12th December:
Our morning drive took us almost into the rising sun as we
made our way up the coast to Mirbat where we were due to meet up with our
skipper for a pelagic a few miles out.
The harbour was thronging with wooden fishing Dhows of different classes
and we soon joined our little boat and puttered out through the mass of largely
Sooty Gulls. Reef Egrets, Grey Herons
and Night Herons sat on the boats and breakwaters and a passing Osprey caused
havoc with the gulls.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Western Reed Egret |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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Western Reed Egret
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| Sooty Gull |
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| Sooty Gull |
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| I presume a Heuglin's Gull |
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| breeding plumaged adult Sooty Gull |
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| Sooty Gull |
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| Sooty Gulls |
It was an excellent few hours (especially for me as a first
timer) and before too long we had picked up our bonus bird of the day with a
Socotra Cormorant closely circling the boat.
I got the impression we were lucky to see one this well.
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| Sooty Gull deposits were inevitably made upon all of us |
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| Socotra Cormorant |
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| Socotra Cormorant |
Soon the first fluttering Persian Shearwaters appeared
feeling closer to a more open faced Yelkouan with patchy underwings than a Manx
but still along those general lines. In total we counted 178 along with three
heavy Flesh-footed Shearwaters that quite happily pushed the Sooty Gulls out of
the way for scraps that our skipper tossed out.
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| Persian Shearwater |
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| Persian Shearwater |
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| Persian Shearwater |
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| Persian Shearwater |
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| Persian Shearwater |
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| Persian Shearwater - Steve Bird |
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| Persian Shearwater - Steve Bird |
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Persian Shearwater - Steve Bird
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater - guess who got the fish? |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
There were hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes and they were attracted to the chum slick that was put out. I still found it amazing that each flock was probably greater than all the ones I have ever seen in the UK since my first back in 1988.
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| Red-necked Phalaropes |
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| Red-necked Phalaropes |
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Red-necked Phalaropes
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| Red-necked Phalaropes |
There were a few terns and other gulls and 36 seriously impressive Masked Boobies which were easily my favourite of our sailing.
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby and Sooty Gull |
Like all the Gannets they have such an intense stare and would home in on a scrap missed by the Sooty Gulls. Unfortunately we saw no Petrels of any sought but I had seen three new birds and was thus very happy.
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| Sooty Gull |
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| Sooty Gull |
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| Caspian Gull |
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| Caspian Gull |
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| Heuglin's Gull |
An amazing 15 minute spell was spent with Dolphins. The first were a group of incredibly long and slender Spinners which did exactly what their name suggests in acrobatic leaps and were followed by a mixed pod of very large Indo-Pacific Bottle Nosed Dolphins with Common Dolphins mixed amongst them. At one point some of the latter bow rode and I looked down and could see them powering along below us with the occasional noisy spurt of spray as they came up for a breath. One of those special moments.
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| Mirbat beyond |
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| A little Sole |
Several very large Green Turtles appeared on the surface but as soon as you realised that the large lump was a Turtles head, it had gulped some air and sunk without trace. Flying Fish occasionally broke free of their natural environment too and I could remember seeing them way off Cornwall on some of those early 1990s small boat pelagics.
We tried closer in for Swinhoe’s Petrels but saw nothing and so came back into the harbour where there were several each of Green and smaller Olive Ridley Turtles popping up around us.
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| Western Reef Egret |
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| Green Turtle |
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| Olive Ridley Turtle |
We disembarked by clambering across several of the larger Dhows and then waited for our skipper to moor up and get a lift back to us. In the meantime we fish watched from the quay and marvelled at the diversity and colour. I will try and figure out names but I think that there were two different Trigger Fish (one grey and the other almost black with a white band just before the tail), a very large multi-coloured Wrasse-type fish, Sea Bream-ish, Damsels and a host of smaller species. There were Sea Cucumbers over a foot long and lots of almost invisible Box Jellyfish and as if on cue an Olive Ridley Turtle swam in to snaffle some. I have no idea if these are the same types as the dangerous Australian species?
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| this big fish swum like a Trigger |
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| Breamish - same as pic above |
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| A very big multi coloured fish. Rainbow hews. The black spot is shadow |
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| Big grey Trigger |
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Blenny-type.
