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Oman - December 2024 (2 Viewers)

foresttwitcher

Virtually unknown member
United Kingdom
I am not a fan of the whole Christmas thing (to say the least) but have taken part for the sake of family in the past. Now I no longer have any commitments, I promised myself I would do a trip over the festive season to get as far away from it all as possible. I made the choice of Oman - I knew someone who had been previously and was returning again in November and also got some great help in terms of information and locations from a couple of forum regulars; thank you very much to Paul Chapman and Chris (Scridifer), it was much appreciated.

Flights were booked with Pegasus (through lastminute.com) to Muscat via Istanbul and a 4-WD from Sixt (through Rentalcars). My initial plan had been to book accommodation online as I went along to allow a bit more flexibility in terms of returning to sites or not leaving an area until a good try for targets had been made. This had worked well with motels in California / Nevada a bit over a year ago and it seemed there was plenty of choice around the Muscat area and in Salalah. But outside these areas it seemed unlikely to work out so I decided to book hotels but could not do so until I had arranged a trip with Mirbat Pelagics. Unfortunately, Hatem did not have any trips planned during the window I could be in Dhofar so eventually he offered to do a solo one for me and once the date was agreed I went ahead and booked rooms via Trivago, with the exception of one night.

I purchased a second hand copy of 'Birdwatching Guide to Oman' as a site guide (a bit out of date but never-the-less still somewhat useful), a Reise map for planning and 'Birds of Oman' (Helm) for ID; eBird was good for hot spots. I downloaded the Oman map on MapsMe for use off-line.

Sunday 15th December:

An early drive around the M25 to Stansted to check-in for a mid morning flight to Istanbul (Sabiha Gokcen), landing early evening local time. The original booking had only a short transfer time but Pegasus kept changing the flight times and in the end I had over 4 hours before continuing on to Muscat International, landing in the early hours of Monday local time. The hold bag arrived OK and I had soon picked up the car - a Suzuki Grand Vitara - so set off in the dark to find a quiet coastal spot to park up and get a couple of hours sleep before first light.
 
Monday 16th December:

I woke just before sunrise on the bridge over the outflow from Wadi Adai onto Qurm Beach and as first light dawned began looking upstream toward Al Qurm Nature Reserve. First birds seen were singles of Grey Heron, Great Egret and Western Reef Heron stalking the shallows in front of the mangroves. As the light improved the nearest gravel bank proved to be covered with Greater Sand Plover with a few each of Tibetan (Lesser) Sand Plover, Kentish Plover and Common Ringed Plover scattered on the mud around the edges of the group. Further scanning produced individual Black-winged Stilt, Eurasian Curlew, Common Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Little Stint plus a group of three Ruddy Turnstone and a couple of Black-headed Gull in a large group of Slender-billed Gull. I wandered east along the road and boundary fence where it could be accessed adding House Sparrow, Common Myna, Crested Lark, Laughing Dove, White-eared Bulbul and a nice male Purple Sunbird in the mangroves and around the buildings. At the end of the reserve I crossed the road and walked back this time looking out over the beach. There were large mixed flock of gulls loafing on the beach and in the air comprising Sooty Gull and a mix of Heuglin's and Steppe Gull plus Greater and Lesser Crested Terns. There were also a few small waders including Sanderling and Dunlin. At the western end of the beach a small area of irrigated lawn and palms added House Crow, Feral Pigeon and a Hoopoe. Walking back along the inland side of the road I had a group of half a dozen Glossy Ibis fly over, a Marsh Harrier low above the mangroves, a Red-tailed Shrike in some low scrub, a covey of Grey Francolin rushing for cover and a furtive Indian Pond Heron. Back at the main outflow a couple of Eurasian Oystercatcher had appeared and a Western Osprey briefly checked out the river.

