Dragonflies

Getting there

We got a direct flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi; if you just wish to travel to Oman only then you would be better flying direct to Muscat. We arrived on 31st March 2007, the beginning of the Easter week. Cost of flight was Ł260; you could probably get this cheaper if you are prepared to go either side of Easter.

Getting around

As there was five of us with a loads of optics and cameras, we opted for an 8-seater minibus; this was a great option affording everyone some space and enough room to crash out when knackered! It was rented from Europcar in Abu Dhabi (call Mr Mohamed Obai Abbas, Telephone +971 2 5500590 Fax. +971 2 5501590; abbaso@europcar-uae.com); Dollar in Abu Dhabi are also a good option here. Note that to rent in Abu Dhabi as a tourist you need an International license; an EU one on its own will not suffice. Rental cost was about 48 GBP per day, including the extra insurance necessary for Oman. It had a 2.5-litre petrol engine and probably did less than 30 miles to the gallon but the price of fuel in Oman & UAE is so much less than in the UK that this didn't cause any added expense.

Birding sites

This was basically a trip to Oman, with the Al Ain area of the UAE thrown in as it was the obvious stopover point on entering and leaving Oman. We also did a half-day of birding around so the of the city hotspots in Abu Dhabi. Biogeographically, the UAE and northern Oman are blend of Palearctic and sub-continent. The latter influence explains the presence of common resident species such as Purple Sunbird, Red-wattled Lapwing and Indian Roller. Jebel Hafeet, on the edge of the city of Al Ain, is a massive lump of limestone rising out of the desert. As well as luring in migrants that follow the natural run of the Hajar mountains northwards to Hormuz, it also holds a number of interesting montane breeders, including Hume’s Wheatear.

After crossing the border and following the spine of the mountains eastward, you will turn south and start crossing the edge of the Empty Quarter. This runs far into Saudi, and, being a vast area of monotonous rubble desert, acts as a very effective barrier to many breeding species from the north. Hence, crossing to Salalah is, in terms of biogeography, a bit like driving from India to Africa, for a mere 1000km! Salalah is the main town in the Dhofar region of Oman, ringed in by tall mountains, and totally different to anywhere else in eastern Arabia. Whilst still very hot, and pretty humid too, Dhofar is washed each late summer by the khareef (monsoon); for a month it becomes cool and misty, all the vegetation blooms and the region’s hotels fill up. A few Dhofar specialties, notably Didric Cuckoo and Grey-headed Kingfisher, come in mid-summer ahead of the rains, but most of the rest are resident, or nearly so. With species like Tchagaras, Paradise-Flycatchers, weavers and Green Pigeons, the feel is distinctly African. A number of species such as Blackstart, Fan-tailed Raven, Arabian Warbler and others also extend across from the Rift valley through the Yemen mountains. Along with a wide range of Palearctic wintering species (most notably eagles and crakes plus the expected waders, tern and gulls), and passage migrants (although not too many of these on our trip) and the odd interesting seabird thrown in, Dhofar makes for a fascinating birding destination.

We spent the final leg of the trip on Masirah Island, 70 miles of rocky moonscape off the eastern coast of Oman. Having only one small area of decent vegetation, the sewage works and a nearby orchard on the edge of the main town (Hilf) it has fantastic vagrant potential, but is maybe a bit far off the main migration flow to regularly receive large numbers of common migrants. In addition, it is famous for large numbers of wintering waders, amongst which are breeding Crab-Plovers, and seabirding (best later in the summer and autumn).

Nearly all of the sites we visited in Oman are in the Birdwatching Guide to Oman by Hanne & Jens Eriksen and Panadda & Dave E. Sargeant Al Roya Publishing. This guide is excellent and you should not consider birding in Oman without it! Some of the gen in it is now a little out of date, and updates and further information on birding Oman are available at <http://www.birdsoman.com/>

For the UAE, look no further than Tommy Pedersen’s excellent site, <http://www.tommypedersen.com/UAE.htm> . This provides contact details for local birders, gives thorough instructions to all birding UAE sites using Google Earth, and almost up-to-the minute bird news.

