16 August. Bandar-e-Khamir.
40 C again, humidity much the same, another day of birding 'punishment' in store. For today's wanderings, I took a savari out of Bandar Abbas to the west, travelling approximately 90 km or so to the small town of Bandar-e-Khamir. Whilst the town itself is of little appeal, the shallow Khuran Straits offshore, separating Khamir from the island of Qeshm, are famed for the Harra Sea Forest, an immense mangrove forest of some 9000 hectares, the largest in the Persian Gulf. Just before reaching Bandar-e-Khamir, the green expanse stretches out. I jumped out of the savari and began to explore - access by boat would be preferable, but with some scrambling about, Red-wattled Plovers, Indian Rollers, Eastern Pied Wheatear and Southern Grey Shrike all encountered in the process, I finally managed to find a few vantage points. Birds similar to those of Soorgalm - a lot of Western Reef Herons and Indian Pond Herons, Spoonbill and Greater Flamingo, but here a few choice extras - amongst the tangles of mangrove roots, with White-breasted Kingfisher as a backdrop, three splendid Striated Herons, plus out in the channel beyond, a steady to and fro of a few terns - Swift Terns predominant, but at least two Lesser Crested Terns too. As the mid-morning sun began to crucify, the call of milk lured me away, flagging down a motorbike to take me the last few kilometres in Khamir itself. Found a shady place to gulp my nice cold milk down, Little Green Bee-eaters swooned in the heat, a Syke's Warbler flitted in the shrubbery above. Beyond blue waters beckoned, a pier jutting out and an old building offering the hope of shade. And out there I did sit and lay for a few hours, eight Crab Plovers edging closer with the rising tide, an Oystercatcher feeding on exposed sand, eight Terek Sandpipers nosing beneath fishing boats grounded and waiting the high tide. Eventually, fancying a change of location, I spied a motorbike passing nearby, he spied me and off we went ...unfortunately straight back into town, not the next pier as I'd hoped (I reminded myself I really should ask where they are going before blindly jumping on!). Not wishing to walk all the way back out again, I decided on a return to Bandar Abbas, so headed for the centre, the idea to catch a savari back. A local architect had other plans, seeing me walking under the shade of palms, he reversed back and offered me a lift ...a tour of the delights of Bandar-e-Khamir followed, a trip out to sulphur baths, then a hole where a meteor hit Earth and finally a stop for ice tea. Humbling me yet again, he then point-bank refused to allow me to pay my taxi back to Bandar Abbas, giving the money direct to the driver. Though savari taxis are reasonably inexpensive, this type of gesture just astounded me every time - I had expected great things of Iran, having heard so many good stories, but here I was at the end of my fourth day already in awe of the people, just nice.
Hot and sweaty back in Bandar Abbas, admired the gulls and terns again, returned to my cushy air-con pad, added more milk to the fridge, jotted up my notes and retired to bed, felt very content.
17 August. Bandar Abbas, Northbound.
With the main coastal birds already seen and already sure that I would be returning to Iran at a future date, I decided to leave the offshore islands of Qeshm and Hormoz to a cooler season, so this was to be my last morning in the oppressive heat and humidity of Bandar Abbas. Just after dawn, already 34 C, I settled myself down at the mouth of the Gursuzan Creek for close encounters with waders - a half dozen Terek Sandpipers, four summer-plumage Curlew Sandpipers and a Lesser Sand Plover just a few metres distant, with a good selection of other waders and waterbirds not far behind, including Greater Sand Plovers, a bevy of Western Reef Herons and my second House Crow of the trip. Just up the creek, plenty of Black-winged Stilts, three Marsh Sandpipers too, plus a Citrine Wagtail with two White Wagtails.
Midday, boarded a bus for the 440 km hop to Shahr-e-Babek, deep in the desert hinterlands and the locality I hoped to find Pleske's Ground Jay, the be-all and end-all of my trip to Iran. One hour into the journey, back to Bandar Abbas we had to go - the bus was turned back at a raod checkpoint for carrying contraband as best I could understand. Boxes offloaded, off we went again, only to meet a road accident in the rocky mountains - road blocked! 40 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters wheeling in the sky, a European Roller heading south, progress was painfully slow. Arrived in Shahr-e-Babek at 10 p.m., pleasantly cool. Didn't even bother trying to find a hotel, walked out into the desert and camped.
