bridled tern – Very Common around coasts
82. Sooty tern – 2 adults Ras as sawadi 13/07/09
83. Saunders Tern – Small numbers in Dhofar and Barr al Hikmann
84. White Winged Black tern – Small numbers at Dhofar Kwhars
85. Whiskered Tern – Good numbers in Dhofar, best site for viewing this species by far (even in a world sense) was the grounds of the crowne plaza resort in sallalah, where they hunt around the grounds ignoring people for the most part.
86. Lesser Noddy – 5 birds seen off Ras Ranjari, 2 - 17/07/09, 2 – 18/07/09, 1 – 19/07/09. ( These records may refer to a single bird, but I suspect that these are more regular than previously recorded) There were probably more to be seen during the latter few days of seawatching, but my focus was on small petrels
87. Common Noddy - Small numbers seen off Ranjari and Mirbat. Seen daily on seawatches.
88. Lichtenstein’s sandgrouse – 2 birds seen in the dry desertish area near Liwa. 13/07/09
89. Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse – 3 birds seen over the mangroves, Liwa, 13/07/09, 2 at al ansaab lagoons 24th of July
90. Spotted Sandrouse – Hundreds Seen at Muntasar oasis, 14/07/09, smaller numbers at Qatbit oasis. Flock of 18 around mirbat town.
91. Crowned sandgrouse – Flock of 12 birds with spotted sandgrouse at muntasar oasis. 14/07/09
92. Rock dove – (feral pigeon) everywhere
93. Collared Dove – Common throughout country
94. Laughing Dove – Common throughout country
95. Namaqua Dove – 2 birds seen Sawnaht farm, sallalah
96. Bruce’s Green Pigeon – Common in Dhofar hills, particularly wadi darbat. Best views were obtained at the small site where I had the booted warbler.
97. Ring necked Parakeet – Common in north of country and around sallalah (Particularly crowne plaza resort
98. Didric Cuckoo – Common in Dhofar hills, particularly wadi darbat
99. African Scops owl – one bird seen wadi darbat
100. Desert Eagle owl – one bird seen Al gaftayn motel, 13/07/09
101. “Dhofar Swift” – This as yet undefined swift was common in the dhofar area, particularly wadi darbat, Kwhar rawri, Tawi Aytr and Ayn Hamran.
102. Grey Headed Kingfisher – Common in the Dhofar hills in wooded areas. Does not require water.
103. White Collared Kingfisher - single bird seen Liwa mangroves – Highly endangered Kalbaensis race.
104. Little Green Bee-Eater – Common in coastal areas.
105. Blue cheeked bee-eater – Common in north of country. (both bee-eaters gave particularly good views at sohar sun farm where they hunt from the irrigation apparatus.