Maps

You will need a map; we bought one from a bookstore prior to leaving. Anything other than a basic roadmap is hard to find either inside the UAE or Oman or abroad; however there are few major routes (especially outside of Muscat in Oman) so a basic roadmap coupled with the Birdwatching Guide, and maybe a travel guide such as Lonely Planet or similar should suffice. For the UAE, print out some of Tommy’s maps, but don’t try to read them in the car whilst driving in Dubai! In fact, don’t try driving in Dubai at all if you can possibly avoid it. We didn’t.

Temperature

The weather was hot, probably 17-22⁰C overnight and rising to 40^oC during the day. You will need plenty of suncream and gallons of water. The latter is widely available, along with all the expected snacks and other bits and pieces in shops and service stations all over both countries.

Email address

At the time of writing Oscar is based in Abu Dhabi, but has undertaken many sorties into Oman; he will be more than helpful if you wish to email him about specific sites, species.
Oscar Campbell

Money & currency

Just take plastic cards, there are plenty of ATM machines even in Southern Oman. Dollars, Euros etc are exchangeable but a total pain; Arabian banking bureaucracy is not much fun on holiday. Certainly in Oman, you won't need a lot of money anyway!

Overview of the trip

Overall we had a fantastic trip recording over 170 species of birds. Birding during the middle of the day was tough in the heat, and we often planned our drives from site to site around the worst hours. Food is predominately a mixture of Indian/Arabic, so therefore mainly spicy. Everything is really cheap especially food, a good spread of delicious curry would cost as little as Ł2 per head!

Date & Sites visited plus Accommodation details

31st March 2007 UAE

The pre-tour warm-up began with OC and JB roaming the local sites in Abu Dhabi whilst getting car-rental sorted out and waiting for the others to fly in. Birdwise, this proved well-worthwhile, with a small flush of migrants in Mushreef Palace Gardens including Rock Thrush and Semi-collared Flycatcher. We also had monster views of two over-wintering Oriental Honey-Buzzards, and saw a couple of March migrants that had presumably moved through further south and so were not seen again: namely Pied Wheatear and Menetrie’s Warbler: apologies to the rest of the team! The rest flew into Abu Dhabi early evening and were whisked for 2 hours from the airport to Al Ain, in the south-western corner of the UAE and close the border with Oman. Hotel Ain Al Fayda - Clean rooms with a/c, flush toilet, shower. Cost: around Ł12 per person per night. Unlikely you would need to book; lots of rooms (Unless you arrive on a Thursday or Friday night.) Hotel Ain Al Fayda P.O. Box 15798 Al Ain U.A.E Phone: +971 (0)37838333

1st April 2007 UAE and heading into OMAN

In the morning we birded around the gardens of the Hotel and then drove 5 mins to Green Mubazzarah; this is a tacky tourist attraction, but the great thing is all the lawns are watered, and there is an artificial stream. Green Mub. is right at the foot of Jebel Hafeet, the UAE’s highest mountain, and so acts as an excellent lure for migrants, as well as having a good selection of resident mountain species. The “warbler wadi” off to the right of the road beyond the last shop is well worth exploring. The target species were Red-tailed Wheatear (late!), Mourning Wheatear (very rare in UAE; one overwintering here for 2 years), Hume’s Wheatear, Purple Sunbird, Sand Partridge, Barbary Falcon and Indian Roller - we got off to a great start seeing all of these. We also saw Red-breasted Flycatcher, the first Barred (singing!) and Upcher’s Warblers of the spring, and both subspecies of Isabelline Shrike, plus many other regular species. The one bonus bird was Cinereous Bunting, a very scarce spring migrant locally, but the first of a handful in the UAE this spring. We left early afternoon and undertook the long drive to Qatbit some 1000km south. This involved crossing the border at nearby Mezyad / Hafeet, which apart from the expected bureaucracy was uneventful. Some 80km south of the border a roadside stop produced great views of Lappet-faced Vulture right overhead with OC punching the air underneath after 4000 km in Oman without this species; also Brown-necked-Raven, Desert Lark and Southern Grey Shrike along with a couple of nice Sandgrouse in flight. If driving from the west, make sure you turn south in Ibri for Salalah, and don’t carry on to Nizwa. This new road is empty, surfaced, fast and well-signposted, and you will knock about 150 km of the distance. Cleared border about 2.30pm; Ibri 4.30pm and arrived Qatbit, after much loud music, about 10pm!Motel & Resthouse Qatbit. Basic clean rooms with a/c, flush toilets, shower: Ł15 per person with breakfast. Islam, the owner, is very interested in birds and keeps a log of records for here and Muntasar oasis. He has planted areas of the garden to attract migrant species and is very keen for birders to visit. email:- qitbitmotel@rediffmail.com Phone: 00 968 99085686       Or 00 968 92154378 Fax: 00 968 232122767

