Around Al Ain, UAE

Andrew Bailey had organised a second busy day on Saturday. Most of it was in the Al Ain area so that meant leaving the house around 5 am. 

The first stop was Zakher lake and it was still relatively cool. Indeed it turned out to be the only cool birding of the day.

clamorous reed warbler

Immediately on parking the car and getting out, we saw and heard a group of clamorous reed warbler in the nearest set of reeds.

There were two other clusters of them eslewhere as we walked round.

Black-winged stilt were no surprise. 

black-winged stilt

The most numerous wader was probably little stint though.

little stint

In the water we observed little grebe, common moorhen and a single coot.

little grebe

On a small island were little tern.

little tern

On the same island were also Kentish plover and ringed plover.

ringed plover (with Kentish plover at back)

We didn't have time to walk all the way round the lake but we could see two flamingo and a great white egret at the far side.

Egyptian goose

Much closer but directly into the sun was a solitary Egyptian goose. Interestingly although it is regular in Al Ain and near-by places such as at Zakher lake, it is classified as a vagrant with just three records in Oman. The border is not far and I suspect that any water bodies near Al Buraimi on the Oman side must surely host them from time to time.

After Zakher lake, we headed next to Wadi Tarabat. 

Hume's wheatear

Although we had glimpsed a couple of Hume's wheatear on wires on our return journey the day before, this was the first place to observe them properly. We saw three.

desert lark

Two pale brown species were seen in the wadi. These were desert lark and trumpeter finch. The latter was shy as usual and I failed to obtain a picture.

Upcher's warbler 1

The low acacia bushes in wadis like this as excellent habitat for passage Upcher's warbler.

Upcher's warbler 2

We observed two. One gave very good views.

Upcher's warbler 3

Their tail action, where they pump it and part rotate it, is quite distinctive. Indeed it is unmistakable. This is one bird where behaviour is better than plumage and structure for quick identification.

striolated bunting

A fairly common bird in the wadi, it would seem, is striolated bunting.

Egyptian vulture

Flying high above was my first Egyptian vulture of the trip.

hoopoe

The next major stop after Wadi Tarabat was Green Mubazzarah. This is a resort which is heavily watered to create lawns and other vegetated areas within a natural wadi. It must be a magnet for many birds. In our case we saw five rufous tailed rock thrush and several hoopoe. Other birds included white-eared bulbul and another Upcher's warbler. Another Egyptian vulture was seen overhead.

Time spent outside the car was limited as it was getting very hot just like the day before.

To partly escape the heat we climbed Jebel Hafeet and up to the Mercure hotel gardens. This hotel is almost at the peak. 

We calculated it was 6 degrees C cooler there but it was still very warm.

European bee-eater

A flock of European bee-eater passed over but one bird stopped to rest. It looked exhausted.

Hume's wheatear

Hume's wheatear were present in the garden but especially on the lamp posts. Apparently hooded wheatear can be seen there too at times but we were unlucky.

Rufous-tailed rock thrush

Yet another rufous tailed rock thrush was observed and a common redstart was also seen on the edge of the hotel complex. More Egyptian vulture were also present on the mountain.

It was now heading towards the hottest time of the day and so the best time to travel back in an air conditioned car.

We travelled back towards Abu Dhabi for a meal and then some late birding. By this stage I had over 80 species on my new formed UAE list.

I will write about the birding in Abu Dhabi next and show my complete weekend list.

Ayn Hamran

Ayn Hamran is a hotspot for Arabian and Afro-tropical specialities. Its not bad for migrants too.

It was my first visit yesterday and although I failed to find the much sought after Arabian golden grosbeck I came away more than happy.

Other specialities were on display including close encounters with African paradise flycatcher.

African paradise flycatcher

Indeed the very first bird I saw when I opened the car door on arrival was a Dideric cuckoo, another Afro-tropical bird.

Dideric cuckoo

It mainly parasitises Ruepell's weaver. The weaver has finished breeding in much of the area but not quite yet next to the springs and streams which included Ayn Hamran.

Ruepell's weaver

I presume the cuckoo will migrate once breeding season is finally over. Grey headed kingfisher was also present and it too must surely migrate soon.

Hoopoe

I soon spotted a hoopoe which loves these wet areas.

Daurian shrike

As I continued walking downstream I also saw a Daurian shrike. This appears to be the less common of the two red-tailed shrikes but seems to be seen more often near water and higher up.

blackstart

I spent over 30 minutes under the shade of two or three large trees and associated bushes. There was a real cluster of bird activity there. Blackstart was the most common bird but there were also many Ruepell's weaver and two rufous bush robin.

Eastern nightingale

I was very happy to see two common nightingale (eastern) in this small area too.

front view of eastern nightingale

Indeed I saw five during the whole session. I wonder if they winter there?

It is now getting a little harder to add new birds to my Oman list as it gets longer. However Common nightingale was one.

spotted flycatcher

In the same small group of trees there was also a spotted flycatcher. This is a really common bird in many places near Salalah at the moment.