If anyone out there is able to help with identifying some of these fish that would be great. The pics are not good enough for AI to get a match and I have no fish book for the Arabian Sea! |
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| Sea Cucumber |
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| Olive Ridley Turtle |
From here we made our way into town avoiding Abdim’s Storks in the road on the way. They were everywhere and were scavenging around bins and rubbish piles like new world vultures. The main park was our destination and we had been told that it was very small and full of birds including potentially some specialities. It had birds but was far bigger than we anticipated but we spread out to see what we could find with the Bay-backed Shrike being the top target.
The manicured lawns were littered with Glossy Ibis, Abdim’s Storks and the odd Cattle Egret and Indian Pond Heron allowing some ridiculous views while Grey and White Wagtails and a couple of Red-throated Pipits scurried amongst the legs almost acting like they were livestock.
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| Glossy Ibis, Abdim’s Storks & Cattle Egrets |
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| Abdim’s Stork |
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| Glossy Ibis and Abdim’s Storks |
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| Glossy Ibis and Abdim’s Storks |
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| Abdim’s Stork |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Cattle Egret |
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| Abdim’s Stork - Park Life |
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| Red-throated Pipit |
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| Red-throated Pipit |
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Red-throated Pipit
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Hoopoe, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters and our first European Roller were found and Paul had an Asian Koel too. There were both Sunbirds, Clamourous Reed Warbler, a very rusty Great Reed Warbler and at least two Daurian Shrikes.  |
| Blue-cheeked Bee-eater |
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| European Roller |
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| Blue-cheeked Bee-eater |
Paul was on form and found the vagrant Bay-backed Shrike for us too although it was very mobile and preferred to sit deep within cover but its circuit had a couple of favourite perches and with some fieldcraft (hiding behind a small kids climbing wall) we got some excellent views of this beautiful member of the trip looking like some odd lovechild of a Lesser Grey and Red-backed Shrike.
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| Bay-backed Shrike - the usual view! |
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| Bay-backed Shrike - hiding deep in cover |
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| Bay-backed Shrike |
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| Bay-backed Shrike - wondrous |
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| Stinky #2 telling Stinky #1 that the Shrike had just flown low over his head while he was taking yet more Abdim's Stork pics |
There were plenty of butterflies and I think that the Swallowtails here were Citrus rather than Lime that we saw up around Muscat while there were several African Migrants, Grass Jewels and a couple of Danaid Eggfly.
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| Danaid Eggfly |
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| Danaid Eggfly |
We left with the storks and ibis circling overhead disturbed by either the Booted and Eastern Imperial Eagles overhead or the deafening call to prayer from many minarets as they tried to out compete each other for the ear of god.
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| Abdim's Storks |
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| Abdim's Storks |
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| Glossy Ibis |
It was too much effort to get back up to Verreaux’s escarpment so we did the next best thing and drove up to the bottom of it and looked up while having lunch in the shade of an Acacia. We did not see them but there were lots of raptors to be seen with pairs of hunting Bonelli’s, Short-toed and Eastern Imps while many Wandering Gliders skimmed around us.
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| the view coming back down |
Back down to the plain and then into Salalah for some roost time but as you know I am rubbish at that and spent my time overlooking the Khawr Ad Dahariz. It was superb and began with a black and white Cuckoo with Myna like wing patches. I knew immediately that it was a Jacobin Cuckoo but the pesky thing never came back out of its chosen bush. We were a bit out of the local loop news wise and I have no idea how good a record it would be. Just a few minutes later Paul picked up a lone Common Starling too which landed for a short while before heading back into town. We were on a role.
Scanning offshore had given me nothing bar terns and gulls previously but this time an immature Masked Booby flew by while in the closest bit of water excellent views were had of a Pin-tailed Snipe that even preened and shoed its tail while Marsh and Wood Sandpipers were in and out of the edges.