2nd April 2007 OMAN

Up early, we headed for the green oasis known as Muntasar; this is in the middle of the desert west of the main highway and consists of some low lying bushes, and grassy flooded pools. It is about 20 km down a gravel track from the highway; passable in 2WD but watch out for the sandy last 1-2 km. Our birding, and undoubtedly migration across the desert, was hampered by a strong north-easterly wind blowing sand into every last area of clothes and optics! It wasn’t very comfortable and we had to live on scraps but still had some good birds. Although migrants were thin on the ground here (and, as it proved, everywhere else in southern Oman this April), you can imagine this to be a very exciting location when a fall of birds has arrived. The best birds for us were 100 Spotted Sandgrouse, 2 Crowned Sandgrouse (coming to drink around 8am), 2 Southern Grey Shrikes, 1 Pintail Snipe, Tawny and Tree Pipits, and 4+ Upcher’s Warblers. After breakfast at Qatbit, we then birded around the Motel area but again there were still few migrants. Best birds were: 1 well-grilled Turkestan Shrike, 2 Northern Wheatears, 1 Rufous Bushchat and a few Sylvias.   (The areas above are well covered by Birdwatching guide to Oman, page 90-91) We then set off again heading south. After 100 km we stopped at Al Beed, an arable farmed area (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 94-95) 5 km off the highway. This proved to be excellent; there were some good birds and some even better opportunities for photography. The best birds were 1 Marsh Harrier, 4 Upcher's Warblers, 5 Rufous Bushchat, 9 European Bee-eaters in a nice swirl, 6 Hoopoe Larks, 1 Red-throated Pipit, 8 Richard's Pipits, 12 Black crowned Finch-lark, 1 Tawny pipit, 1 Brown-necked Raven. It was then a further 2 hr slog of driving down to our main destination in southern Oman, Salalah. We arrived about 8pm. For the next 4 days we based ourselves at Salalah within the area known as the Dhofar region (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 122-123) Beach Spa Hotel Post Box 20, Al Dahariz 214, Salalah, Oman. Email: beachspa@omantel.net.om This was an excellent place to stay; our rooms were very clean and of a good standard and all came with air-conditioning, kitchenette, toilet, shower and a balcony over looking a fine white sandy beach with the shoreline less than 300m away. A basic breakfast was provided, and the owner, Mr Kumar, was extremely helpful, friendly and accommodating. Also, the sea is seconds away and great for swimming in, and you can watch a decent selection of gulls, terns, waders and boobies from your balcony! Ł15 per person per night