Back at the car I decided to move on. I first tried to find a way into the inland side of the Reserve or Al Qurm Park but this did not appear to be possible with gates locked or blocked. Due to a lack of forethought I hadn't put any bookmarked points into the navigation app so just entered a name search for Al Ansab - unfortunately rather than the desired lagoons this took me to a newish housing development around a small park / play area but this surprisingly held a group of three Ruff! A quick drive around didn't help so I decided to head out of the now chaotic city traffic to Ras as Sawadi. A murk had begun to develop and there is sea defence construction works causing disturbance but is was still birdy with a good stroll around adding the same gulls and terns already seen plus Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern and White-cheeked Tern and a couple of Pallas's Gull lumbering along the tide-line. On leaving the site a Black-winged Kite was 'hovering' alongside the approach road.

Heading back toward Muscat I had a Black Kite from the road and called in at the Muscat River Mouth. Given the location near the airport and sandwiched between highways and the coast it did not at first appear too promising but having parked I wandered to the man-made water's edge to see hundreds of birds and immediately returned to my car to get the scope. There were many stint, dunlin, small plovers, greenshank and dunlin but also a number of Common Redshank, a couple of Marsh Sandpiper, a small group each of Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit and many Common Snipe - try as I might I couldn't turn any of the latter into something more interesting. There were also plenty of Eurasian Teal, a Great Cormorant on a sandbar and a few Common Moorhen. At the beach end there were also many of the gulls and terns already seen.

I headed back to Wadi Adai / Qurm Beach for the last of the light with pretty much the same species present, although the inland section was much quieter as a group of feral dogs were touring the area. Time to retire to a hotel in the Qurm area for some proper sleep for the first time in a while.

Photos:

Three views of the murky islands offshore from Ras al Sawadi.
 

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Tuesday 17th December:

An early start today to be at a potential owl location in the Nakhal area; which I did manage by sun up but as usual had completely misjudged how much earlier first light was than sunrise! Unfortunately, no target owl was visible at this site nor at another further along the wadi, but I did pick up Indian Roller, Black Redstart, Red-tailed Wheatear and Desert Whitethroat plus another Purple Sunbird, and the scenery was spectacular.

Eventually I moved on to another location I had been given in Wadi Muaydin but again no luck with the target owl although I did add White-spectacled Bulbul, Brown-necked Raven, Indian Silverbill, Pale Crag Martin and Hume's Wheatear. Again a spectacular landscape. The Rock Doves looked good to be the genuine thing.

I have a bit of a thing about getting to, or at least seeing, the highest point of the island I am on or the country I am in so, with the target owls unlikely to be seen in the heat of the afternoon, I set off for a drive up to the viewpoint toward Jebel Shams. On the way both up and down the graded track I got good views of a group of 3 Egyptian Vultures, perched on rocks and circling overhead respectively.

Perhaps I should have gone back to one of the sites for dusk but it was getting on anyway, so I headed to tonight's accommodation in Nizwa.

Photos:

1. [..034] Wadi scenery near Nakhal;
2. [..824] Jebel Shams from viewpoint;
3. [..145] Canyon between Jebel Shams & viewpoint.
 

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Wednesday 18th December:

The previous evening I had pondered another very early start for a second try at one of the owl sites, and with the wonders of hindsight I should have, but I knew I had a long drive ahead and did not really know what to expect from the road so set off south across the desert. As it happens the road was great and fast. I stopped for a fuel top up at Muqshin but the surrounds and irrigated park only had the human-centric species like House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon and Laughing Dove. Next stop was Muntasar Oasis which was a little disappointingly a bit drier and a lot smaller than I had anticipated. A couple of circuits of the area, on the boundary between the desert and more vegetated area and a break for a bit to eat, produced a surprise Northern Wheatear, a Brown-necked Raven perched menacingly in a dead snag, a small flighty group of 3 Tawny Pipit accompanied by a White Wagtail and a hunting Arabian Grey Shrike.

