The day of the night herons

 Wadi Al Khalij defies all the ideas you might have about the Libyan environment. It is a permanent if short river with lush green reeds and surrounding marquis vegetation. 

When Gencer and I descended into the wadi basin we thought it would be a bit special. It had already provided us with the locally rare maghreb wheatear on the way down the valley (see yesterday's blog).

wadi al khalij near the sea

The green, seemingly peaceful environment appears a good habitat for resident, wintering and passage birds. And so it proved.

map of last Friday's route to three wetlands

When we first arrived we were immediately aware of plenty of crag martin skimming the water. We could hear reed warbler, moorhen and water rail which we presume were all residents. A marsh harrier was seen overhead. This bird is everywhere that there is fresh water in Libya at the moment.

upstream about 300 metres from the wadi's seaward end

The really eye-catching sighting was a flock of 30 black crowned night heron split into three groups. All were hiding at the reed edges of the pristine, clear and fish-ridden water.

Can you see all seven night heron in this picture?  (photo by Gencer Gencoglu)

All the night heron were juveniles. Apparently it is not unusual for them to migrate without adults. Bird Life International's website calls this bird a vagrant in Libya. I think 30 birds could tell them that they are wrong!

Gencer and I are actually wondering if they will stay the winter because it's a very sheltered spot and the wadi can only get wetter not drier during the winter.

a few of the night heron moving position in wadi al khalij

The Collins guide shows black-crowned night heron as non-stopping passage birds. I think this needs amendment too now reporting is much better in Libya.

a single juvenile black crowned night heron

As well as the marsh harrier there was an osprey in the valley. It looked like it had been in a fight or someone had taken a shot at it. Nevertheless it behaved healthily. There are rich pickings in the river so it should do well there. By the way, this was the second osprey we saw that day. One was seen just after we left Derna at the start of our trip.

osprey, wadi al khalij (photo by Gencer Gencoglu)

There were some other easily seen water birds. There were several kingfisher, some mobile and noisy green sandpiper and at least one ringed plover and common sandpiper.

kingfisher taking a rest at wadi al khalij

We are in no doubt that this place is an important migrant trap because of its special environment -fed from the waters of the near-by Jebel Akhdar mountain and its shelter.

common redstart

We didn't have time to have a really serious search for all the passage and wintering passerines but they included willow warbler, wood warbler, redstart, blackcap, whinchat and stonechat.

wadi opening next to the sea

The river doesn't quite make the sea (above ground) but the opening is picturesque.  I know some companies have looked at combining culture at Cyrene with birding. I would recommend this site to any tour organiser.

Mine you ,the next site we visited at Wadi al hamsa was also impressive. Please look what we saw in the next blog. There is at least one very special picture.

Below is a list of species seen in the upper and lower wadi area. In the spirit of international co-operation its in Turkish and English!.  X means present but not counted.

Tür Adı	Name of Species
Gece balıkçılı	Black-crowned night-heron	30
Gri balıkçıl	Grey heron	1
Saz delicesi	Western marsh-harrier	1
Atmaca	Eurasian sparrowhawk	1
Balık kartalı	Osprey	2
Kerkenez	Common kestrel	X
Sukılavuzu	Water rail	X
Sutavuğu	Common moorhen	X
Halkalı cılıbıt	Common ringed plover	1
Yeşil düdükçün	Green sandpiper	5
Dere düdükçünü	Common sandpiper	1
Küçük kumru	Laughing dove	X
Yalıçapkını	Kingfisher	X
Tepeli toygar	Crested lark	X
Tarlakuşu	Skylark	X
Kaya kırlangıcı	Crag martin	X
Kır kırlangıcı	Swallow	X
Kızılkuyruk	Redstart	X
Çayır taşkuşu	Whinchat	X
Taşkuşu	Stonechat	X
Turkish name n/k	Maghreb  wheatear	1
Taşkızılı	Rock thursh	2
Saz kamışçını	Reed warbler	X
Kara başlı ötleğen	Blackcap	1 (Female)
Orman çıvgını	Wood warbler	1
Söğütbülbülü	Willow warbler	X
Büyük örümcekkuşu	Great grey shrike	X
Kuzgun	Raven	2
Serçe	House sparrow	X
Tarla çintesi	Corn bunting	1