3rd April 2007 OMAN

Birding started at the well-known site of Ayn Hamran, (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 130-131) a wooded area on a hillside, just below the coastal mountain fringe. This is the classic site to start Dhofar birding, and we quickly tanked up on a load of Dhofar specialties: best birds here were 6 Arabian Partridge, 4 Bruce’s Green Pigeon, 12 Blackstart, 2 Olivaceous Warbler, 4 Arabian Warbler, 5 African Paradise Flycatcher, 2 Tchagras, plenty of Tristram's Grackles, 50+ Ruppell’s Weavers, 15+ African Rock Bunting, 20 Shining Sunbird & 1 Short-toed Eagle. We headed back for breakfast, and on the edge of town at East Khawr (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 126-127) stopped for 1 Spotted & 1 Imperial Eagle circling together over the Khwar. At breakfast there was the constant distraction of Crested, Lesser Crested, Caspian and Gull-billed Terns as they passed up and down the shoreline! In the afternoon we headed off for the pools at Taqah (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 134-135), where we had a nice mix of waders & terns. The best birds were 5 Little Stint, 6 Temminck's Stint, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Marsh Sandpiper, 6 Kentish Plover, & 1 Purple Heron. This site has a formidable reputation as a crake locality but April may be too late (in the season) and too dry; all the wet edges and muddy pools had totally dried out. Keep looking, but don’t expect crakes to be easy if you are in Dhofar as late as April.   We finished the day by driving further east to a headland - Mirbat - for seawatching (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 144-145). Here we recorded 30 Jouanin’s Petrel, 2 Masked Booby, 1 Brown Booby and the expected passing terns and gulls, although Persian Shearwaters were inexplicably absent.Beach Spa Hotel

4th April 2007 OMAN

Today was a long day birding from 0630 until 10 pm during which we covered:   · East Khwar (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 126-127) - an area of extensive reeds and pools at the eastern edge of Salalah adjacent the shoreline. Close to our hotel, and a classic small, easily-worked Oman Khwar. · Jarziz - (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 146-147) This is a vast farm on the edge of Salalah. Make sure you stop at the gate and take a minute to ask permission for entry and tell the office what you are up to. · Khawr Salalah (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 122-123)- A wetland pool adjacent to a Prince's palace, difficult to view, and we were moved along quickly by security! Well worth a quick look; however, scan from the vehicle and definitely keep ‘scope and cameras out of view. · Raysut - Sea cliffs to the west of Salalah most noted for a colony of Red-billed Tropicbirds. · Al Maghsayl (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 152-153) - Rocky hillside well west of Salalah. · Wadi Ashawq nr Al Maghsayl (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 152-153) - A geological wonderland and long wadi noted for the presence of Hume’s Tawny Owl. East Khwar - Best birds: 3 Yellow Bittern, very local breeders in Oman and back quite early, 1 African Spoonbill (a true vagrant here) 1 Purple Heron, 2 Marsh sandpiper, 6 Saunder’s Terns, & many other terns & waders. Morning at Jarziz - Best birds: 40 Cattle Egret, 1 Pallid Harrier, 1 Montagu's Harrier, 2 Booted Eagles, 70 White-winged Black Terns following the plough, 1 Namaqua Dove, 4 Rosy Starlings, Shining Sunbirds and 10 Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse coming down to drink. The terns are a famous sight here, and very memorable as a pied, swirling blizzard as they track the farm vehicles. This is also a great place for Singing Bushlark; they are impossible to miss.   Khwar Salalah- Best birds during a quick look were Glossy Ibis, and 2 pairs of Cotton Teal alongside Garganey, plus other water birds Afternoon at Raysut - Best birds by far were the 20+ Red-billed Tropicbirds - these were fantastic and one of the best birds of the trip. With some sure and nifty footwork, it is possible to descend the cliff and get close enough for some great photos opportunities: see elsewhere on this trip report! Also here Black Kite (resident race aegyptius: Yellow-billed Kite and another tell-tale African species) and Osprey - regularly fishing and flying by. En-route to Al Maghsayl - Managed to spot a significant target from the car and after some distinctly Arabic driving soon everyone was scoring with 1 South Arabian Wheatear singing from roadside wires. Try the impressive wadi that the road runs through just before it hits the coast again for this species. Also, the beach area at Al Maghsayl gave good opportunites for photographing Crested, Lesser Crested, and Gull-billed Terns, and also several large flocks of gulls. The adjacent Khwar and pools held a fair selection of waterbirds, including ibis, Squaccos and an interesting (perplexing) Isabelline Shrike, seeming a karelini-type. The whole coast here is most impressive with sheer cliffs to the west and ultimately Yemen descending in to the sea. Evening at Wadi Ashawq. This is reached by heading up the gravel road that winds inland from between Khwar Maghsayl and the garage. It is advisable to drive this in the daylight; following the map in the birding guide is very tricky in the dark and reaching the necessary spot is not guaranteed. Note also that there is now an army post a little uphill from the track about 1km beyond the end of Khwar; they are much more likely to be interested in people driving in later at night. Two birders tried this in October 2006 and made it, but only after 45 minutes of in-depth discussions, much thumbing through the field guide and playing of the owl tape with a handful of (friendly) young guys all brandishing rifles. With 2WD we managed to get about 4km in, leaving a 2.5-3km walk. The most regular spot for the owls seems to be where the wadi becomes very sheer again as you drop off an obvious plateau. We arrived at dusk and two started calling almost immediately, but it took us an hour to track them down on the lower sections of the cliffs. A strong spotlight is essential as they are not always close. We eventually managed epic scope views, and saw the birds hunting. The walk in was pretty good; 4 South Arabian Wheatear were seen very well, as was, at last, Bonelli’s Eagle plus Rock Hyrax. We walked out in the moonlight, and got back to Salalah well after 10pm. Beach Spa Hotel

