Field Guides Tour Report OMAN & THE UAE: BIRDING ARABIA 2011 Jan 13, 2011 to Jan 29, 2011 Phil Gregory This was the third Field Guides trip to Arabia, and it was as ever an entertaining and adventurous experience with some great and seldom- seen birds and a fascinating cultural mix. Dubai is, shall we say, completely bonkers, but it has some incredible buildings amongst the excesses and the birding is remarkable for the number of rare and unexpected species that can turn up--this time they included Ruddy Shelduck, Sociable Plover, Eversmann's Redstart, and Ring Ouzel amongst the migrants. The resident birds of course aren't too shabby either with Sand Partridge, Cream-colored Courser, Chestnut- bellied Sandgrouse, Desert Eagle-Owl, Pallid Scops-Owl, and a great run of wheatears including Variable, Hooded, Hume's, and Red-tailed. Oman is an oasis of sanity and good taste by comparison, welcoming tourists with friendly people and some amazing desert scenery. Highlights included Hume's Owl, Spotted, Steppe, Eastern Imperial, Booted, and Bonelli's eagles, Great Black-headed Gull, White-cheeked Tern, the scarce Nile Valley Sunbird, South Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Serin, and Trumpeter Finch. We enjoyed dining out at numerous local cafes, saw an incredible truck on fire with its cargo exploding, visited the ancient frankincense trade center of Sumharam, saw frankincense trees in the wild, visited the souk in Muscat (which was flooding after a rainstorm!), had some wonderful Palestine Sunbird (Photo by guide Phil wild, arid land scenery at Jebel Akhdar and the desert plains of Qitbit Gregory) adjoing the Empty Quarter, saw a huge limestone sinkhole which Justin had abseiled down, learned how to tie a shemag on the head, and generally kept ourselves entertained and amused on what is an adventurous but not overly demanding tour. My thanks to the group for the chance to make the trip again, we hope you enjoyed the experience. Also thanks to Justin for being a great local fixer and enthusiastic helper, Steve "Madman" James for being an energetic and knowledgeable guide in UAE, and to Sharon at Field Guides HQ for good logistics. Happy Trails, hope to see you again at some point. --Phil in Kuranda, Feb 2011 KEYS FOR THIS LIST One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant BIRDS GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (Anser albifrons) – A single seen at Khor Rouri, two at Khor Mughsayl and 6 at East Khor, it is really odd to see this Siberian goose in the deserts of Dhofar! [b] EGYPTIAN GOOSE (Alopochen aegyptiaca) – A couple at Safa Park. [I] RUDDY SHELDUCK (Tadorna ferruginea) – One at Ras al Khor in Dubai, then two at Kor Taqah and one at Khor Rouri; this was a new Arabian bird for Phil and there seems to have been an influx this winter. GADWALL (Anas strepera) – Two at Safa Park, a female at Al Ansab and a drake at East Khor. [b] EURASIAN WIGEON (Anas penelope) – 5 at Al Ansab and a few at Khor Rouri. [b] Ras Mirbat seen from Wadi Hanna (Photo by guide Phil Gregory) MALLARD (Anas platyrhynchos) – Small numbers in the UAE, also at Buraimi SP and Al Ansab. [b] NORTHERN SHOVELER (Anas clypeata) – 35-50 seen at Al Warsan, Al Ansab and Khor Rouri. [b] NORTHERN PINTAIL (Anas acuta) – Two or 3 seen on five dates in both countries. GARGANEY (Anas querquedula) – Four day records, with 2 at Al Warsan, one at Al Ansab and a couple at Khors in Dhofar, all in eclipse or female plumage. One that was especially wanted by Mary Ann! [b] GREEN-WINGED TEAL (EURASIAN) (Anas crecca crecca) – 70 At Al Warsan and a few at wetlands in Oman. [b] COMMON POCHARD (Aythya ferina) – 9 at Al Warsan and 5 at Al Ansab. [b] FERRUGINOUS DUCK (Aythya nyroca) – 7 at Al Warsan, 21 at Al Ansab and at least 14 at Khor Rouri, this was an exceptionally good year for what is quite a rare species. [b] TUFTED DUCK (Aythya fuligula) – Three at Al Warsan and one at Al Ansab. [b] ARABIAN PARTRIDGE (Alectoris melanocephala) – Outstanding views of a flock of 10 just feeding quietly in the early morning at Ayn Hamran, one of the birds of the trip for sure. [E] GRAY FRANCOLIN (Francolinus pondicerianus) – Widespread in the UAE and seen at Muscat, they may well be native here but no-one seems to be certain. SAND PARTRIDGE (Ammoperdix heyi) – We did well for them after initially hearing one fly away one morning at Jebel Hafeet! Marj later spotted one walking across the wadi there and we got great views. 