Back on the road, now single rather than duel carriageway, I carried on to Qitbit in the hope of finding a room at the Resthouse, which was accomplished after finally waking the heavily snoring person in the Office. Needing to stretch my legs, I walked through the 'garden', which was full of Laughing and Eurasian Collared Doves, and headed across the scrub toward the oasis. I then hit one of those purple patches that sometimes happen, starting with a fine Greater Hoopoe-Lark strutting around in a more open area and posing nicely on top of some small sand mounds for walk away views of the first lifer of the trip. A few metres beyond, at a track junction, an unmistakeable male Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark was poking around in a small rill in front of some shrubs. As I focussed on the accompanying female, it flitted to a bush and as I was watching it an Asian Desert Warbler flew into the same binocular view! Three ticks in 10 minutes.

Reaching the oasis, it was nearly dry and the trees seemed to just hold a load of roosting Laughing Doves. I did a circuit and then backed off to sit and see if anything turned up. The only thing that did was a Red Fox. Once the sun had set I headed back to the motel, getting the best meteor sighting I have ever had on the way - a free firework show.

Photos:

1 & 2. Desert vistas;
3 & 4. Sunset over Qitbit Oasis.
 

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Thursday 19th December:

I took a pre-dawn walk back to the oasis in the hope of something arriving at first light but apart from the waking doves all I saw was a distant small flock of unidentifiable sandgrouse and possibly the same plus another Hoopoe-Lark and the first of many Desert Wheatear.

Time to hit the road but only as far as Dawkah where I parked at the abandoned farm. There was no open water but obviously some moisture that allowed some reeds and other greenery to flourish. I slowly wandered around the edge of the vegetation and added plenty of House Sparrows around the buildings, a group of African Silverbill in the reeds, a few Desert Wheatear, a hunting Grey Shrike, Crested Larks and a Hoopoe. I saw a distant group of sandgrouse fly across and land a long way off but they flushed well before I was able to get close enough to have a chance of an ID.

Next was a drive along the road to Shisr looking out for freshly irrigated or harvested fields. Disappointingly, this included relatively few of the fields close to the road although there were a few. Most of these had a Common Kestrel in attendance, plus the odd Grey Shrike and Hoopoe and plenty of Crested Larks but then I found a freshly harvested forage field with a sizeable flock of Lesser Kestrel hawking for insects. There were also a few ringtail harriers over distant plots that were above my pay grade, then one a lot closer on the ground that I suspected I knew the identification of but this was eclipsed when it took off, flew over the road and was joined by a fine male Pallid Harrier. The drive back along this road did not feature anything new.

Back to the main road and on toward Thumrayt to fuel up, both the car and me, and drive east to Wadi Rabkut. On the way a small group of sandgrouse flushed from the roadside right beside the car but went behind so I could get no diagnostic features; I spun the car around, went back past the spot I thought they landed and then did another U-turn, bumped over the edge and approached the spot slowly on the parallel rough track. But I must have misjudged and they shot off before I got close enough - a theme is developing. A bit further on I stopped at the roadside for a wander up the surreal landscape of the wadi but I only saw more Desert Wheatear, White-spectacled Bulbul, Pale Crag Martin and a couple of raven.

Driving back toward Thumrayt I saw an unidentified large eagle over the industrial area on the outskirts and then headed south to the local waste disposal site. Pulling up at the end of the line of trucks waiting to enter I was greeted by a dense cloud of hundreds of large raptors swirling over the tip seemingly constantly being disturbed by the working machinery - I find eagles a bit of a challenge but the side by side size and shape comparison allowed me to sort out Greater Spotted, Eastern Imperial and Steppe Eagles.

Once the smell had got to me I backtracked and headed south down the escarpment toward Salalah, first calling in at a water tank I had a location for which was tempting in a number of Cinnamon-breasted Bunting to drink and these were briefly joined by a Blackstart. Not far away was Ayn Razat where I saw a couple of Abyssinian White-eye in some flowering shrubs at the side of the garden, then I pulled up in the car park and wandered slowly upstream seeing some of the species already noted but finding one nice Arabian Warbler. Back down at the spring the rocky edges to the water held Grey Heron, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Common Sandpiper and White Wagtail. I had a look at the cave and found two Tristram's Starling (Grackle) sitting inside on a ledge singing. I wandered downstream to a tip off location and waited for dusk - no luck with the target species but the vegetated banks of the stream held a Striated Heron and, as the light failed, a couple of Black-crowned Night Heron flew from their roost trees down to the water.

