Mid March at Raysut

Late on Saturday afternoon, I headed to Raysut where I visited two sites. One was the settling pools and the other was the treated water lake. As I have said before they are quite different. One is smelly and dirty while the other is a lake of very clear and clean water. Both attract large numbers of birds.

The settling pools are looking much better habitat overall than they were when I first starting visiting about 3 months ago. The overflow form two of the settling pools is being allowed to run off creating an impromptu marshland with a few natural looking pools and where cover is steadily growing. I hope they don't tidy this up too quickly.

The main settling pools themselves are square and concrete bounded. These alone attract birds. Walking around them on Saturday were several flamingo. Three little grebe were seen in one. Another had several slender-billed gull though the black-headed gull observed all winter have gone.

flamingo flying around the settling pools

There are always a few waders at the water's edge on the concrete but this time the main birding action was in the new (and hopefully not temporary marshy areas).

desert wheatear

Leaving the drier part of the complex behind, along with the odd tawny pipit and desert wheatear, I walked over the eastern side where the wetter area is.

eastern imperial eagle

There were several eagles on site. All were either eastern imperial eagle or greater spotted eagle. There are steppe eagle still around but many have left. Their dominance, in Raysut district as whole area, by 30 or 40 to one against the other eagles has gone.

greater spotted eagle

In the wet parts of the settling pool site was a large array of wader species. Wood sandpiper, common sandpiper and green sandpiper were joined by at least two marsh sandpiper.

marsh sandpiper

A small number of common redshank and two common greenshank were also observed.

greenshank

The variety included both little ringed plover and ringed plover.

little ringed plover

The ringed plover were in the same place as a large group of little stint.

ringed plover

There were thirty of them packed densely.

little stint

As I continued to walk round, I came across four cattle egret high on a tree on the perimeter.

cattle egret

As well as waders the marshy area with pools had attracted yellow wagtail. The one below is of the sub-species thunbergi  (grey-headed wagtail) as the ear coverts are darker than the crown.

thunbergi yellow wagtail

The vagrant spur-winged lapwing was still present as it has been all winter. The red-wattled lapwing it had been associating with appear to have left.

spur-winged lapwing

If this part of the settling pool complex continues to be kept marshy then the spring passage could be very interesting here. Of the birds I haven't yet seen in Oman, collared pratincole and several types of warbler must be possible.

On leaving the settling pools I went down the road 2 kilometres to the treated water lake.

In this cleaner environment there were fewer birds but these included common moorhen and several more little grebe.

A close look showed that one of the squacco heron was in fact an Indian pond heron.

Indian pond heron

There are always very many Indian house crow at this site and they are often seen intimidating other birds. 

Indian house crow

They even try to intimidate eagles.

House crow and Eastern imperial eagle 1

I saw one continually goad an Eastern Imperial eagle from behind.

House crow and Eastern imperial eagle 2

Each time it pecked the eagle it immediately retreated and reared up into the air.

House crow and Eastern imperial eagle 3

In the end the crow normally succeeds in displacing the eagle.

Eastern imperial eagle

Yellow birds were very much in evidence at the treated water lake: yellow wagtail, citrine wagtail and Ruepell's weaver.

yellow wagtail

The male weavers were busy making more nests. Looks like some breeding takes place before the Dideric cuckoo return.

Ruepell's weaver weaving

On Monday's afternoon, I visited Khawr Rori and got a surprise addition to my Oman list. I will blog about that next.

Gogob and Qairoon Harirti

I visited Qairoon Hariti on Friday. Its in an interesting position at the top of the southern slope of the Salalah to Thumrait road. up in the mountains.

This means its on the green, ocean-facing side. There is a complex of public buildings there with extensive but haphazard gardens. It was here that I birded although a large section of the gardens are out of bounds.

A good area was where the rubbish trucks for the area are parked and at the back of the workers houses.

Rubbish attracts flies and flies attract birds. Two passage common redstart were seen there.

bluethroat

A smart male bluethroat was the most attractive bird there. However at the whole site there was considerable diversity.

young long-billed pipit

There was a good mix of garden birds, natural-habitat birds and those which are both. 

Long-billed pipit and fan-tailed raven were typical non-garden birds.

graceful prinia

Graceful prinia, Abyssinian white-eye, white spectacled bulbul were present in the gardens and near-by spaces.

white wagtail

White wagtail is still present in Dhofar and that includes at Qairoon Hariti.

Arabian wheatear

Arabian wheatear can be seen easily along with desert wheatear and Isabelline wheatear at the moment.

tree pipit

There are very large number of tree pipit passing through the region at the moment well above the numbers which winter. Qairoon Hariti was no exception.

My overall verdict on Qairoon Hariti is that is worth stopping off on the way on my desert trips but not necessarily a destination in itself.

On Friday I made another stop on the way to and that was at Gogob which is below Qairoon Hariiti on the southern side. It is just off the Salalah-Thumrait road.

two Eastern Imperial Eagle

Not many wintering and passage eagles now remain. Steppe eagle numbers went down first. However a few Eastern Imperial Eagle were lingering and two were seen at Gogob. The one on the left of the picture is a young bird while the one on the right is a sub-adult.

Pallid harrier

While out walking there I accidentally flushed a resting pallid harrier from a large tree. Almost immediately two fan-tailed raven started to mob it. About two minutes later there were six of them.

