Itinerary
Dec 30 - Cairns/Brisbane/Singapore
Dec 31 - Singapore Dubai arrive 1330, taxi to Marina Grand Hotel in Sharjah
Jan 1 - Left hotel 0120 to Sharjah International Airport for Felix Air flight to Riyan/Mukallah Airport in Yemen, depart 0610 for 1 hr. 20 min flight. Then depart mid-morning on Felix Air to Socotra, arriving around 1100.
Birding in Yemen proper got us Yellow-billed Kite 1, with very pale head and tawny coverts, quite reddish below and a dark looking bill, Osprey 1, House Crow the first bird of 2014 and Black-crowned Sparrowlark 2.
Birding around Hadibo, Sheq River and Hoele scrub for Cisticola, then Danaghan cliffs for Socotra Buzzard site.
Jan 2 - Dixcem Plateau at 915m, then Diham lagoon and Sheq River via Ihaft and National Park.
Jan 3 - Qalansiyah seaport and pelagic out to rock stacks 3 hours offshore by single engine dinghy, birding Qalansiyah and Diham wetland sites on the way back.
Jan 4 - Hadibo area and depart for Riyan early pm/Dubai/Kuwait for the Hypocolius twitch.
An amazing trip, one Sue and I put together as I had long wanted to get here, and we managed to get some mates to come along despite understandable worries about security in Yemen.
Socotra Ecotours did a fantastic job, and we were lucky enough to get Ahmed Saeed as our guide, the local expert conservationist and birder. This beautiful island is a province of Yemen, but far removed from all the nonsense around Sana’a, and we experienced nothing but friendship and helpfulness from everyone we met here, a real touch of an old and largely vanished Arabia. We got colour photocopies of our visas, with the real thing to be stuck in when we got here, but when we arrived the system was down and it was not possible to do this- no problem they said, these guys are our friends, we will do it on the way out, and that’s exactly what happened, probably the first and only time I got an entry and exit stamp at the same time!
Around 70% of the island is designated as national park, and the habitat seems pretty good overall with the fantastic endemic vegetation much in evidence, those Dragon Trees are quite spectacular. There are some large wind-blown sand dunes along the coast, and a rocky plateau inland, the island was much more mountainous than I had expected. The Dixcem Plateau is essential for the Socotra Bunting, and well worth the trip for the fabulous bare limestone rock scenery, whilst the various wetlands and estuaries are well worth a look and turn up all sorts of interesting strays- we found White Pygmy-goose, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Indian Pond Heron, Pin-tailed Snipe and Citrine Wagtail. The endemics actually came quite easily, with the most localized being the Buzzard, Bunting, Starling and Grosbeak, we actually saw all 9 on the second day.
We stayed at the Taj Hotel in Hadibo, and it was fine, the aircon even worked, we had hot water and the outdoor meals were excellent, with great fish, rice and chicken dishes and freshly baked flat bread straight out of the tandoor over. The boys would sweep the floor then brush the goats off the dinner tables, all perfectly normal, and no-one got sick despite it all. Transport was via a Toyota Land Cruiser and worked very well, and there was an internet café type shop in town if you had to access email or Skype. We also had some great picnic lunches sat out on mats at various sites, thanks to our drivers and guides, they did a great job for this too.
The only thing I would not do again myself (apart from knocking my camera into a flooded wadi on day 1) is go on a pelagic, this turned out much as I feared, with the reputedly close-by rocks being some 3 hours out and accessed in an open single engine dinghy, with no lifejackets and no radio, and the swell gradually rising as the day wore on, plus a wild boatman who kept on singing or perhaps praying, I was never quite sure which. Coming back we came in by some spectacular rotted limestone cliffs, on a lee shore with big a swells rolling in, and me thinking if we run out of fuel here we are dead. Amazingly, we chugged out into the bay and about a minute later we ran out of fuel, much too close for comfort, all this for a few boobies, a couple of Persian Shearwaters in the first 30 minutes, and one distant Jouanin’s Petrel way out.