Now getting late it was time to head for my base in Salalah for the next six nights.

Photos:

1. Wadi Rabkut;
2. Local fauna;
3. Ayn Razat.
 

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Friday 20th December:

It was supposed to be an early start this morning for another owl location tip-off but I underestimated the journey time and the sun was well up by the time I reached Khawr Athawq so I checked out the coast and lagoon first, seeing many of the waders / water birds already seen but adding a small group of Eurasian Spoonbill, a few Eurasian Coot and some Pacific Golden Plover on the freshwater.

I then took the rough track up Wadi Maghsayl which gets more impressive the further in you go but was quiet bird-wise to start with. Reaching a steep drop in the track I looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a flat run up for the return but on reaching this it was on a slope with deep gravel / sand that began to slow the car even downhill. My vehicle was only a soft 4WD with road tyres so I thought better of it found a bit of a place to turn round and I'm glad I did as I only just had enough grip to make it back up; so I parked up where there was room and set off the rest of the way on foot. On the way I flushed but managed to track down a lone Sand Partridge, saw a few Desert Wheatear and an elusive Long-billed Pipit. I sat in the shade of a large rock for some time and scanned for prospective owl roosts, with Raven and Pale Crag Martin overhead, but I had no luck with the potential target. On setting off back toward the car a very friendly Arabian Wheatear appeared. Part way back I saw a small group of sandgrouse cross the skyline of a side valley followed by a couple more groups of about a half-dozen each but the view was into the light and brief in the 'window' in which they were visible and so yet again they evaded firm identification - the theme continues. Driving back down the wadi I passed an Isabelline Wheatear perched up on a rock. Back on the water things were much the same but a Western Cattle Egret had appeared.

I next checked out the harbour area at Raysut. Loads of the common gull and tern species, with Common Tern also included in the mix, and a Socotra Cormorant on the breakwater. Khawr al Qurm added a few Mallard and Little Grebe to the trip list plus a single Wood Sandpiper. What I believe to be a Greater Spotted Eagle flew overhead.

Just along the coast West Khawr was even better, with many of the species of waders already seen at other wetlands but including: a very close by Temminck's Stint with the Little Stints; Caspian Tern on the beach with both crested terns, White-winged Tern feeding close in and a couple of grey-rumped Little-type Terns fishing just offshore that I took to be Saunders's Tern; Barn Swallow hawking low over the water; a single egret on the near edge being closely watched by somebody - the very close by Little Egret and Reef Herons allowed a comparison and an ID of Medium Egret - and in amongst the Dunlin and Sanderling on the waters edge a couple of White Wagtail with a nice Citrine Wagtail. Best of all was a smart (and slightly weird) Pheasant-tailed Jacana in the weedy edge that then flew across in front of me. The fly-over eagle here looked to me to be a Steppe.

I then headed inland to Ayn Sahalnoot / Sahnawt and a drive up the wooded Shir road. Both were quite busy on a late weekend afternoon and the birds were restricted to noisy White-spectacled Bulbuls, a large equally noisy flock of Tristram's Starlings, a Common Sandpiper in the spring and, from a viewpoint at the top end of the road, a low overhead Short-toed Eagle.

Photos:

1. Coastline view - Maghsayl;
2 & 3. Wadi Maghsayl;
4. Arabian Wheatear;
5. Woodland on Shir road.
 

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Saunders's Tern are believed to be long gone by December and certainly all the birds I saw in October & November were Little Terns - sadly for me.

Article attached. I think eBird is showing a timelag really on getting to grips with the records.

I was certainly motivated to check!

