Welcome to Birdquest
OMAN & BAHRAIN
Arabian & Migrant Specialities including Grey Hypocolius
Birdquest's Oman & Bahrain birding tour explores two of the newest but most enjoyable Middle Eastern birdwatching venues. Our Oman & Bahrain tour has comprehensive coverage and turns up a host of resident and migrant specialities including Jouanin's Petrel, Socotra Cormorant, Sooty Falcon, the strange Crab-Plover, Hume's Owl, Egyptian Nightjar, Hume's Wheatear, Plain Leaf Warbler, Yemen Serin and of course the much-sought-after Grey Hypocolius, the sole member of its family.
Thursday 24th October -
Saturday 9th November 2013
(17 days)
Leaders:
Simon Harrap and assistant
Group Size Limit: 12
Tour Category: Easy for the most part, occasionally Moderate
The range-restricted Jouanin's Petrel is one of several much sought-after specialities on this tour (Mike Watson)
Once a hermit kingdom that let in few outsiders, the wild desert beauty of Oman is legendary. With a small population of just two and a half million in a land area of approximately 300,000 square kilometres, Oman is the second largest country in Arabia and is not truly a ‘Gulf State’, having only a tiny section of coastline on the Arabian Gulf (in an isolated enclave on the Musandam Peninsula).
This is still a largely unspoilt land of spectacular landscapes and contrasts, ranging from rugged mountains that rise to over 3000m and deep gorges and ravines to vast desert plains, endless miles of spectacular white sand beaches, palm groves, coastal lagoons, mangroves and modern, intensively irrigated farms that look wildly out of place amongst the surrounding arid landscapes.
Most of northern and interior Oman is extremely arid, the surface of the land being marked by ancient, usually dry wadis and jagged, bare mountains, although a broad fertile coastal strip in the north (the Batinah) supports farming and provides most of the country’s fresh fruit and vegetables. The southern province of Dhofar is quite different, in that it has a clearly monsoon climate with significant rainfall during the cool and overcast summer months (called the Khareef), a time when northern Oman swelters under clear blue skies.
The Omani people are proud, honest and hard-working, and in many ways quite different to their Bedu neighbours to the west. The Omanis are outstanding seamen and they have long traded far and wide across the Indian Ocean, helped by their expertise in boat building (dhows are used even to this day, although sadly they no longer use sails). However, it was Frankincense rather than trade with South Asia and East Africa that brought what is now Oman to the attention of the ancient world. Frankincense trees (of the genus Boswellia) grow only in southern Oman, Yemen, northern Somalia and Socotra, and the aromatic gum, which both burns and has medicinal properties, became an important part of the religious rituals of the ancient world, being used in rites in the temples of ancient Egypt, at Jerusalem and in ancient Rome, as well as in many other places. The frankincense offered to baby Jesus was, at that time, more valuable than gold and the Roman author Pliny even wrote that control of the frankincense trade had made the south Arabians the richest people in the known world!
Sadly the use of frankincense declined and Oman’s fortunes declined accordingly, although for a time in the 17th and 18th centuries Oman’s ships dominated the Indian Ocean and her political influence was felt as far afield as East Africa. Later Oman became a quiet and undeveloped backwater, a situation that only really changed with the accession of the outward-looking Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 1970. When one sees modern, oil-rich Oman today it is hard to believe that most of the country was virtually in a medieval state less than 50 years ago.
For the birder and traveller Oman has obvious appeal, not least the fact it has one of the most diverse and speciality-rich avifaunas in the entire Middle East, with a unique mixture of Palearctic, Oriental and Afrotropical breeding species enriched by a formidable diversity of migrants and vagrants.
We will begin our travels at Muscat, from where we will travel by boat to an offshore island where Sooty Falcons and Red-billed Tropicbirds breed and Persian Shearwaters can be observed during the crossing.
From Muscat we will head northwest to Sohar and explore the acacia and Ghaf woodland close to the border with the United Arab Emirates in search of Variable Wheatear, and Ménétries’s and Plain Leaf Warblers, three wintering specialities, while visits to an irrigated dairy farm will turn up many migrants, probably including a rarity or two, and White-tailed Lapwing, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, as well as such predominantly Oriental species as Grey Francolin, Indian Roller and Indian Silverbill.
Next we head into the spectacular, high mountain Jabal al Akhdar region to look for the huge Lappet-faced Vulture, Desert Lark, Long-billed Pipit, Rufous-tailed and Hume’s Wheatears, Scrub Warbler and Striolated Bunting, and with luck the little-known Pallid (or Striated) Scops Owl, before travelling far across the interior desert to the Arabian Sea coast near Masirah island. Our remote goal is the peninsula of Barr al Hikman, the greatest and yet least-known waterbird spectacle in all Arabia and indeed the entire Middle East. Here, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds pass the northern winter months, providing an astonishing spectacle. Amongst the commoner species, we shall be concentrating on the strange Crab-Plover, which is positively numerous, as well as Great Knot, Broad-billed and Terek Sandpipers, and White-cheeked Tern.