106. Indian Roller – Common in north of country, particularly al batinnah area
107. Hoopoe – Single bird- sohar sun farm – 13/07/09
108. Singing Bushlark – Common in Dhofar – especially jahariz farm
109. Black Crowned finch Lark – Common throughout country, particularly sohar sun farm, liwa, and al gaftayn motel
110. Dunn’s lark – single bird seen Muntasar oasis – 14/07/09
111. Desert lark - 2 birds seen Al anseeb lagoons 12/07/09
112. Hoopoe lark – 3 birds seen in desert areas. 2 Al gaftayn motel. 1 Qatbit oasis
113. Sand martin – Small number migrating through desert
114. African Rock martin – Common throughout country.
115. House martin – Small numbers migrating in dhofar
116. Barn swallow – Small number migrating in desert and dhofar
117. Long billed pipit – small numbers around Tawi Atyr
118. White Cheeked Bulbul – Common in al qurm area
119. Yellow vented Bulbul – Common in north and south
120. Red vented bulbul – Common in gardens of Ras as sawadi hotel
121. Blackstart – Common in dhofar hills
122. South Arabian Wheatear – Small numbers around Tawi atyr
123. Hume’s wheatear – Good numbers at Al amrat dump
124. Graceful prinia – Common garden bird
125. Booted warbler – Single bird seen in Dhofar hills 15/07/09
126. Sykes Warbler – 2 birds seen Liwa – 13/07/09
127. Arabian warbler – 1 bird seen in dhofar hills, 15/07/09
128. African Paradise flycatcher – Common in Dhofar hills
129. Purple sunbird – Common in north of Country
130. Shining Sunbird – Common in Dhofar
131. Palestine sunbird - Good numbers seen in dhofar, particularly Wadi darbat, Ayn hamran and Ayn razat (many dozens here)
132. White Breasted white-eye – Common in Dhofar
133. Black crowned tchagra – Common in dhofar hills
134. Southern Grey shrike – 2 seen muntasar oasis 14/07/09
135. Steppe Grey shrike – 1 seen sohar sunfarm 13/07/09
136. House crow – Common in north of country. Good numbers around raysut port in Dhofar, where it has presumably colonised via ship assistance
137. Brown necked raven – Common in desert, particularly Qatbit motel
138. Fan tailed Raven – common In dhofar
139. Tristrams Grackle – Common in Dhofar
140. Rose Colored Starling – Single adult Qatbit hotel – 14/07/09
141. Common Mynah – Very Common in north of country. Present In sallalah city, around the Crowne plaza resort, presumeably another ship assisted invader.
142. House sparrow – Common in north oman
143. Ruppells weaver – Common in Dhofar. Very tame
144. Indian Silverbill – Common in capital area
145. African Silverbill – Common in Dhofar
146. Yemen Serin – 2 birds seen Tawi Aytr sinkhole
147. House bunting – Common in north oman
148. African Rock Bunting – Very common in dhofar hills
(May contain strong Language asterixed out)
Flights cost c.a. 700 euro with a combination of Aer lingus, KLM and Oman air.
Car rental cost 330 euro for a 1.3 L Nissan Tiida automatic.
Petrol cost 0.12 Omani Rial per litre (c.a 25 cents per litre)
Hotel accommodation is generally pretty expensive, even some of the shabbier motels in the dessert charge more than you could get away with in Ireland.
The 2nd edition of the Bird watching guide to Oman was used for gen. An excellent book, with high production values and up to date information on species status.
12th of July.
Arrived in Muscat at around 4 am. Collected my car and walked out into 33 degree heat. Death heat! :eek!:
Bit of an experience getting used to the automatic transmission...a few hairy moments on the highway with frequent swearing. Headed strait for nearby al ansab lagoons for dawn. Straight out of the car I was greeted by a stunning Little green bee-eater on overhead wires, with Common mynah abundant. The lagoons held several Red wattled plover, as well as a single mallard, little ringed plovers, wood and green sandpiper and a single marsh sandpiper. A male purple sunbird was singing from bushes here, with numerous graceful prinia in the area. A brief view of an unstreaked acro here went unidentified.
Then moved on to al amrat dump. Lots of Egyptian vultures here giving excellent views as well as my first African Rock martins. Good numbers of Hume’s wheatear present also. A single eagle present here gave me some trouble, but eventually showed well as a sub adult Steppe eagle. A black kite in the area showed features of eastern black kite. I will have to do some research on that one.
No joy here with lappet faced vulture unfortunately.
Made my way back to Muscat and Al qurm beach. Several ticks sat here waiting for me, in the form of Sooty gulls, Swift terns, Lesser Crested Terns, White Cheeked Terns and good numbers of Bridled terns feeding off shore. The mangrove inlet held little and great white egret, Striated Heron, Spoonbill, Osprey and a single Intermediate Egret. A single adult Terek Sandpiper was also present. White Cheeked bulbul and House crown were easily seen in the area.
