We Head Into The Wadis And A Beach Full Of Birds Oman A Birdwatching Adventure Day Three
African Paradise Flycatcher just one of the stunning birds in the wadis of Oman.
We drove about half an hour from our hotel to a beautiful wadi with green trees and shrubs and so many birds. On the way we experienced “interesting” tracks and were grateful for the big 4×4’s that made easy work of some of the steepest hills we had ever driven on – luckily very short sections. Of course, we also paused to look at birds including our fist Isabelline Wheatears, proved to be a common bird In Oman, and stunning Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. Nice to see three red fox along the way too.
We enjoyed gorgeous Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters everyday of our Birdwatching Trips Tour in Oman.
As we neared the end of the wadi, with steep hills around us with rocky crags and thankfully still in the shade, a stunning European Roller was seen on top of a small tree another wow bird. We stopped by a camel drinking trough and set the scopes to see which birds would come down to drink. Immediately we saw lovely Cinnamon-breasted Buntings fly down to take advantage of the clean fresh water. These were soon followed by Laughing Doves, Ruppell’s Weavers and African Silverbills. The bushes above us were also busy with birds as Spectacled Bulbuls, Arabian Warblers and Tristram’s Grackles all fed close to our position near the trough. The skies above were also busy – hundreds of Forbes Watson’s Swift swept back and forth, three fantastic Bonelli’s Eagles showed off in the morning sun along with Eastern Imperial Eagle, three Short-toed Snake Eagles, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and three Common Kestrels, where do you look!
Back at the trough a stunning African Paradise Flycatcher came in and showed off – one of the birds we had hoped to see here, and it did not disappoint. Abyssinian White-eyes also came down to drink and were joined by a herd of camels. The camels were curious about us some of them coming over to check us out a very Arabia experience! Sadly, no sign of the Arabian Golden-winged Grosbeak that friends had seen here the previous week, but we had plenty of time to re-visit this wonderful place later in the trip.
Driving out of the wadi we stopped to admire our first Desert and Pied Wheatears of the trip and again to admire the gorgeous Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. A short drive took us to another wadi, again green and with a pool so lots of birds here even though it was now very hot. Similar mix of species to our earlier stop but with some added spice, Julie H quickly spotted a Grey-headed Kingfisher, another of our most wanted species in Oman. What a stunning bird this was and luckily it stayed in view for everyone to enjoy it. Another African species, like the Paradise Flycatcher, on the northern edge of its range. Next up was a rather skulking Black-crowned Tchagra that moved through the scrub giving only glimpses. A Hoopoe was much more helpful pottering around as Hoopoes do under the trees – always a thrill to see. A pair of Blackstarts also showed off close to the Hoopoe what a wonderful morning.
Back to the hotel for a delicious lunch and then a break as it was now over 30C in the shade and wanted to enjoy rather than endure our birding. After a break we headed out again and west of Salalah to fantastic beach teaming with hundreds and hundreds of birds – paradise found! As we walked down to the beach, we stopped to admire Citrine Wagtails in the reeds, a Red-throated Pipit and a very confiding Isabelline Shrike.
Reaching the shore, we were stunned by the sheer number and variety of birds laid out before us, where to begin. Well, the big ones are easy to see, a flock of Greater Flamingos were feeding in the shallow water running across the beach and amongst them were Eurasian Spoonbills. Then we spotted the bird we had hoped to see here an African Openbill Stork! This was only the second record of this species in Oman so a real thrill to watch it feeding along the tideline in the perfect light. Terns were all over the beach and flying above and what a mix of species – huge Great Crested, massive Caspian, smaller Common and Whiskered and tiny Little Terns. Then there were the waders, oh my so many birds to check through here it was fantastic birding. Terek Sandpipers were spotted by Geoff such a rarity back home in the UK yet here we watched them feeding amongst big flocks of Little Stints, along with Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Common Ringed Plover, and Eurasian Oystercatchers in glorious sunshine. Then we spotted sand plovers and after careful observation identified both Greater and Lesser Sandpolvers feeding amongst the mass of waders. And there was more, Whimbrel, Temminck’s Stints, Common Snipe, Bar-tailed Godwits and even a close Broad-billed Sandpiper what an amazing place. It was really hard to leave this totally amazing spot that offered so many species at one location, all these birds were enjoyed from just one viewpoint overlooking the beach! We headed back to the hotel with time to shower and relax before dinner at 7pm and what a wonderful dinner we enjoyed. The bird list took a long time we had enjoyed so many species and all so close to our base, we were loving Oman!
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