5th April 2007 OMAN

The day began at Ayn Razat, a beautiful tended park in a fine wadi complete with flowing spring not far east Salalah. Here we had a good assortment of Dhofar specialties, with especially good looks at Bruce’s Green Pigeon and Shining Sunbirds. Ayn Razat is just a nice to place to wander round and bird for an hour! After breakfast we rolled further eastwards to Khwar Rawri (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 136-137). This is an awesome large Khwar behind the sea and easily scanned from the archeological site Sumharan, once one of the foremost ports in the world during the height of the frankincense trade. Views over the whole area are fantastic. We had a nice selection of waterbirds and waders. Different species from the previous days around this habitat included: 1 Great White Egret, 10+ Greater Flamingo, 10 Garganey, 2 Greater Sand Plover, 2 Ruff, 1 Terek Sandpiper and 1 White-breasted Waterhen. Also several singing Clamorous Reed Warbler, Osprey and Steppe, Greater Spotted and Bonelli's Eagles. We then moved up onto the hills of Wadi Darbat (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 138-139). This is great area for raptors and many birds clearly move between here and nearby Rawri. We had at least 2 Lappet-faced Vultures, plus Imperial Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle (young in nest!) and a Barbary Falcon. Steppe and Great Spotted Eagles appeared distantly to keep us guessing. The ponds and woodland held a mixture of warblers, Dhofar specialties and waterbirds, but nothing that had not been seen elsewhere. Next we rolled further uphill and on the plateau at Tawi Atayar (Birdwatching guide to Oman page 140-141). There were similar raptors here, but a new species for the trip was Long-legged Buzzard. The sinkhole is the location for the nondescript Yemen Serin and we soon had that in the bag; a small flock of 40 (feeding young) were twinkling around at the top of the bouldered hillside (uphill from the carpark). We also saw Bonelli’s Eagle perched closely here, African Rock Bunting and Blackstart, and Arabian Partridge road-running nearby. We finished the day back down at Taqah, on the coastal marsh adjacent to the shoreline. New species here for the trip were 7 Grey Wagtails and a late Black-headed Gull. More interesting were Rosy Starlings, Squaccos, and a selection of close waders. We also had very good views of the much debated "Dhofar" Swifts (also seen at other locations). Despite being nightmarishly intermediate between Pallid and Common Swifts (rather closer to latter), these are not totally unrecognizable, and they do have a rather distinctive call. They are common breeders around Salalah to during the khareef; we saw big numbers of presumably new arrivals. Beach Spa Hotel

