East Khawr
This was our last full day in Dhofar, and we still had a
number of species that we wanted to connect with. We started the day at East
Khawr in the hope of seeing Cotton Pygmy
Teal that we had missed on our previous visit. We were in luck, with 6 of
them were showing well at the south end of the Khawr. Many of the other species
we saw were the same as our previous visit, including the 3 Spur-winged Lapwing and the Long-toed Stint. Large numbers of herons could be seen coming out
of the roost at the south end of the Khawr, with over 200 Cattle Egret and well over 50 Glossy
Ibis flying north as we arrived. Species we encountered that we had not
seen on our previous visit included a stunning Bluethroat, and an Alpine Swift being
hunted by a Peregrine. The
Peregrine/Swift chase scene was really something to watch, at one point the swift
was nabbed by the Peregrine, but was subsequently dropped, allowing a rather
tatty Alpine Swift to fly free.
-Alpine Swift & Peregrine
-Spur-winged Plover
-Citrine Wagtail
-Long-toed Stint
-Purple Heron
-Cotton Pygmy Teal
Species List:
East Khawr:
Mallard, Sand Martin, Bluethroat, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Citrine Wagtail,
Graceful Prinia, Great Reed Warbler, Alpine Swift, Peregrine, Purple Heron,
Spur-winged Lapwing, Cotton Pygmy Teal*, Grey Heron, Spoonbill, Squacco Heron,
Greater Flamingo, Marsh Harrier, Common Myna, Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal,
Garganey, Swallow, Little Stint, Temmincks Stint, Long-toed Stint, Redshank,
Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Little Ringed
Plover, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Crested Lark,
Black-crowned Sparrow Lark, House Crow, Laughing Dove, Collared Dove, Heuglin’s
Gull, Sooty Gull, Rüppell’s Weaver, Slender-billed Gull, Black-winged Stilt,
Coot, Moorhen, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Ferruginous Duck,
Jarziz Farm
Our next stop was Jarziz Farm in Salalah itself. There were
a large number of raptors soaring across the city, including Booted Eagle, Steppe Eagle and Greater Spotted Eagle. Once at the
farm there continued to be decent numbers of raptors soaring, but the highlight
was a perched up Oriental Honey Buzzard in
the farm compound, and when the bird took off it flew low right over us. An
awesome encounter! The farm had good numbers of very vocal Rose-coloured Starlings, as well as African Silverbills and Rüppell’s
Weaver. We also had another Bluethroat
briefly fly past us into cover, but we were unable to relocate it.
-Rose-coloured Starling
-Crested Honey Buzzard
Species List:
Jarziz Farm:
Common Myna, Rose-coloured Starling, Rüppell’s Weaver, African Silverbill,
Steppe Eagle, Crested Honey Buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle,
Bluethroat, White Wagtail, Laughing Dove, House Crow,
Raysut Sewage Farm
We headed back to the Sewage farm late morning in the hope
of being able to find the large numbers of White
Storks that the site is known for. As soon as we arrived we could see that
there was a massive increase in the stork numbers, with over 200 birds present
as well as large numbers of Cattle
Egrets on the infrastructure of the facility. Unfortunately we were unable
to locate any Abdim’s Storks.
There were also good numbers of waders around the edges of
the ponds. Marsh Sandpiper, Temminck’s
Stint and Black-winged Stilt were
all present, and there also singles of Red-wattled
Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing and
White-tailed Lapwing. The White-tailed Lapwing was flushed and went down
out of sight for us, and we were unable to relocate it.
-Steppe Eagles
-Greater Spotted Eagle
-White-tailed Lapwing
-Glossy Ibis
Species List:
Raysut Sewage Farm:
White Wagtail, Sykes’ Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail, House Crow, Tawny Pipit, Common
Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Temminck's Stint,
Dunlin, Common Snipe, White-tailed Lapwing*, Red-wattled Lapwing, Spur-winged
Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Greenshank, White Stork, Grey Heron,
Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron, Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle,
Great Spotted Eagle, Greater Flamingo, Shoveler, Teal, Laughing Dove, Rock
Dove, Collared Dove, Slender-billed Gull,
Jabal Samhan
After midday we returned to Jabal Samhan in the hope of
improved visibility and Verreaux’s Eagle. The wind had dropped and the air was
clear so we were optimistic that we would connect with this very desirable
species. There was not an abundance of birdlife, with Fan-tailed Raven being the only species present, but the site
itself was very impressive. It took half an hour before we picked out 2 Verreaux’s Eagles coming towards us along
the cliff face. At first we were looking down on the birds as they flew below
us, then they flew above us and then even landed on the cliff, all the while
being mobbed by the ravens. They were with us for around 15 minutes before they
continued flying down the cliff. An amazing birding experience to say the
least! Even after the eagles had left and we were taking in what had just
happened, a Barbary Falcon came and
flew round us overhead.
-Verreaux's Eagle
-Verreaux's Eagle & Fan-tailed Raven
-Barbary Falcon
Species List:
Jabal Sanham: Common
Kestrel, Fan-tailed Raven, Rock Martin, Barbary Falcon*, Verreaux's Eagle*, South
Arabian Wheatear,
Salalah Nature
Reserve
Having connected with Verreaux’s earlier than expected meant
we had a little more time to bird in the afternoon. We decided to have a look
at Salalah Nature Reserve on the coast of the south side of the city. We did
not really look at the wetland area of the reserve, more working the scrub on
the seaward side. Here we had an adult Daurian
Shrike, which was our first definite individual of this race. In the scrub
itself there was a large flock of Pacific
Golden Plover roosting, as well as Grey
Plover roosting with them. A single Oriental
Honey Buzzard flew overhead. The scrub was a great place for dragonflies,
the highlight of which was a stunning adult male Phantom Flutterer.
-Daurian Shrike
-Coastal Glider
-Slender Skimmer
-Phantom Flutterer
-House Crow
Species List:
Salalah Nature
Reserve: Pacific Golden Plover, Crested Lark, Northern Wheatear, House
Crow, Moorhen, Orientail Honey Buzzard, Grey Plover, Greater Crested Tern, Heuglin’s
Gull, Little Stint, Daurian Shrike*, Tawny Pipit, Phantom Flutterer, Slender Skimmer, Coastal Glider, Scarlet Darter,
Black Percher
Al Baleed
Archaeological Park
For the last hours of daylight we returned to the
Archaeological Park. The Spotted
Thick-knees were still present and showed well as the light dwindled. Once
again there were large numbers of Pacific
Golden Plover roosting on the ruins, not quite the 600+ that we’d seen on
our way past earlier and on the riverbank there was again a large roost of Common Sandpiper. Indian Pond Heron and Great
Reed Warbler were both present again. A juvenile Isabelline Shrike was a species we had not seen on our previous
visit.
-Pacific Golden Plover
Species List:
Al Baleed
Archaeological Park: Desert Wheatear, Common Sandpiper, Pacific Golden
Plover, Great Reed Warbler, Green Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier, Heuglin’s Gull,
Isabelline Shrike, Indian Pond Heron, Spotted Thick-knee, Tristram’s Starling,
Common Myna, House Crow, Little Grebe, Collared Dove, Greater Spotted Eagle,
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