When I eventually moved on, I continued to head downstream to the edge of the picnicking area and so less people visit. It was here I flushed an adult Bonelli's eagle. This bird is also proving to be common here. Indeed I have yet to see any other kind of eagle.

adult Bonelli's eagle

At this point I turned round and headed back upstream. The only different bird seen on the way back towards the car was Abyssinian white-eye.

Abyssinian white-eye

The area was beginning to fill up with day trippers. I made an instant decision to climb a little way up the wadi starting out by walking through some very shaded area. There were more rufous bush robin, common nightingale and African paradise flycatcher in there.

Further up, the wadi based vegetation thins out and there is some relatively dry scrub land with scattered trees before reaching the main tree line. It was in the scrub land that I saw the first black crowned tchagra of my life. This has been a real nemesis bird for me. Even now I failed to get a photo.

Going any further up would have been impossible as it it so steep. So I elected to go back to the car and drive up the hill through a road to the west of the Ayn.

I found this road didn't take me much higher but it did let me see some more interesting birds.

On one same wire less than 50 metres apart were three different birds which were a little unusual. The first bird was a rufous-tailed rock thrush which was an unexpected addition to my country list.

Rufous-tailed rock thrush

To its left was one of the blandest Daurian shrike I have ever seen.

a bland Daurian shrike

To its right was a first year European roller with its brown head and brownish throat.

juvenile European roller

The diversion was merited.

It's still a holiday here and I may well strike out inland next.

More on the walk home

This blog looks at some birds seen walking home on April 30th and May 1st in Riyadh.  All birds were observed in the remains of the university's experimental farm which is slowly being closed down. However it still attracts some passage birds at the moment.

On April 30th I wasn't going to take the route through the farm but I heard the sound of European bee-eater from the university car park and changed my mind.

European bee-eater

When I arrived the birds were gorging themselves on the bees from the hives still kept there.

Four European bee-eater

I have yet to see a single blue-cheeked bee-eater this spring. As I have noted before, they are more common in autumn while the European bee-eater is more common in spring. 

female rufous tailed rock thrush 

On one of the fences surrounding the grounds was sat a female rufous tailed rock thrush oblivious to the heavy construction taking place right beside her.

Willow warbler

The only warbler I found was a single willow warbler. Up to May 1st the farm had been particularly weak for warblers this season.

red backed shrike

There was a shy red-backed shrike which simply would not allow me close.

pale crag martin

By the gate to the farm I stayed a couple of minutes to watch a pale crag martin seemingly practicing building a nest. It kept coming back to the roof and nudged different parts of the ceiling. I have seen this behaviour before.

These two visits to the farm were the fore runners of a very good afternoon there on May 4th. On that afternoon birding was the best there since the days when the farm was fully running. I'll blog about that next.

Early morning at East Salbukh

On Friday I returned to East Salbukh wetland for the third time in five weeks. I birded there from 8 am until 3.30pm. It extremely hot and thirsty work but I persevered. However for lengthy birding trips, it will be the last time I start that late and continue that long in the Riyadh area until October.  I will be on my "summer schedule" which is more like 5 am until 11 am.

Indeed I saw as nearly as many birds between 8 am and 10 am as for the rest of the day. Clearly, the birds don't like the heat either.

I am dividing the report into two based on my observations before 10 am and after 10 am. This blog is about the former.

female rufous tailed rock thrush

On leaving the car and walking towards the wetland, I passed a group of desert lark. My next stop was not the wetland however. Instead I saw a dark bird in the distance which I deviated towards.  It proved to be a female rufous tailed rock thrush.  This was my first and probably only one this spring.

After this I made my way to the wetland in an area of tamarisk bushes. A flock of European bee-eater fleetingly halted there before deciding to carry on with their migration.

white eared bulbul

These tamarisk bushes held plenty of chiffchaff and willow warbler on my last two visits. This time I spotted just two willow warbler and a barred warbler as well as several of the resident graceful prinia.  

This spring is much hotter than the last two and I am sure the passage has been faster this year because of it.

The tamarisk bushes are the only place in the wetland where I have seen white eared bulbul.

willow warbler

As I journeyed round the wetland I next came to the area which brims with house sparrow. 

crested lark

A few metres further away from the water line in the same area were several crested lark as well as Kentish plover.

Kentish plover

I have to be very careful where I walk around here. Once again I was subjected to distraction displays for Kentish plover trying to lead me away from their nests an young birds.

Terek sandpiper

Carrying on round the wetland, I came across one of the more surprising sights of the day.

There were two Terek sandpiper feeding and resting at the water's edge in a sandy area.  They allowed close approach which I put down to tiredness. Despite this they looked well fed.

Two Terek sandpiper

Although I have seen Terek sandpiper this far inland before on passage, it is not a common sight.  They were lucky to pick out this wetland in a sea of semi desert.

profile of a Terek sandpiper

Near-by near some bushes was a more common migrant. It was a spotted flycatcher.

spotted flycatcher

It was seen just before 10 am. I'll blog about what was seen after 10 am next and I'll also include a full list of birds seen throughout the day.