Made my way to Sohar for late evening. Stayed in the sohar beach hotel (the only hotel I managed to find) over priced, which is typical for Oman. 70 Rial a night, which is about 150 euros, but after 24 hours travelling from Dublin and all day birding I was desperate to just crash out and eat something (in that order) .
Did some birding around the hotel area. Lots of plantations around the hotel, with numerous Little green and Blue cheeked bee-eaters, purple sunbirds, and Indian Rollers. A Scops owl sp. Late at night was probably a striated scops.
13th of July
Up at dawn and munched down a quick breakfast. Drove straight to Liwa. 2 Lichtenstein’s sand grouse were flushed by a pack of dogs roving the dry area near the mangroves landing in near the car. Awesome birds. A white collared kingfisher was found relatively easily in the mangroves and gave good views. Several striated herons present here. Sykes warbler gave me a bit more trouble, but I eventually found 2 birds together. Waders present included Whimbrel, Curlew, Greater sand plover and redshank. Arctic skuas were present off shore.
Drove on to Sohar sun farms and straight away came across a large covey of Grey Francolin near the cow sheds. A large flock of Black crowned finch lark were present just beyond these sheds and a Steppe Grey Shrike was present at the end of the farm, giving excellent views.
Little green and Bluecheeked bee-eaters were present in good numbers, hunting over the water fields along with good numbers of Indian rollers. Both yellow vented and white cheeked bulbuls were also here. The settling ponds had breeding Red wattled plovers, good numbers of collared pratincole, green sandpiper, black winged stillt, wood sandpiper and common sandpiper. A single ruff and Glossy ibis were also present.
Drove on to Ras as sawadi and a seawatch here produced 2 sooty tern in amongst many bridled tern. A single osprey was offshore as well as my first Western reef herons. The Gardens of the Ras as sawadi had numerous red vented bulbuls with sooty falcon and African rock martin also present here.
Drove on through the desert making it to al gaftayn motel that night. A desert eagle owl was hunting in the lights of the grounds here. The motel charged 20 Rial per night. Not bad accommodation. And the restaurant here was quite good and reasonable.
14th of July
Up at dawn, Hoopoe lark, Black crowned finch lark and spotted sandgrouse seen I the grounds of the motel. Drove straight to muntasar oasis. The bevelled road out is a bit of a suspension wrecker, but the track off it to the oasis is quite good. It was amazing to suddenly see what I thought was low scrub suddenly start walking away from my car. Hundreds of Spotted sandgrouse littered the desert around the stream. Amazing birds! When I think of all the time I wasted looking for sandgrouse in Morocco....
A dozen Crowned sandgrouse were present amongst these and two Aucheri race southern grey shrikes were present behind the reeds. A dunns lark was a nice find feeding off one of the racks amongst the trees.
Qatbit motel had dozens of brown necked ravens and laughing doves and a single adult Rose Colored Starling. An adult hoopoe lark was on the track out to the oasis with a spotted thick knee seen near the oasis itself. More spotted sandgrouse were present here as well as 2 arabian gazelle.
Wadi Rabkut, after 2 hours or more of searching finally produced a single Houbara bustard and 2 sand partridge as well as some large pale iguana like lizards.
Pushed on to dhofar making it to Mirbat by late evening. Once over the mountains tristrams grackles and Ruppells weavers were abundant as were fan tailed raven.
Couldn’t resist a brief seawatch off Mirbat that evening, ticking Jouanins petrel, Flesh footed shearwater and Brown booby. Wilsons petrel and Persian shearwater were abundant.
Slept in the car on the beach.
15th of July
A couple of hours seawatch in the morning produced the same seabirds as the previous evening plus a common noddy and a masked booby. Mooched around the area and made my way out towards Ranjari. Wasn’t brave enough to attempt the track out to the watchpoint as the ford in the wadi put me off. Took a look at the golden tulip resort being constructed here. Very swish. It will be very handy when this is finished, you would probably be able to seawatch from a 3rd floor balcony very effectively too! But id put money on this hotel being very expensive.
