I escaped from the office again and drove one of our 4-wheel drive vehicles on the recent Birdquest Oman and Bahrain tour, 27 October - 12 November, led by Ray O'Reilly.
The tour was a great success with 240 species recorded, including a record-equalling 56 Birdquest 'diamond species'*. Oman is one of the world's great crossroads of avifaunas and we saw birds from all quarters with vagrants from Southern Asia alongside Palearctic migrants, African species sharing the Dhofar coast with Middle-eastern specialities and wanderers from the southern oceans amongst a throng of local seabirds.
One of the main reasons birders travel with us to Oman and Bahrain is to see two single-species-family members, Crab Plover and Grey Hypocolius, at their most reliable world locations. These two big targets did not disappoint and we saw both of them well and in big numbers, however we also saw a host of other much sought-after birds including Jouanin's Petrel, Persian Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Socotra Cormorant, Sooty Falcon, Barbary Falcon, Arabian Partridge, Spotted and Little Crakes, Caspian Plover, White-tailed Lapwing, Broad-billed Sandpiper, White-cheeked and Saunders's Terns, Lichtenstein's, Crowned and Spotted Sandgrouse, Bruce's Green Pigeon, Pallid Scops, African Scops & Hume's Owls, Egyptian Nightjar, 'Dhofar' Swift (now thought by some to be Forbes-Watson's Swifts), Sykes's Wagtail, Masked Wagtail, Blackstart, Rufous-tailed, Variable, Mourning, Arabian and Hume's Wheatears, Scrub, Sykes's, Menetries's, Asian Desert and Arabian Warblers, Desert Whitethroat, Plain Leaf Warbler, Arabian Babbler, Shining Sunbird, Steppe Grey Shrike, Fan-tailed Raven, Tristram's Starling, Ruppell's Weaver, Indian Silverbill, Striated Bunting and Yemen Serin. Thanks to Ray's great knowledge of Middle-eastern birding in general and Omani birds in particular we also managed to add 15 species to the Birdquest Oman and Bahrain tour list including some outstanding vagrants like Intermediate Egret, Small Pratincole, Grey-bellied Cuckoo (split from Plaintive), Forest Wagtail and Green Warbler as well as filling some obvious gaps like Verreaux's Eagle and Spotted Thick-knee.
Travelling in Oman is a real pleasure with a great road network, mostly good accommodation and food (the latter was actually excellent in places) and very friendly people everywhere. Here are some of my photographic highlights:
Jouanin's Petrel Bulweria fallax - off Mirbat, Oman.
Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus - adult, off Mirbat, Oman.
Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus - 1cy, off Mirbat, Oman.
Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus - 1cy, Wadi Darbat, Oman.
Striated Heron Butorides striatus brevipes - Al Qurm, Muscat, Oman.
Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis - Salalah, Oman.
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia - Al Qurm, Oman.
Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotus - Sayq Plateau, Oman.
Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus - Jarziz Sun Farm, Salalah, Oman.
Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus - Al Beed Farm, Oman.
Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca - 2cy, Khawr Taqar, Oman.
Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca - Subadult, presumed 6cy, Salahah, Oman.
Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga - 1cy, intermediate fulvescens morph, Salalah, Oman
Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis - 1cy, Salalah, Oman
Sooty Falcon Falco concolor - 1cy, Al Fahl Island, Oman.
Arabian Partridge Alectoris melanocephala - Ayn Hamran, Oman.
Little Crake Porzana parva - 1cy, Al Maghsayl, Oman
Crab Plover Dromas ardeola - 1cy, Ras as Sawadi, Oman - the first of many hundreds! Note three species of tern in the foreground.
Small Pratincole Glareola lactea - East Khawr, Salalah, Oman. A Middle-eastern rarity.
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva - Al Qurm, Muscat, Oman.
White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus - Qurayyat dump, Oman.
Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura - Hilf, Masirah Island, Oman.
Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii - Salalah, Oman.
Siberian Gull Larus [heuglini] heuglini - adult, Masirah Island, Oman.
Lesser Crested Tern Sterna benghalensis - Shinas, Oman.
Bruce's Green Pigeon Treron waalia - Ayn Hamran, Oman.
Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei - Oman. We finally cracked this one in 2006! Difficult to see now most of its world range is 'off limits' to western birders.
European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus - Qurayyat, Oman.
Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis - Al Qurm, Muscat, Oman.
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus - East Khawr, Salalah, Oman.
European Bee-eater Merops apiaster - Dawka, Oman.
Crested Lark Galerida cristata - Bahrain. Ubiquitous!
Pale Crag Martin Hirundo obsoleta - Taqar, Oman
Masked Wagtail Motacilla personata - Sohar Sun Farms, Oman.
Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus - Bahrain. Now almost completly engulfed by new building developments, time is running out for the famous regular roosting site here.
Blackstart Cercomela melanura - Ayn Hamran, Oman.
Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina - Al Gaftain, Oman.
Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka - 1cy female, Sayq Plateau, Oman.
Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides - Tawi Attair, Oman.
Hume's Wheatear Oenanthe alboniger - Muscat, Oman.
Daurian Shrike Lanius isabellinus - adult, Al Qurm, Muscat.
Turkestan Shrike Lanius [isabellinus] phoenicuroides - adult male, Quitbit, Oman.
Turkestan Shrike Lanius [isabellinus] phoenicuroides - 1cy, Quitbit, Oman.
Birdquest in Oman and Bahrain:
Birdquest watching Intermediate Egret at Khawr Rouri, Oman.
Birdquest watching Grey Hypocolius in Bahrain - not the nicest backdrop but what a bird!
 
Dan completes the bird families in Bahrain. Rosemary, Ian and Ken at Barr al Hikman
Nigel at the awesome Barr al Hikman
 
The beautiful Dhofar coast at Al Maghsayl Baobab tree at Wadi Henna
 
Frankincense tree Sunset over Masirah Island
Thanks to everyone who participated in this tour for making it such an enjoyable trip!
Mike Watson, Clitheroe, Lancashire
*Birdquest diamond species are either endemic to a country or local region or considered 'special' birds for some other reason (e.g. seen on few Birdquest tours; difficult to see across all or most of its range; the local form is endemic or restricted-range and may in future be treated as a full species).
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