6th April 2007 OMAN

Our last day in Dhofar. Having covered all areas once, we decided to spend the morning birding at East Khwar, before returning to Wadi Darbat & Khawr Rawri. We then had a long drive ahead of us heading for the island of Masirah via Qatbit. The Khwars and Darbat produced a similar species range as yesterday, the major exception being an early transient Sooty Falcon. It drifted eastwards along the mountain ridge. As hoped, we were also able to grill and photograph some big eagles. At Khwar Rawri we visited the narrow north arm close to the road; here there are a series of small pool; this provided our one and only Citrine Wagtail of our trip amongst a small band of Yellows. Frustratingly, a lutea-type Yellow and a probable Crag Martin got away. In the afternoon we headed off northbound for Masirah, via a stopover at Qatbit. En-route, we stopped and birded the desert wadi of Rabkut. The turn for this is about 5km north of Thumrayt, and Rabkut is obvious as a wide, sweeping wadi north of the road (surfaced all the way from the highway). We walked out onto the tallest rock mounds to the north (it’s a firing range to the south; stay out!) and scoped the area. Eventually we saw 2 Sand partridge, a frustratingly distant Houbara, 10 Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse and 1 Gazelle. Houbara are rarely seen here, but Rabkut does seem to be a good spot for Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse; they may be found by scanning the wadi floor carefully and watching for flying birds. Once located, they can be cautiously approached on foot and viewed much more pleasingly than is usual for the species (at dusking drinking pools). We left Rabkut well after 7pm and got to Qatbit for 9pm.Motel & Resthouse Qatbit. Details as above.

7th April 2007 OMAN

After leaving Qatbit at 4.30am we made good time and arrived at about 10.30am for the ferry over to Masirah. Our route was Haiyma, Ad Duqm and then turning off for Shannah. The road is long, but empty, paved and fast. Despite what it says in the Birdwatching Guide, it appears that the ferries depart regularly, as soon as they are full, or nearly so. We waited 30 min to depart, and about 2 minutes to return two days later. The crossing provided great views of terns, and a couple of skuas.   Masirah is a rocky island off the east coast of Oman. There is just one area of vegetation around the sewage farm and this has an unparalled track record for vagrant birds in Oman. We worked the area on each day of our stay, starting with the first afternoon. There were few passerines; just 1 Wood Warbler and three malignant and evasive Asian Koel, presumably left-over winterers. Masirah is the only location in Arabia where this species occurs with any regularity. There were plenty of waders around the sewage farm and a selection of other birds. We noted 20 Egyptian Vultures, 2 sickly looking White Storks, 1 Greylag Goose (the rarest bird of our stay on Masirah!), 8 Pacific Golden Plover, 5 Pintail Snipe (both the plovers and Snipe had overwintered here), 1 Common Kingfisher, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Green Sandpiper. Both areas are accessed through a gate, but the employees were quite happy to let us freely wander around - clearly UK bureaucracy & HSE has not reached Oman yet!! The shoreline nearby held 30+ Slender-billed Gulls & 2 Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse. For the last couple of hours we tried seawatching from Ras-Al-Yar a headland along the east side of the island about 10km south of Hilf. Tubenoses and boobies were disappointingly absent so it was quality rather than quantity: 200+ Bridled Tern, with 2 Common Noddy amongst the feeding flocks were best. Also 1 Pomarine Skua coasting by, and epic views of Osprey grappling a fish. We stopped at Masirah Hotel: the only one on the island, as far as I know. It has very clean rooms with air-conditioning, toilet and shower. Around Ł10 per night. www.almajalioman.com

8th April 2007 OMAN

We returned the next morning to the plantation and sewage works. The only additions to yesterday’s haul were Redstart and 4 Yellow-throated Sparrows, plus a nice Red-rumped Swallow. We also noted a small snake and a most intimidating Argiope spider. The sewage works also contained a similar number of the same species, with the exception of a Curlew Sandpiper. The beach pool, whilst far from pleasant as it comprised sewage run-off, hosted 50 Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (in to drink from about 8am) 33 Greater Flamingo, 2 Lesser Sandplover, 1 Greater Sandplover, 2 Greenshank, 12 Red-throated Pipit in the few bushes around the pool, 1 Wood Sandpiper and 3 Cattle Egret. This is a great place for photography and we spent plenty of time waiting and shooting. In the afternoon we headed off to the south end of the island to explore Sur Masirah. It is worth following the tracks (ok in 2WD) as far as you can to the west, to get right round the bay. The most southern mudflats held huge masses of waders; the following were our best estimates: 400 Bar-tailed Godwit, 150 Whimbrel, 60 Curlew, 700 Lesser Sandplover, 300 Greater Sandplover, 50 Greenshank, 1 Terek Sandpiper, 10 Dunlin, 10 Sanderling, 50 Kentish Plover (some with chicks) and 20 Crab-Plover. Presumably most of this population was on the offshore islands nesting, but it seems likely that there will always be some hangers-on on the shore. There were also many Crested and Lesser Crested Terns, and 45 Caspian lined up regimentally. There were masses more shorebirds way off in the distance; they were too faraway to work! We finished the day with a disappointing seawatch off Ras Abu Ras, the southernmost tip of Masirah. Here we had similar species to the Ras Al Yar but in much smaller numbers and at greater range. Despite searching we were unable to locate any Persian Shearwaters. We did however have excellent close views of Indo-Pacific hump-backed Dolphins right below the rocks. Masirah Hotel.