Made my way out along the coast towards sallalah. Drove up into the hills just after Mirbat and found a little gem of a site. A small patch of native vegetation with a house being built, this area held shining sunbird, Grey headed kingfisher, Arabian warbler,African Rock bunting, Booted warbler, Ruppells weavers, Arabian Partridge and Bruces green pigeon.
Kwhar Rawri had Greater flamingos, Spoonbill, Glossy ibis, and whiskered tern.
Tawi aytr had 2 Yemen serin, Dhofar swifts, African Rock buntings, Long billed Pipit, South Arabian wheatear, Blackstart, with tristrams grackles abundant. Wadi darbat produced bruces green pigeons, African Paradise flycatcher, Didric Cuckoo and Palestine sunbird. Whilst watching a paradise fly I felt the all too familiar feeling of bird Sh*t hitting my shirt...I looked up and was amazed to see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me. African Scops owl......I dumped the shirt....
A Verraux’s eagle glided effortlessly up the valley.
Kwhar taqah produced Kentish plover, Saunders tern, Squacco heron and yellow bittern.
East Kwhar had Lesser Sandplover, Little bittern as well as greater sandplover, Kentish plover, Western Reef egret and roosting terns and sooty gulls.
Jahariz farm produced numerous singing bush lark and African silverbill.
Stayed in al haffa house hotel (after checking several hotels with no vacancies). 52 Rial per night.
16th of July
Drove out early to Al mugsail. Seven brown boobies, all adults, were present offshore as well as a few Wilsons petrels and flesh footed shearwaters. The Kwhar here had green sandpiper, greenshank, a few moorhen and western reef egret. A small group of flamingo was in the small pool up towards the wadi, with an Osprey hunting here.
The cliffs of raysut had several Redbilled tropicbirds giving amazing views, as well as numerous house crow, a recent invader, they are present in dozens here. Presumably the invasion of these and Common mynah could affect the Tristrams grackles?
The mudflats at raysut were an excellent little site. Numerous terns here included 2 caspian terns, lesser crested terns, whiskered terns, swift terns and white cheeked terns. 2 curlews here had the longest bills of any curlew I’ve ever seen prompting scrutiny. Just Eurasian curlew unfortunately. A juvenile Terek sandpiper was present here, with 2 spoonbills, 2 striated heron and a juvenile night heron.
The Hilton hotel produced the star rarity of the trip, a sub adult female Shikra, which gave excellent views.
The sallalah reserve had a single moulting adult Pacific Golden Plover, with a greater spotted eagle nearby. This made me think of checking the dump nearby, but I was denied access.
Ayn Hamryn had 4 golden winged grosbeaks near the pool, with the usual dhofar specialities here, especially good numbers of Arabian partridge.
Various parks and hotel grounds failed to produce nile valley sunbird (better chance in winter).
Braved the ford and made my way out to ras ranjari for the evening bout of seawatching. Large numbers of flesh footed shearwaters moving, one ten minute count yielded a count of 6500 per hour for flesh footed shearwater. Hundreds of Persian shears, dozens of Wilson’s petrels, a single dark phase wedge tailed shearwater and a sooty shearwater.
Slept in car over night.
17th of July.
Up early and began seawatching. Counts: 2 lesser noddy, 1 juv Brown booby, 12 redbilled tropicbirds, 3 wedgetailed shearwaters (dark phase), 2 ten minute counts for Flesh footed shears, 9800 and 8100, Persians in the hundreds, large numbers of Wilsons petrels. Jouanins petrel in small numbers.
Mid day made my way back to mirbat for supplies, however everything closes on a Friday (news to me) so If I wanted to eat I would have to make for a hotel. Checked several hotels around sallalah, all full (prime season for sallalah), in the end I had to check into the Crowne plaza (100 rial per night...ouch). The grounds were great for birding though, with lots of whitebreasted white eyes, ruppels weavers, grackles, ring necked parakeets, common mynah (presumably invaders) and the best views of whiskered terns Ive ever had.
