Jordan - Birds & Archaeology Naturetrek Tour Report 10 – 18 October 2015 Blackstart by Rachael Anderson Green Bee-eater by Julian Fawcett Wadi Rum by Julian Fawcett Report compiled by Cliff Waller Images courtesy of Rachael Anderson & Julian Fawcett Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Jordan - Birds & Archaeology Tour Report Tour Participants: Cliff Waller (leader) & Ghaith Hammouri (local guide) with six Naturetrek clients Day 1 Saturday 10th October London to Amman Everyone arrived at the airport in good time for our flight to Amman. The flight, although a little late departing, was comfortable and arrived on time at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport. On arrival we met a representative of our ground agent who helped smooth the way through the quite tight airport formalities. By the time we reconnected with our luggage it was already getting dark, so we boarded the bus to travel the short distance to our comfortable hotel. Here the somewhat slow room allocation allowed everyone in the group to get better acquainted. Arriving too late to dine, we were provided with quite a substantial snack supper in our rooms. Day 2 Sunday 11th October Amman to Azraq After a pre-tour departure meeting with our cultural guide Ghaith Hammouri, a tall bearded character with a ready smile, we headed off, skirting around the ever expanding Amman and slowly moving eastwards towards Azraq and the Iraq border. Our first stop was at the roadside 9th century Karala Castle, where Ghaith was able to exhibit his exceptional knowledge of its history. A few birds were also seen. As well as the expected Feral Pigeons and House Sparrows, we saw Desert and Crested Larks, and a Red-backed Shrike. Our next stop was at Qasr Amra, an 8th century World Heritage Site, and the best preserved of the Umayyad forts from the second of the four Caliphates periods. We were able to admire the ancient wall frescos and ceiling paintings, some of which depicted mammals such as Lion, now long extinct in this region. We also had the opportunity to watch some intricate restoration taking place. Next we drove the short distance to Azraq and had lunch in a local restaurant. We then went to Azraq Eco Lodge where we left our luggage. After a short break we headed to Azraq Wetland Reserve. Due to the middle of the day heat we birded from the hide as it provided the only available shade. Once a huge wetland, this reserve is now only three poorly designed fairly small artificial lakes, maintained by pumping water from underground, but due to the lack of water in this area it still attracts an exciting variety of birds. Here we saw Grey, Purple and Squacco Herons and Great Egret, while ducks included Garganey and Teal. Other species recorded included Marsh Harrier, Steppe Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Hoopoe, Eurasian Kingfisher, large numbers of Collared Doves and White-cheeked Bulbuls, and brief views of a fine male Pallid Harrier. After a brief visit to the reserve interpretive centre, we headed back into town for drinks on our way to the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve. On arrival we found the reserve closed due to construction of a massive new interpretive centre, but on request we were allowed into the area around the original study centre so that we could walk through to the first of the massive enclosures to see Arabian Oryx. Fortunately several were quite © Naturetrek December 15 1 Jordan - Birds & Archaeology Tour Report close when we arrived as they had come down to the drinking pool close to the fence. They are obviously breeding successfully as we saw a couple of calves. Birds seen here included our first Common and Black Redstarts, as well as Chiffchaff, Spotted Flycatcher and several more Red-backed Shrikes. On our way back we stopped and walked a fair distance across the open desert which was a mixture of sand and stone. Birds were scarce although we eventually found several Crested Larks and two Temminck’s Horned Larks. Later we had a pleasant dinner at the Eco Lodge, which was cooked by local people. After a quick run through the log, everyone was more than ready to turn in. Day 3 Monday 12th October Azraq to Dana We all met at 6.30am for a pre-breakfast trip towards the Iraqi border, to visit the black Basalt area to search for the black morph Mourning Wheatear and the very dark annae race of Desert Lark, which are almost unique to this area. Somewhat surprisingly we found the best area for birds to be on the large area of dumped rubbish, where we found several Desert