9th April 2007 OMAN

Our last day on Masirah and in Oman. We again started at the plantation and sewage farm and we added another migrant - a Wryneck for our trouble. Many more Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse came into drink; we had total of 200+ arriving at the beach pool over a period of 90 minutes. They and the close waders consumed yet more megabytes. The Wood Warbler, Redstart, and Yellow-throated Sparrow were still present, as were a poorly looking group of White Storks. Having watched many of the migrants, and noted numerous corpses on Masirah, it is clear that many of the migrants that arrive here and far-flung and knackered. The most exhausted fail to re-orientate and get off quickly and, in the desolate conditions, struggle to put on fat. Hence they become stuck in 40^oC temperatures without any real food source; death is inevitable for most. This may explain the abundance of Egyptian Vultures in the area, a species not particularly evident elsewhere in Oman. For the third day we watched the same Wood Warbler feeding in the same corner on the few insects available, clearly trying hard to boost its fat reserves; a bit of a humbling and heart-wrenching experience.   We left Masirah at 11am; the ferry crossing back gave us further nice views of Lesser Crested, Crested and Saunder’s Tern and a bit of a cooking in the sun. We punctuated the long route back with more Lappet-faced Vultures and plenty of ice-cream. 25 minutes was some sort of world record at the border and we arrived back at Hotel Ain al Fayda at 10pm, having come full-circle. Hotel Ain al Fayda; details as above.

10th April 2007 UAE

Our last day. We started birding around 6.30am, wandering the parks & gardens within the immediate vicinity of the Hotel We then worked the area around the Green Mubazarrah and the Wadi at the southern end of the tourist complex, until beaten into submission by the sun. It got to 42^oC by 2pm, and it really felt it! Birds noted: Arabian Babbler and Hoopoe were new species at Ain Al Fayda. At Green Mub we logged a similar selection of species as a week earlier. These included: 3 Isabelline Shrikes, Clamorous Reed Warbler, 4 Purple Sunbird, the Mourning Wheatear living on, again Red-tailed Wheatear ditto (even later!), 5 Indian Roller, 4 Little Green Bee-eater, 2 Striated Bunting, Barbary Falcon with almost fledged young, 2 Upcher’s Warbler and 5 Sand Partridge. Forty Bee-eaters called high overhead we finally had due reward for avid muddy-edge scouring at every available opportunity in Dhofar: Jules pulled out a Baillon’s Crake feeding in the artificial stream and we accumulated for killer views. This was only the fourth UAE record since 2001, and precipitated the only rarity report to be filled in for the trip! We had lunch and then took a drive towards Abu Dhabi taking in several pools known to Oscar, the final ones being one of his local patches. It was a rather different experience to birding Holme, Titchwell or Cley!! First we scanned the pools at Al Ain Compost Plant, to find summer plumaged Spotted Redshank and a bonus phalarope against a superb backdrop of red sand dunes. In fact, very scenic as long as you held your nose…The last stop was for an hour at Al Wathba Lake on the outskirts of AD. This was excellent and teemed with an assortment of waders: hundreds of Little Stint, 4+ Wood sandpiper, 3+ Marsh Sandpiper, 10 Avocet, 2 more Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Kentish Plovers, stilts, more phalaropes and single Pintail and Glossy Ibis. We arrived back in Abu Dhabi at 6pm to finish with a quick swim and tour of the school where Oscar is teaching. Then an excellent sushi meal, before departing for our flights back to London.