The hotel may be expensive, but the food was good.
18th of July
Up and out the door, Went to ayn razat and the numbers of Palestine sunbird here was amazing. The hillside was covered with them. No shining present with them. Bruces green pigeon and other specialities here also.
Wadi darbat had more of the same with 2 bonellies eagle fighting with an adult Verraux’s eagle here. Awesome sight.
A juvenile Barbary falcon was on power lines outside Mirbat with a flock of 18 spotted sandgrouse opposite the shell garage.
Visibility off ranjari was reduced with heavy fog present. 2 lesser noddy, 10 common noddy, 2 wedge tailed shearwater, 8 masked booby, 1 brown booby and 2 swinhoes petrel. Hundreds of Flesh footed and Persian shearwaters and Wilsons petrel. Large numbers of Jouanins petrels.
Slept in car
19th of July
1 socotra cormorant, 5 redbilled tropicbird, 6 common noddy, 1 lesser noddy, 3 wedge tailed shearwater, masked booby, 5 brown booby, 2 swinhoes petrel, 1 white faced petrel. Hundreds of flesh footed shear, Persian shear, Wilsons petrel and Jouanins petrel.
Slept in car
20th of July
10 masked booby, 12 brown booby, 1 swinhoes, hundreds of Flesh footed, Persian and Wilsons petrels. Dozens of Jouanins petrels. 1 Swinhoes petrel.
The car had trouble starting at lunchtime, which put the sh*ts up me big time, so once I had her started I kept her going made my way back along the coast towards sallalah, seeing much of the same as was at the kwhars along the way. 2 namaqua doves were at sawnaht farm. Had the same trouble getting a hotel and had to take the crowne plaza again. (90 rials this time)
21st of July
3 days in the car and I deserved to sleep in a decent bed. Rose late and had breakfast and made the long drive through the desert to Barr al hikmann for late evening. Brown necked ravens and spotted sandgrouse seen in the desert.
Stayed in the motel in hijj
22nd of July
Made my way out to the eastern coast of Barr al hikmann. Lots of waders here, but distance was a factor. Some smalls were unidentifiable, but seemed to be a mix of species (presumably, dunlin, curlew sandpiper and broadbilled sandpiper). A missed opportunity here came in the form of a summer adult knot....which I simply overlooked and though nothing of. Im sure I saw knot here, but I didn’t actually take note of it...turns out its a vagrant species, so Im letting that one go.
Lots of greater and lesser sandplover here with hundreds of Greater flamingo.
At filim a single Crab plover was present here, with green sandpiper, 70+ terek sandpiper, lesser and greater sandplover, Kentish plover, turnstone and oystercatcher.
Made my way to muscat for that night and checked into the al qurm beach hotel for 3 nights (120 rial). Planned on more relaxed birding for the next few days.
23rd July
Birded al qurm early morning, no sign of the intermediate egret. More of the same stuff present around the beach and mangroves as the first visit. Dodged the mid day heat back at the hotel. Did the park in the evening, in search of Arabian babbler. Failed miserably to find any, but a great cormorant was present at the pools, with 3 Sooty falcons hunting over the park. Stupidly forgot my water bottle and only realised it when I was furthest from the car. Heat stroke ensued, and it wasn’t pretty!
24th of July
Birded the beach area again early morning. 2 terek sandpiper on the mangrove channel was the best. Checked various parks and hotels in the area in search of babblers...again failing. Dodged the heat back at the hotel. Birded al ansaab lagoons late evening, seeing 2 chestnut bellied sandgrouse here.
25th of July
Flew out home. Awesome trip. Great birding. Good food and oppressively hot! Loved every minute of it....except the heat stroke part...that was bad.....