Fan-tailed raven in flight

resting fan-tailed raven

This area has a high number of this species.

desert wheatear

One of the reasons I visited both Qairoon Hariiti and Gogob was to search for pied wheatear. I still haven't seen it in Oman and few appear to pass through Dhofar in spring or autumn. Once again I saw only desert wheatear and the odd Isabelline wheatear.

Tristram's starling

Of course, Tristram's starling, cinnamon-breasted bunting, white spectacled bulbul and Abyssinian white eye were plentiful as usual in the greener parts of the Dhofar mountains.

Cinnamon-breasted bunting

On Saturday, I changed habitat for my birding. I went to two very different arable farming areas. By the end of the day I had added a new bird to my Oman list. The next two blogs will cover this story.

On the way to Wadi Hanna

Yesterday, I went up the hills as I had said I would. I went to Wadi Hanna and Wadi Darbat looking out especially for any early migrants. I am satisfied with what I saw there. However this blog is about what was seen en route to those wadis.

I stopped off at roadside edge of Khawr Rori on the way out. This is on the plain just before the turn off that rises up into the mountains.  

There was plenty of bird activity there early in the morning. In the reeds and its adjacent wetland were clamorous red warbler, graceful prinia, wood sandpiper, common snipe, common greenshank, moorhen and common sandpiper.

Unfortunately, there was no real sign there or in the wider wadi of migrants. However it only a matter of time.

By way of partial compensation, I got some very good views of a black-crowned tchagra in the open.

Black-crowned tchagra in the open

Even when they are on the ground they often seek out ground-level cover such as shown below. However this time one crossed bare ground at least for a while.

black crowned tchagra 

This was also the first time I had seen black-crowned tchagra at Khawr Rori.

Abyssinian white eye

Other birds among the bushes and trees were Abyssinian white eye, Arabian warbler, laughing dove and Ruppell's weaver. More and more of the males of the latter species are in breeding plumage and some nest making has begun in the wetter areas includung at this site.

male Ruepell's weaver

I will keep visiting spots like the roadside edge of Khawr Rori all spring. Migrants will come. 

Having left Khawr Rori and having climbed up the hill side onto the plateau on the way to Wadi Hanna, I abruptly stopped the journey when I drove past a recently dead animal.

Fan-tailed raven on a carcass

It had attracted four eastern imperial eagle and a couple of fan-tailed raven. On my approach the eagles retreated to wires near-by and only the fan-tailed raven had the courage to stay on the carcass.

Eastern Imperial eagle on a wire

Despite my stillness I couldn't coax them back. I even photographed out of the front windscreen window so as not to disturb them hence the poor picture quality. In the end I gave up on them returning.

However I returned that way about 2 hours later having been to up to Wadi Hanna, This time I parked up a little further away from the carcass. While i was away it had been picked almost entirely bare. The four eastern imperial eagle had been joined by seven steppe eagle in the act.

some of the eagles on the remains of the carcass

I had caught the moment they were starting to disperse as the food source had finished.

one eastern Imperial eagle with three steppe eagle

There are often vultures on this plateau. It is a shame they weren't there this time.

This exhibition was a sideshow. The main purpose of the day had been to visit Wadi Hanna and Wadi Darbat. I did find a few migrants there as hoped and one was an addition to my Oman list. I will blog about this next.

A tern and 300 storks at Raysut

On Saturday, I returned to the Raysut area west of the city of Salalah. I had met a birding couple from Finland who had told me  two days before they thought they had seen a black tern at Raysut treated water lake. This would be a vagrant so it was a significant reason why I chose there to visit.

Whiskered tern at rest

I thought there was only one tern there and spent a lot of time tracking it. It had the all grey rump they mentioned. However, I was pretty sure it was a whiskered tern and coming home and analysing it proved it.

upperside of Whiskered tern in flight

Nevertheless I took more careful photos than usual to make sure. An all grey rump is a characteristic of whiskered tern and black tern but not the white winged black tern which is the most common wintering marsh tern in Dhofar.

The head pattern was a perfect fit for a whiskered tern too.

whiskered tern flying away

Only on returning home did I realise I had made a mistake. There had been two terns there. Unfortunately the photos of the second tern were few and most were too blurred.

unidentified tern

This second tern has a dark back and a different head pattern. It is either a black tern or a white winged black tern. It will need a return visit and hope that it is still there.

Sometimes birding brings disappointments.

white stork

There was other action at the treated water lake. A flock of 12 white stork flew over only to meet a flock of 40 Abdim's stork. They merged for a short while.

Abdim's stork with a single white stork

Meanwhile at ground level, I accidentally flushed three juvenile black-crowned night heron. I had seen one at the site before.

black-crowned night-heron

The site has many wintering citrine wagtail.

citrine wagtail

The water is deep enough to sustain a resident little grebe population.

little grebe

More blue-cheeked bee-eater were passing through. Every water body with cover has these birds at the moment. However, I still haven't seen a single European bee-eater in Oman.

blue-cheeked bee-eater

Blackstart is one of the most common birds down here in semi-arid and lusher settings.

blackstart

As well as the treated water lake I also went to the main rubbish dump where bird numbers have multiplied since my last visit. They were over 250 Abdim's stork and over 200 steppe eagle. 

Around the perimeter I also came across a European roller, a kestrel, several blackstart and desert wheatear and a few barn swallow.
.

sub adult steppe eagle

I laboriously looked through the steppe eagle to see if there was any exception.

young steppe eagle with eastern imperial eagle

In the end I found one Eastern Imperial eagle.

eastern imperial eagle

In my next blog, I'll report on a good late afternoon's birding on Monday when another species was added to my Oman list and it was a good one.