All the while the ‘usual herony things’ were about and two Ospreys were making fishing look ridiculously easy. The local Sand Martins and Swallows dreaded and a male Marsh Harrier dropped in but it was not the classic male we had been seeing regularly but what we think was a dark morph individual with deep sooty underparts, head, mantle, underwings coverts, rump, uppertail and forewings but with starkly contrasting black and silver remiges, primary coverts and normal grey tail with just a hint of cold in the inner upper wing coverts. It was s tunning bird an d none of us had ever seen a Marsh Harrier plumaged quite like it.
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| dark morph male Marsh Harrier - Stylianos Zannetos |
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| dark morph male Marsh Harrier - Stylianos Zannetos |
Back for a coffee and then off for a final visit to Khawr Rasut which was quiet and we did not have too long to check the birds as a local lad flushed most of the birds with a spectacular fishing display. Our initial annoyance turned to dismay as he hurtled into the shallow sandy stream flowing across the beach scooped at a large invisible fish and flung it over his shoulder up onto the sand where his family put it in a bucket. He did this six more times and without fail caught and threw his surprised catch. A round of applause was warranted.
There were no small waders to search anyway and we just enjoyed a look at the Tern flock that contained 18 Caspian, 17 Crested and two Gull-billed while two Spoonbills dashed around the waters edge with bills working overtime.
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| Spoonbill |
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| Spoonbill and Grey Heron |
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| Greater Flamingos |
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| Terns and Gulls |
On to the Khawr Hilton where nine Garganey were the most numerous duck and amongst them a Pheasant-tailed Jacana strode. There were Whiskered, White-winged Black and Little Terns and down on the beach a single Glossy Ibis was surf running with some Sanderlings – not an everyday sight.
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| Glossy Ibis and Sanderling buddies |
We next visited Al Baleed beach adjacent to the large archaeological site of the ruins of the Sultan's palace complex and citadel, known locally as the Husn. This was the most heavily fortified part of the ancient port city of Zafar, which was a major hub for the frankincense trade from the 8th to the 16th century AD (good old Google…)
We hoped for a sneaky Spotted Thick-knee as the day waned but had no joy and just a few Ring-necked Parakeets and Mynahs heading off to roost. Down on the beach there were a few Heuglin’s Gulls and a 3w Baltic Gull that once again looked tiny amongst them.
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| Heuglin’s Gull |
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| Baltic Gull |
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| Baltic Gull |
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| Baltic Gull |
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| The horses looked hacked off that phone time is apparently more interesting |
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| That's more like it! |
With time dwindling we made a run back up to Ayn Razat where we began our Salahah adventure in the hope of finding Arabian Scops Owl. We just missed being able to get into the park but it did not matter and once most of the locals had left we quickly re-found both the Arabian Eagle Owls around their favourite trees and it was just light enough to see them heading off to hunt.
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| Arabian Eagle Owl |
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| Arabian Eagle Owl |
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| Arabian Eagle Owl |
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| Arabian Eagle Owl |
Big eyed Night Herons appeared along the river and like before other herons dropped in to roost and before too long the first Arabian Scops Owl was heard (although the Eagle Owl chose to get in on the singing match at that point too).
We heard at least two but only ever got a glimpse as one flew through the trees. The problem was that we think that they were the other side of the river and when you were some way off you could hear them clearly but as you approached the sound of the water drowned then out. But I was happy to have had another special Owl encounter and it was a grand way to end our final day.
13th December:
Going home day but there is always time for some birding and I dragged myself down to the Khawr as the sun was coming up and had a pleasant half hour amongst our regular birdy friends.
There were eight Citrine Wagtails to send me on my way and a Delicate Prinia popped out right next to me for a couple of obliging minutes. I was about to walk back when birds erupted from the big tree on the island in the Khawr. They were not Mynas as I expected but Rose-coloured Starlings and they swirled around a for a while allowing to count about 240 before zooming off into the city. It was a grand send off.
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| Glossy Ibis at dawn |
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| Grey Plover |
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| And as a little tribute to Chris Rea - On The Beach |
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| Delicate Prinia |
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| Delicate Prinia |
We packed up, tidied the flat and headed to airport for the first of our two flights, passing that black Marsh Harrier on the way out and finishing with an Oriental Honey-Buzzard sitting on a lamppost calling in the airport car park. Frantic camera unpacking failed…
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| Bye! |
And so ended my first Arabian Adventure. I will be back.
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