Species list
1. Little grebe – Common at coastal wetlands
2. Jouanins petrel – Common off the coastal watchpoints of Dhofar, Particularly Ras Ranjari.
3. Pale (Flesh) Footed Shearwater – Common off the coastal watchpoints of Dhofar, Particularly Ras Ranjari.
4. Wedge Tailed Shearwater – Small numbers seen most days off Ras Ranjari.
5. Sooty Shearwater – 1 single bird seen off Ras ranjari 17/07/09
6. Persian Shearwater - Commonly seen off Dhofar watchpoints. None seen off Northern Watchpoints.
7. Wilsons petrel – Common off Dhofar watchpoints
8. Swinhoes petrel – Small Numbers of Ras Ranjari
9. White Faced Petrel – Single bird of Ras Ranjari 19/07/09
10. Red Billed Tropicbird – Small numbers seen off Ras Ranjari daily. Breeding at Raysut cliffs.
11. Masked Booby – Small numbers seen of Ras Ranjari and mirbat
12. Brown Booby – Small numbers seen of Dhofar watchpoints, especially off Al Mugsail
13. Cormorant – Single bird see at Al qurm park 24/07/09
14. Socotra Cormorant – Single bird seen of Ras Ranjari 19/07/09
15. Little Bittern - Seen at east Kwhar and Kwhar Taqah
16. Yellow Bittern – Seen at east Kwar and Kwhar Taqah
17. Night Heron – Juvenile seen Raysut 16/07/09, single seen al qurm park 24/07/09
18. Striated Heron – Common in mangrove areas around the coast
19. Squacco heron – Single bird seen Kwhar taqah
20. Indian Pond Heron – Wadi stimah (date unknown)
21. Western Reef Heron – Common around coasts
22. Intermediate Egret - Single bird, Al qurm park, 12/07/09
23. Great white egret - Single bird, Al qurm park, 12/07/09
24. Grey Heron – Common
25. Glossy Ibis – Single bird seen at Sohar sun farms 13/07/09, 16 at sallalah nature reserve 16/07/09
26. Spoonbill – Small numbers around the coasts
27. Greater Flamingo – Common around coasts, Especially Barr al Hikmann
28. Mallard – Single Drake Al Anseeb lagoons 1207/09
29. Black Kite – Single bird seen Al amrat dump 12/07/09 (Race uncertain – Some features suggest Eastern black kite)
30. Egyptian Vulture – 70+ seen at Al amrat Dup 12/07/09
31. Shikra - Immature female seen Hilton hotel sallalah, 16/07/09
32. Greater spotted eagle – Single adult seen near sallalah reserve 16/07/09
33. Steppe eagle- Single Sub-adult seen al amrat dump 12/07/09
34. Verraux’s Eagle – Wadi darbat
35. Bonellis eagle – 2 adults Wadi darbat
36. Osprey – Common around coasts, single bird seen well inland in desert habitat north of barr al hikmann
37. Kestrel – Small numbers in sallalah
38. Sooty Falcon - Seen at both Ras as sawadi and Al qurm park
39. Barbary Falcon – Single Juvenile seen on telegraph wires near Mirbat 18/07/09
40. Arabian Partridge – Common in Dhofar hills
41. Sand partridge – 2 birds seen wadi rabkut 14/07/09
42. Grey Francolin – Large covey seen Sohar sun farm, near the cattle sheds, 13/07/09
43. Moorhen – Common in coastal wetlands
44. Houbara bustard – Single bird seen Wadi Rabkut – 14/07/09
45. Oystercatcher – Small numbers at East Kwhar and Bar al Hikmann
46. Black Winged Stilt – Common coastal wetlands
47. Crab plover – Single bird seen near Filim, barr al hikmann 22/07/09
48. Spotted Thick-knee – Single seen on track near Oasis at Qatbit
49. Collared Pratincole – Single adult and 12+ juveniles seen Sohar Sunfarms 13/07/09
50. Little Ringed Plover – Common Coastal wetlands
51. Ringed Plover - Small numbers, east Kwhar and Barr al hikmann