All the best

Paul
 

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Saunders's Tern are believed to be long gone by December and certainly all the birds I saw in October & November were Little Terns - sadly for me.

Article attached. I think eBird is showing a timelag really on getting to grips with the records.

I was certainly motivated to check!

All the best

Paul

Thanks Paul. I'll have a read but I suspect it is well above my level. I admit I suspected them to be almost indistinguishable in winter but Hatem thought he saw one the next day. I'm happy to admit I was then, and am even more so now, unsure.
 
Saunders's Tern are believed to be long gone by December and certainly all the birds I saw in October & November were Little Terns - sadly for me.

Article attached. I think eBird is showing a timelag really on getting to grips with the records.

I was certainly motivated to check!

All the best

Paul

Thanks again for the interesting link, Paul. I have had an initial read and, as I thought, much is way beyond me - I just don't see that much detail when I am watching a bird (and am very envious of those that do). The ID information I was using in the Helm guide is obviously, and understandably, simplified so I would not have been looking at the right features. As will be clear from my various trip reports, as a lone and very average birder, I miss definitively identifying a lot of birds and am comfortable with leaving all the Little-type terns unidentified. Thanks for the information and input.
 
Thanks again for the interesting link, Paul. I have had an initial read and, as I thought, much is way beyond me - I just don't see that much detail when I am watching a bird (and am very envious of those that do). The ID information I was using in the Helm guide is obviously, and understandably, simplified so I would not have been looking at the right features. As will be clear from my various trip reports, as a lone and very average birder, I miss definitively identifying a lot of birds and am comfortable with leaving all the Little-type terns unidentified. Thanks for the information and input.

I tried to photograph all those that I saw and looked at the pics at the time. Not revisited them yet though. I will do.

All the best

Paul
 
Saturday 21st December:

Out early again to get to Mirbat for the much anticipated pelagic trip. I came across a large flock of Abdim's Stork feeding on a bit of waste ground close to the harbour and then pulled up on the quayside to see loads of the usual gulls and Caspian Terns on the beach. Hatem was readying the boat so we soon set off - the most common bird close in were plentiful large flocks of Red-necked Phalarope. Once a bit further out Hatem began sprinkling popcorn over the side to tempt in a flock of gulls, mostly Sooty but with a few Lesser Black-backed types, that he maintained over the boat as an attraction to other species. Hatem saw a Little-type Tern that he though may have been a Saunders's but I got on to it too late, a leaping Manta that I completely missed and a Bridled Tern that I just couldn't get on to. A bit further out he started chumming - the first attempt fairly quickly brought in a Persian Shearwater that veered off at right angles instead of coming to the slick and was not seen again. I think my expectations may have been a bit high but also I consider I was a bit unlucky as, despite going out 15km and repeated chumming, there was no other seabird action at all - Hatem even apologised and said that he was a bit concerned about diminishing numbers of pelagic species. There were some highlights though, we located at least 2 Orca for my first ever sighting of this species and on the way back in saw many more Phalaropes and some nice views of Olive Ridley Turtles. An enjoyable morning but I have to say I was a little deflated by the lack of potential targets on what I had built up as a possible high point of the trip.

Being at the east end of Dhofar I chose to head to Wadi Hanna next, seeing two Rose-ringed Parakeet fly over the road on the edge of Mirbat. As a forester I was immediately fascinated by the Baobabs. There were a few other cars in the parking area but most people went no further than the spring tank, which had a Grey Wagtail on a patch of seepage, so I wandered peacefully downstream along an animal (presumably camel) track soon adding a pair of African Paradise Flycatcher in a grove of taller trees and a Black-crowned Tchagra lurking in the shrubs, plus Bulbuls and Starling providing the soundtrack. I heard a call from the upper canopy that could have been described as Goldfinch-like but I could not locate the source which gradually moved away. I was enjoying the wooded wadi but the track I was following gradually petered out and bird action diminished so I returned to the car.