Wheatears and a number of black morph Mourning Wheatears. While on the way back we encountered a pair of the annae race of Desert Lark. We also passed Azarq Castle, an old Roman fort where T. E. Lawrence stayed to recuperate from his wounds in 1917. Although we did not have time to stop and visit, an explanation about the site was given and Ghaith gave us a brief history. After breakfast we left just after 8.30am on the long journey to Dana. After reaching Amman we took the quicker Desert Highway which saved time and allowed us to incorporate a drinks and toilet stop. As we travelled we saw several more Desert Wheatear and a Hoopoe. We eventually joined the Kings Highway again and went to Karak for lunch; the quicker route allowing time for a more leisurely meal at the restaurant next to the castle. Here several Blue Rock Thrushes were obligingly present, allowing excellent views, while Rock Martin and a distant Short-toed Snake Eagle were also seen. Although not on our itinerary, we managed to find a little time for some of the group to make a visit into the castle. Travelling on, we eventually found that the road to Dana was closed, which entailed an extra 30 mile detour. We did see a few birds however, with lots of Mourning Wheatear, as well as our only Steppe and Lesser Spotted Eagles, which had obviously been feeding on some carcass hidden amongst the rocks as several Brown-necked Raven were present, while a Sparrowhawk was also seen. After a stop at the viewpoint overlooking the Dana depression, we continued to our hotel in the village below. We had a brief break to deposit our bags before setting off from the village for a walk below the cliffs. We saw Blackcap and Spotted Flycatcher, and several Redstarts including two of the attractive samamiscus race, one a fine male. We also saw White-eyed Bulbul and our first Common Whitethroat, while high above us along the cliffs we watched four Levant Sparrowhawks. 2 © Naturetrek Jordan - Birds & Archaeology Tour Report Day 4 Tuesday 13th October Dana to Aqaba A Desert Owl (Strix hadorami) was heard in the distance just before dawn and a few birds were also seen from the roof of the breakfast area, with particularly good numbers of Tristram’s Starling as well as Laughing Dove, Blue Rock Thrush and our first Chukar Partridge. We left about 7.40am to connect with the bus down into the Dana Wildlife Reserve, only to find on arriving five minutes before our appointed time that the bus had already gone down with another group, so we had to wait, meaning that we didn’t reach the valley bottom until after nine o’clock, by which time it was already getting quite warm. The area around the campsite and the juniper scrub on the adjoining hillsides were surprisingly birdless and we struggled to find any sign of Syrian Serin, in spite of several sallies into the juniper scrub. We also spent two sessions above the drinking pool, as water is extremely scarce in this area. Here large numbers of White-eyed Bulbul, Tristram’s Starling, Greenfinch and House Sparrow appeared. On one of visits to the juniper we did hear a brief snatch of Syrian Serin song. We also saw our first Scrub Warbler but these were not very obliging, and other species seen included Chukur Partridge, Brown-necked Raven, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Desert Lark, Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart. We also saw numerous lizards here including Fringe-toed Lizard, Bridled Skink and Starred Agama. At this very dry time of year the flora is not very obvious, but there were hundreds of dead stems of Sea Squill, a species of Hyacinth, sometimes called Sea Onion, which must be quite a sight at the right time of year. After acquiring drinks and eating our lunch in the shade of the camp site dining area, we headed back up the hill around 2.30pm to join our own transport for the three or so hour journey to Aqaba. We made a few brief stops along the way for Mourning Wheatear and a few others species. We also stopped to get distant views of the spectacularly situated Shobak Castle, which was eventually surrendered to Saladin in 1189. As we travelled on, the best birds seen were brief views of two Spectacled Warblers. It was getting towards dark by the time we reached Aqaba, so we went straight to the hotel to check-in. Day 5 Wednesday 14th October Aqaba Area The border crossing to Israel only opens about 8am, so we left the hotel at 7.40am for the Bird Observatory area. On reaching the gate into the Observatory we found it was still locked and had to linger a while for staff to arrive.