52. Lesser Sand Plover – Seen at East Kwhar, larger numbers Barr al Hikmann
53. Greater Sandplover – Common around coasts
54. Pacific Golden Plover – Single moulting adult at sallalah nature reserve
55. Red Wattled plover – Common on northern coastal strip and capital area
56. Ruff - Small numbers seen on all coasts
57. Black Tailed Godwit – Sallalah nature reserve and Barr al hikmann
58. Bar tailed Godwit – Small numbers at coasal wetlands
59. Whimbrel – Common around coasts
60. Curlew – Common around coasts
61. Spotted Redshank – Several at Barr al hikmann
62. Redshank – Common around coasts
63. Marsh sandpiper- Single bird Al anseeb lagoons 12/07/09
64. Greenshank – Common around coasts
65. Green sandpiper – Common in coastal wetlands
66. Wood sandpiper – Al ansab lagoons and Sohar Sun farms
67. Terek Sandpiper – Adult at Al qurm 12/07/09, Juvenile at Raysut, 16/07/09, 70+ barr al hikmann 22/07/09, 2 adults al qurm 24/07/09
68. Common Sandpiper – Small numbers at coastal wetlands
69. Turnstone – Small numbers barr al hikmann
70. Arctic skua - Small numbers off Liwa and Ras as sawadi, 2 birds seen off Ras Ranjari
71. Sooty Gull - Dirt Common around coasts and very confiding
72. Slender billed gull – Small numbers around coasts
73. White headed gull sp – Small numbers of Yellow legged/Caspian types seen at sea off north coast to distant to be Identified
74. Lesser black backed sp – one seen at barr al hikmann
75. Caspian Tern – 2 birds seen Raysut 16/07/09
76. Swift Tern – Very Common around all coasts
77. Lesser Crested Tern – Small but regular numbers seen all coasts
78. Sandwich tern – Common around coasts
79. Common tern – Small numbers seen in Dhofar
80. White Cheeked Tern – Common around coasts
81. Bridled tern – Very Common around coasts
82. Sooty tern – 2 adults Ras as sawadi 13/07/09
83. Saunders Tern – Small numbers in Dhofar and Barr al Hikmann
84. White Winged Black tern – Small numbers at Dhofar Kwhars
85. Whiskered Tern – Good numbers in Dhofar, best site for viewing this species by far (even in a world sense) was the grounds of the crowne plaza resort in sallalah, where they hunt around the grounds ignoring people for the most part.
86. Lesser Noddy – 5 birds seen off Ras Ranjari, 2 - 17/07/09, 2 – 18/07/09, 1 – 19/07/09. ( These records may refer to a single bird, but I suspect that these are more regular than previously recorded) There were probably more to be seen during the latter few days of seawatching, but my focus was on small petrels
87. Common Noddy - Small numbers seen off Ranjari and Mirbat. Seen daily on seawatches.
88. Lichtenstein’s sandgrouse – 2 birds seen in the dry desertish area near Liwa. 13/07/09
89. Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse – 3 birds seen over the mangroves, Liwa, 13/07/09, 2 at al ansaab lagoons 24th of July
90. Spotted Sandrouse – Hundreds Seen at Muntasar oasis, 14/07/09, smaller numbers at Qatbit oasis. Flock of 18 around mirbat town.
91. Crowned sandgrouse – Flock of 12 birds with spotted sandgrouse at muntasar oasis. 14/07/09
92. Rock dove – (feral pigeon) everywhere
93. Collared Dove – Common throughout country
94. Laughing Dove – Common throughout country
95. Namaqua Dove – 2 birds seen Sawnaht farm, sallalah
96. Bruce’s Green Pigeon – Common in Dhofar hills, particularly wadi darbat. Best views were obtained at the small site where I had the booted warbler.