My thanks to Sue Gregory for putting it altogether, to Ahmed Saeed, Radwan and Abdul Jameel at Socotra Ecotours, and to my fellow birders for their good company and enthusiasm, let’s do this some more chaps.
African ticks 22 Lifers* 12 Bold = Socotra endemics
Persian [Audubon's] Shearwater Puffinus (lherminieri) persicus
Just 2 on the pelagic trip on Jan 3
Jouanin's Petrel Bulweria fallax *
A single on the pelagic Jan 3, not too far from the rock stacks at the furthest point, all dark with rapid arcing flight, long thin wings and longish tail
Masked Booby Sula dactylatra
About 200 on the pelagic, with many on the rock stacks.
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
One from shore Jan 1 and about 10 on the pelagic.
Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis
9 + 5 on Jan 1 around Hadibo, one next day, about 400 on the pelagic and 30 on the last day.
Common Teal Anas crecca
One Jan 1 and 3 Jan 4 Hadibo wetland
Gadwall Anas strepera
One Jan 4 Hadibo wetland
Northern Pintail Anas acuta
2 daily Hadibo wetland, with 1 on the last day, 2 Qalansiyah wetland.
Garganey Anas querquedula
3 at Hadibo wetlands, then a single near Hadibo with 5 at Qalansiyah fishing port wetlands and one at Hadibo last day.
Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
One at Hadibo wetlands on 3 days.
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Two then two singles
Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca
5 at Hadibo wetlands on 3 dates, and 2 at the fishing port wetlands
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
Two at Qalansiyah fishing port wetlands.
White Pygmy-Goose Nettapus coromandelianus
3 at Qalansiyah wetlands were an excellent African tick
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber
4 at Hadibo, 14 next day nearby then 3 at Qalansiyah
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Singles at Hadibo on 3 days.
Western Reef-Egret Egretta gularis
Counts of 3. 3. 2 then 10
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Counts of 2. 4 and 1.
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
A single at Diham lagoon.
Great Egret Egretta alba
Singles on 3 days.
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Counts of 40 and then 20 around Hadibo.
Indian Pond-Heron Ardeola grayii
A single at Hadibo wetlands looked good for this species, it was dark above with a dark loral line, and well streaked below, another good African tick.
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
A single at Diham lagoon Jan 2.
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus
Pleasingly widespread and one of the first species we saw, with daily counts of 100, 50, 50 then 40. They sat and watched us eat breakfast each day.
Socotra Buzzard Buteo (buteo) socotrae *
Sparse, we saw 2 at a rocky site called Danaghan not far out of Hadibo on the first day, and had a single up on the Dixcem Plateau next day
Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Three on the first day and one next day.
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
A fine adult bird was seen sat on the sand near the coast by Diham lagoon on Jan 2, nicely photographed by David and with no trace of Barbary Falcon showing.
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Just 2 at the wetlands at Hadibo on Jan 1.
Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus
A single on the lagoon at Diham on the outskirts of Hadibo on Jan 2 and Jan 4, another great African tick.
Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
1 at Qalansiyah and 2 at Hadibo Jan 3 and 4.
Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura
A single at Hadibo wetland on Jan 4, seen perched and in flight, lacked a white trailing edge and had a very broad buffy supercilium bulging before the eye and typical of this species.
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
2 at Qalansiyah and then singles near Hadibo Jan 3 and 4.
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata
A single at Qalansiyah and singles near Hadibo on two dates
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
Counts of 3, 3 and 1 were all we saw.
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Counts of 1. 1. 4 and 6.
Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
1 at Hadibo on Jan 4.
Common Sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos
Counts of 2, 1 and 2 were all we saw.
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
4 near Hadibo on Jan 1.
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
One near Hadibo on Jan 4.
Little Stint Calidris minuta
Counts of 3, 12, 2 then 1.
Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii
7 around Qalansiyah.
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus
Daily counts of 10, very noisy along the Sheq River.
Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor
Just 2 on the gravel plain near the Sheq River on Jan 1.
Grey (Black-bellied) Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Counts of 1. 2 and 2.
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Just two records of a single then 2 birds.
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
One near Hadibo at Diham lagoon on Jan 4
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus alexandrinus
Just 3 then 2 near Hadibo.
Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii
Counts of 70, 5, 20 and 100, quite common on the beach near Hadibo.
Caspian Gull Larus (cachinnans) cachinnans
One definite near Hadibo Jan 3, and I have various gull pix that may show this species…..
Heuglin's Gull Larus fuscus heuglini
Widespread, the common gull along the beaches with numbers into the hundreds.
Common Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus
One at Hadibo wetland Jan 1
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
One near Qalansiyah Jan 2.
Great Crested (Swift) Tern Sterna bergii
70, 30 and 10, quite widespread.
Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis
Just a single near Hadibo with Crested Terns on Jan 1.
Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii
Two at Sheq River Jan 1 and 7 at the gravel plain adjacent on Jan 2, heard next day too.
Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) Columba livia
Two feral pigeons flying over Hadibo may have been someone’s pets, they were the only ones we saw.
Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis
Estimates of 50. 30, 6 then 2 for each day.
Bruce's Green Pigeon Treron waalia
Two near Danaghan on Jan 1 and heard next day in the NP.
Socotra [African] Scops-Owl Otus (senegalensis) socotranus *
Fantastic views of 3 birds on Jan 2 in the date palms along the Sheq River, with a couple of others heard. Video on IBC, and tape recordings there and on xenocanto.
Nubian Nightjar Caprimulgus nubicus jonesi *
Two birds out along a gravel track near the Sheq River plain on Jan 3, one being a juv. with very short tail and some down attached, the other a fine adult. Video of the juv. is on IBC. Also heard calling out along here.
Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis
Quite common, counts of 50. 30, 6 then 2 each day. Good to see House Crow had been eradicated.
Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis uncinatus
Seen on 3 dates with counts of 2, 2 then 1. Photo on IBC.
Somali Starling Onychognathus blythii *
Amazingly this was the first species I saw in Socotra, with two sat in a small tree by the airport entrance as we arrived! It was widespread, we had counts of 100, 100, 6 and 8 for the 4 days.
Socotra Starling Onychognathus frater *
Very uncommon, we saw just 2 birds up on the Dixcem Plateau, with another 2 later.
Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti
Counts of 5, 8. 6 then 2.
Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina
Counts of 2 then a single were all we saw.
Pale Crag Martin Hirundo obsoleta
Just one en route back from Qalansiyah.
White-breasted (Abyssinian) White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus socotranus
7 up on the Dixcem Plateau, recordings on XC.
Socotra Warbler Incana incana *
Two and another heard on Jan 2 and I heard it on the last day in the NP. Looks pretty Cisticola like but I wonder why Admiral Lynes did not regard it as one?
Socotra Cisticola Cisticola haesitatus *
One at Hoele was in display flight, and another 2 at a scrub area en route to Qalansiyah next day.
Black-crowned Sparrowlark Eremopterix nigriceps forbeswatsoni
5 on Jan 1 and 8 next day. Another good African tick.
Socotra Sparrow Passer insularis *
One of the commoner endemics, counts of 8. 50, 2 then 4
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Counts of 1. then 2. 2 and 2.
Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola
One at Diham lagoon on Jan 2 was a pleasing African addition.
Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava
One beema type at Diham lagoon Jan 4 had a bluish crown, white supercilium, yellow throat and blotchy yellow underparts, and a strange bird nearby had had a whitish supercilium tinged yellow, greenish crown and yellow chin, throat and underparts.
Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis socotrae
Counts of 6, 10 and 2, out on the gravel plains. Recordings on XC.
Socotra Sunbird Nectarinia balfouri *
Counts of 6 then 5.
Socotra Golden-winged Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus *
2 up on the Dixcem Plateau and one at the Ihaft NP showed nicely, and David and Simon saw 2 at Jan 4 in the NP again.
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Emberiza tahapisi insularis
Just 4 en route to Dixcem Jan 2, on the escarpment as we went up.
Socotra Bunting Emberiza socotrana *
Great views of 2 on the Dixcem Plateau, what a shame my camera had been dropped in the wadi the night before!
80 species
Phil Gregory
www. cassowary-house.com.au or www. sicklebillsafaris.com