Next stop was Tawi Atayr for one of the regional specialities. I had been told by someone who had been here before that the target was not easily seen at the sinkhole itself but around the semi-abandoned cafe buildings so I slowly scouted around, peering over the walls, and wandered across the limestone pavement landscape seeing a couple of stunning male Palestine Sunbirds. Returning slowly I checked the buildings again, finding a Tree Pipit in one of the two large shrubs in the garden, and then headed to the viewpoint for a look at the sinkhole - there were bulbuls singing from the sides and Pale Crag Martin hawking around but best of all was a Bonelli's Eagle circling overhead until hassled by a large flock of Tristram's Starlings. A slow return to the car produced another Sunbird but no target so I decided to call it for now and return at some point.

I went to the viewpoint at Jebel Samhan to sit and scan whilst having a bit to eat but only saw Starlings, a fly-over eagle I think was Eastern Imperial and a small flock of Fan-tailed Raven 'playing' in the updraft. After a while I set off back along the road and flushed a couple of partridges from the road edge alongside a wadi running parallel. By the time I had stopped the car I saw the last one drop over an edge and head along the valley so I parked on the roadside a bit ahead and walked to the edge in the direction they had gone. Slowly reaching the drop-off I peered over and saw the last two of a small covey of Arabian Partridge trot away along the next 'terrace' down.

Backtracking, I drove on to Wadi Darbat. I'm not sure what I had expected from this site as all the 'wadis' and 'ayns' had been different in character but my old site guide made it sound good. So I was a bit disappointed to find an adventure park type place with zip-lines, cabins, yurts, boardwalks, boat rides, etc., but the valley was attractive and the presence of water was promising although the water side vegetation was mostly managed. However, despite all this, a walk from the upper end of the road back downstream along the river and then back through the more wooded area proved to be surprisingly birdy. The far side of the stream provided all the usual egrets and herons plus one Purple Heron and among the pond herons one that was light enough mantled to be a Squacco Heron rather than the darker Indian Pond Heron that were also present. There were Coot and Moorhen on the water, a Jacana in a weedy patch, a Greenshank on a gravel patch, Common Sandpiper and Citrine Wagtail on the near bank and a couple of feeding Whiskered Tern patrolling up and down the channel. Walking back up the other side I had an Arabian Wheatear, loads of Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, African Silverbill, a hovering kestrel, Barn Swallow feeding low over a grassland patch, a pair of Arabian Babbler skulking in a bush and a spectacular Shining Sunbird. Perhaps I should have been more open minded.

[Sorry for break in posting but I went on a flat car battery rescue mission for a friend]

Photos:

1. Impressive Baobab;
2 - 4. Wooded Wadi Hanna;
5. Tawi Atayr sinkhole;
6. Jebel Samhan.
 

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Absolutely gutted your pelagic didn't live up to your expectations Pete!

Chris

Thanks Chris. I probably set my hopes a bit too high. I certainly wasn't expecting to see everything possible, or even most species that were likely, but given what has been reported from past trips it seemed a low return. Perhaps a factor of time of year? As I mentioned, Hatem seemed very surprised and concerned that it may be a forming trend. The one person I know who has done the trip did better and I hope you (and Paul) did also.
 
Thanks Chris. I probably set my hopes a bit too high. I certainly wasn't expecting to see everything possible, or even most species that were likely, but given what has been reported from past trips it seemed a low return. Perhaps a factor of time of year? As I mentioned, Hatem seemed very surprised and concerned that it may be a forming trend. The one person I know who has done the trip did better and I hope you (and Paul) did also.

Sorry that things were quiet for you. This was our Pelagic Pete:-


I was frustrated that it was shorter than I would have hoped and that we didn't get out for maybe 20 minutes as the party faffed around on the Quay to my (and Hatem's) bewilderment. I would like to have been out at 6.30am and it must have been 7.30am before we left the harbour.

I get the feeling that as the autumn moves into winter, the diversity reduces. If I went back, I would probably be looking to have two bites of the cherry.

All the best

Paul
 
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