97. Ring necked Parakeet – Common in north of country and around sallalah (Particularly crowne plaza resort
98. Didric Cuckoo – Common in Dhofar hills, particularly wadi darbat
99. African Scops owl – one bird seen wadi darbat
100. Desert Eagle owl – one bird seen Al gaftayn motel, 13/07/09
101. “Dhofar Swift” – This as yet undefined swift was common in the dhofar area, particularly wadi darbat, Kwhar rawri, Tawi Aytr and Ayn Hamran.
102. Grey Headed Kingfisher – Common in the Dhofar hills in wooded areas. Does not require water.
103. White Collared Kingfisher - single bird seen Liwa mangroves – Highly endangered Kalbaensis race.
104. Little Green Bee-Eater – Common in coastal areas.
105. Blue cheeked bee-eater – Common in north of country. (both bee-eaters gave particularly good views at sohar sun farm where they hunt from the irrigation apparatus.
106. Indian Roller – Common in north of country, particularly al batinnah area
107. Hoopoe – Single bird- sohar sun farm – 13/07/09
108. Singing Bushlark – Common in Dhofar – especially jahariz farm
109. Black Crowned finch Lark – Common throughout country, particularly sohar sun farm, liwa, and al gaftayn motel
110. Dunn’s lark – single bird seen Muntasar oasis – 14/07/09
111. Desert lark - 2 birds seen Al anseeb lagoons 12/07/09
112. Hoopoe lark – 3 birds seen in desert areas. 2 Al gaftayn motel. 1 Qatbit oasis
113. Sand martin – Small number migrating through desert
114. African Rock martin – Common throughout country.
115. House martin – Small numbers migrating in dhofar
116. Barn swallow – Small number migrating in desert and dhofar
117. Long billed pipit – small numbers around Tawi Atyr
118. White Cheeked Bulbul – Common in al qurm area
119. Yellow vented Bulbul – Common in north and south
120. Red vented bulbul – Common in gardens of Ras as sawadi hotel
121. Blackstart – Common in dhofar hills
122. South Arabian Wheatear – Small numbers around Tawi atyr
123. Hume’s wheatear – Good numbers at Al amrat dump
124. Graceful prinia – Common garden bird
125. Booted warbler – Single bird seen in Dhofar hills 15/07/09
126. Sykes Warbler – 2 birds seen Liwa – 13/07/09
127. Arabian warbler – 1 bird seen in dhofar hills, 15/07/09
128. African Paradise flycatcher – Common in Dhofar hills
129. Purple sunbird – Common in north of Country
130. Shining Sunbird – Common in Dhofar
131. Palestine sunbird - Good numbers seen in dhofar, particularly Wadi darbat, Ayn hamran and Ayn razat (many dozens here)
132. White Breasted white-eye – Common in Dhofar
133. Black crowned tchagra – Common in dhofar hills
134. Southern Grey shrike – 2 seen muntasar oasis 14/07/09
135. Steppe Grey shrike – 1 seen sohar sunfarm 13/07/09
136. House crow – Common in north of country. Good numbers around raysut port in Dhofar, where it has presumably colonised via ship assistance
137. Brown necked raven – Common in desert, particularly Qatbit motel
138. Fan tailed Raven – common In dhofar
139. Tristrams Grackle – Common in Dhofar
140. Rose Colored Starling – Single adult Qatbit hotel – 14/07/09
141. Common Mynah – Very Common in north of country. Present In sallalah city, around the Crowne plaza resort, presumeably another ship assisted invader.
142. House sparrow – Common in north oman
143. Ruppells weaver – Common in Dhofar. Very tame
144. Indian Silverbill – Common in capital area
145. African Silverbill – Common in Dhofar
146. Yemen Serin – 2 birds seen Tawi Aytr sinkhole
147. House bunting – Common in north oman
148. African Rock Bunting – Very common in dhofar hills