5 were at Jebel Qatar, then 3 up on the Sayq Plateau, with some folks seeing a couple at the Hume's Owl wadi too. LITTLE GREBE (Tachybaptus ruficollis) – 10 at Al Warsan and 20 at Al Ansab. GREATER FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus roseus) – 300 at Ras al Khor, a few at Khor al Beida, then small numbers in Oman including 7 over the sea at Salalah, just wonderful in flight. MASKED BOOBY (Sula dactylatra) – A few off Dhofar. BROWN BOOBY (Sula leucogaster) – Just one off Khor Maghsayl. GREAT CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo) – 300 in the UAE around Ras al Khor and Al Warsan; smaller numbers in the UAE with 70 at Al Warsan and a few in Dhofar. SOCOTRA CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) – A good trip for this middle eastern special, we saw 100 off Umm al Quwain, 150 off Khor Taqah and 50 off Khor Maghsayl. Very few nesting colonies are known, and the birds seem to aggregate in tight flocks which are very vulnerable to oil spills. LITTLE BITTERN (Ixobrychus minutus) – Joe and Dean saw one at Qurum Park, but it flushed very quickly and low down. GRAY HERON (Ardea cinerea) – 150+ at Al Warsan was a high count, and they were widespread in Oman. PURPLE HERON (Ardea purpurea) – Just 3 at Al Warsan on the first day. GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba) – 7 day records, mostly ones and twos but 30 on the first day. INTERMEDIATE EGRET (Mesophoyx intermedia) – Just a single sighting from Khor Rouri. LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta) – Six day records, mostly of singles. WESTERN REEF-HERON (Egretta gularis) – This big billed, pale legged species was widespread in 3 color morphs- blackish, grey or white. Structurally quite distinct from Little Egret. CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis) – Just 4 day records, max. 7 in UAE, and just two sightings of 3 birds in Oman. This is the western form, often split these days from the Eastern Cattle Egret. SQUACCO HERON (Ardeola ralloides) – Two at Al Warsan and one at East Khor. INDIAN POND-HERON (Ardeola grayii) – More widespread than usual, we saw 2 at Qurum Park, 5 at Khor Taqah and 3 at Khor Rouri and Khor Mughsayl. STRIATED HERON (Butorides striata) – Just one at Qurum Park estuary this trip. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nycticorax nycticorax) – 20 at Al Warsan on day one were the only record. GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus) – One at Khor Rouri was the only sighting. SACRED IBIS (Threskiornis aethiopicus) – Up to 4 were at the Green Mubazzarah, they may be becoming established here. [I] EURASIAN SPOONBILL (Platalea leucorodia) – Six day records, max. 30 at Ras al Khor. OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus) – Six day records, mostly singles apart from 3 at Khor Rouri. ORIENTAL HONEY-BUZZARD (Pernis ptilorhynchus) – These were a great find at Jarziz Farm, soaring high over with very broad wings, small heads and distinctively banded tails. they seem to be quite regular these days, probably previously overlooked as Honey Buzzard I suspect BLACK KITE (Milvus migrans) – One at the pivot fields may be of the nominate race, I have some good photos and need to check against the references as the immatures are not straightforward. Steve thinks it may be a new species for the UAE where lineatus and aegyptius are the usual forms, I found it the previous day at Al Warsan when doing a recce. EGYPTIAN VULTURE (Neophron percnopterus) – Five day records of what is becoming a rare species, Jebel Hafeet remains good for them and we had 30+ at Al Amrat dump. SHORT-TOED EAGLE (Circaetus gallicus) – Two up near Tawi Atair and one at Ayn Hamran. EURASIAN MARSH-HARRIER (Circus aeruginosus) – Widespread with 7 day records, including some fine males. PALLID HARRIER (Circus macrourus) – Seen nicely at Jarziz Farm with a Pallid Scops-Owl (Photo by guide Phil spanking male, and one at Al Beed looked like an immature. Gregory) MONTAGU'S HARRIER (Circus pygargus) – Was it or wasn't it? The male bird that was sat on the wires on the plateau near Tawi Atair had rufous streaks on the breast, and I saw black lines on the upper secondaries as it flushed, which makes me think it was this species, though folks who got better aspected views thought it was Pallid. They can be tricky if not seen closely, I wish we'd got a photo! SHIKRA (Accipiter badius) – A couple of folks got brief looks at one at Safa Park, still very scarce in the UAE but becoming more frequent. EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK (Accipiter nisus) – Joe saw one at the pivots, there was one perched at Ayn Hamran that showed very well and flew over later for all of us, whilst another flew by at Salalah on the last day. [b] EURASIAN BUZZARD (STEPPE) (Buteo buteo vulpinus) – Just one single over a motorway in the UAE, a poor winter for the mid-size raptors it seems. GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE (Aquila clanga) – We had some fine views, starting with one being mobbed by a Western Marsh Harrier at Ras al Khor.