I am heading to Sri Lanka in January and as part of the trip I have included a two-day layover in Abu Dhabi on the outbound leg, thus allowing myself the chance to do some birding in a part of the world I haven't visited previously. My base will be near to Zayed airport and I have hired a 4x4 for the two days, allowing me to travel further afield whilst in country. I am happy to do at least one long day to extend my range i.e. to do the longer drive across to the east coast.
Having checked eBird and the Birds of the Middle East guide there look to be around 50 world lifers on offer at the time of year, however I obviously won't be able to target all of them in my two-day window and some are more range restricted than others. So, my main questions are a) which species should I be making a priority, from a world perspective, and b) any recommended itinerary. I have a habit of being overly ambitious when planning these trips and end up trying to take in too many sites than is practical, so would appreciate some input from those more familiar with the area/sites for the latter. I was thinking one day could be spent at Khor Kalba in the early morning and then heading inland to the Masafi Wadi area for the afternoon.
TIA!
Having checked eBird and the Birds of the Middle East guide there look to be around 50 world lifers on offer at the time of year, however I obviously won't be able to target all of them in my two-day window and some are more range restricted than others. So, my main questions are a) which species should I be making a priority, from a world perspective, and b) any recommended itinerary. I have a habit of being overly ambitious when planning these trips and end up trying to take in too many sites than is practical, so would appreciate some input from those more familiar with the area/sites for the latter. I was thinking one day could be spent at Khor Kalba in the early morning and then heading inland to the Masafi Wadi area for the afternoon.
TIA!