After exploring Barr al Hikman, and also Masirah Island, which is a famous ‘migrant trap’, we will head inland, making our way through the desert plains of the Jiddat al Harasis, to the edge of the Rub al Qali, or Empty Quarter. Here a desert oasis attracts hundreds of Crowned and Spotted Sandgrouse every morning, while other desert specialities of this inhospitable part of the world include the rare and nomadic Dunn’s Lark. In this hot and utterly arid region it is bizarre to come across farms where grass and alfalfa are irrigated by huge circular gantries in the middle of the desert, but these fields and any small clump of trees and bushes attract a tantalizing selection of tired migrants.
Eventually we will reach Salalah, the ancient capital of Dhofar province. Here there are still some huge stretches of unspoiled white sand beaches fronting the Arabian Sea, coconut palms waving in the breeze and a series of interesting coastal lagoons, while inland is the rugged mountainous escarpment of the Jabal al Qara with its deep ravines and beautiful perennial springs. The woodland on the slopes, which includes frankincense trees and baobabs, will still be green after the transformation wrought by the monsoon rains and the whole area looks very different from the extremely arid mountains near Muscat. In this diversity of habitats we will be concentrating on South Arabian endemics and other regional specialities such as Socotra Cormorant, Arabian Partridge, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, Blackstart, South Arabian Wheatear, Arabian Warbler, Palestine Sunbird, Fan-tailed Raven, Tristram’s Grackle and Yemen Serin (the later only recently discovered breeding here around 1000 kilometres to the northeast of the previous known range), as well as a series of Afrotropical species including Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Forbes-Watson’s Swift, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Shining Sunbird and Abyssinian White-eye. The coastal lagoons will produce a wide variety of waterbirds, very probably including Spotted, Baillon’s and Little Crakes, while another boat trip should produce such exciting birds as the little-known Jouanin’s Petrel, Masked Booby and Bridled Tern.
The final leg of our journey will take us to the island of Bahrain in the central Arabian Gulf, famous as one of the best places for finding the enigmatic Grey Hypocolius, the sole member of its family (Hypocoliidae), and a good spot for finding the rarely-observed Egyptian Nightjar, as well as Eastern Mourning Wheatear.
Oman and Bahrain offer a brilliant mixture of easy desert birding, superb migration ‘hotspots’ and some exciting Arabian and Middle Eastern specialities that can be enjoyed in two of the safest countries on earth along with some spectacular scenery and the hospitality of some proud but friendly people who have held themselves aloof from the political tensions that have embroiled so many other Middle Eastern countries. All in all, a truly enjoyable trip!
Birdquest has operated tours to Oman since 2004 (and to Bahrain since 1995).
(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)
Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels are mostly of normal Birdquest standard. At Qatbit and Thumrayt we stay in rather simple hotels and at Al Hij in a basic hotel, but all rooms have private bathrooms. Road transport is by 4x4s and roads are mostly good (although there are some interesting experiences on desert tracks or even ‘off-road’!
Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy, but there are a few moderate walks, some over uneven ground.
Climate: Typically hot (or very hot) and sunny. Rain is unlikely, but it is fairly humid in the Salalah area.
Bird Photography: Opportunities are good.
Tour Price: (provisional): $5910 Muscat/Bahrain. Price includes all transportation (including Salalah-Muscat flight, but excluding Muscat-Bahrain flight), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.
Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $881.
Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).
Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.
The Muscat-Bahrain airfare is most easily incorporated into your international ticket, but we can supply this ticket separately on request.
The Birdquest group in the verdant Dhofar Mountains of southern Oman (Mike Watson)
Sunset over Masirah Island (Mike Watson)
29 photos
View Gallery Photos From OMAN & BAHRAIN
The beautiful, date-loving Grey Hypocolius is another highlight (tour participant Mike Ashforth)
Large flocks of Crab-plovers are a feature of the awesome Barr al Hikman - wader capital of the Middle East (Mike Watson)
Oman is probably the best place in the world to see Aquila eagles and we usually find several Imperial Eagles (tour participant Mike Ashforth)
... amongst the hundreds of Steppe Eagles (Mike Watson)
The late-breeding Sooty Falcon can still be found in late October and juveniles like this one can be quite confiding (Mike Watson)
Persian Shearwater is another range-restricted speciality we see on our pelagic voyages off Oman (Mike Watson)
We have not yet missed the elegant White-tailed Lapwing in Oman (Mike Watson)
A day-roosting Pallid Scops Owl is the grand prize of northern Oman (Mike Watson)
Egyptian Nightjar has been very reliable at a couple of places in Bahrain in recent autumns and we have also seen it in Southern Oman (Mike Watson)
Arabian Wheatear - one of two range-restricted black-and-white wheatears, which are common in Oman (Mike Watson)
The other is the enigmatic Hume's Wheatear, something of an Omani speciality now that most of its range is 'off-limits' to western birders (Mike Watson)
The smart Desert Wheatear is a very common sight throughout this tour (Mike Watson)
Hoopoe Lark can be found in the remotest desert regions of Oman (tour participant Mike Ashforth)
Nile Valley Sunbird can be found at the extreme northeastern limit of its range (Mike Watson)
We normally see a few migrants from southern Asia, like this Little Pratincole on the 2006 tour (Mike Watson)
Birdquest LLC, 3721 Executive Center Drive, Suite 268, Austin, TX 78731
Ph: 512-343-1700, Fax: 512-343-1701
top of pageWebsite crafted by the Accent Design Group.
|
|
|
|