Dowkah in late August

My second and last call on Friday was to Dowkah farm which is about 60 kilometres north of Shisr as the brown-necked raven flies.

And more than a few of this bird were at Dowkah. At first I saw just a pair braving the fierce heat of the fields.

brown-necked raven 

Towards the end of my visit I found another 50 taking in the shade in a group of palm trees. This is the largest group I have met in Oman.

second brown-necked raven of a pair

Very few birds joined the pair of brown-necked raven out in the fields. Indeed virtually every bird out there was close to or in the shade of the pivot bars or the other water equipment. It was probably over 40C even in the shade.

northern wheatear

In one field there was a small group of northern wheatear. This wheatear is nowhere near as common as Isabelline wheatear in Oman and again this was the largest number I have seen here.

northern wheatear panting

Only four other species were seen out in the open fields. Two of them were larks: hoopoe lark and black-crowned sparrow lark. 

hoopoe lark

The third was rufous bush robin. Three were seen and all were seeking cover around the pivot bars.

The final bird was long-legged buzzard. I spotted this as I walked back to the car at the end of the session. It was high above one of the far pivots but it was unmistakable. This had been a target for my Oman list for some time. It proved far more difficult to find than in Saudi Arabia. 

I later discovered in the Oman bird list (which is actually a book) that Dowkah farm is the location of the largest ever sighting of this species in Oman with 30 birds and indeed the sighting was in summer.

Most of my birding time at Dowkah farm was spent near the water tank where there are plenty of palms and medium sized bushes. There is also a network of small irrigation channels. This small patch have been proven a magnet for birds by many birders especially during passage.

This time it was heaving with birds. The density of warblers was particularly high.

common whitethroat

As at Shisr, common whitethroat was plentiful.

common whitethroat (left)

Upcher's warbler was equally plentiful.

Upcher's warbler

And once again like at Shisr there were many eastern olivaceous warbler.

eastern olivaceous warbler at water

This time there was an additional warbler not seen at Shisr.

eastern olivaceous warbler in palm

It was a great reed warbler.

great reed warbler at water

It was so obviously much larger than all the other warblers and direct comparison was easy as they came down to drink in one of the water channels.

great reed warbler (left) with spotted flycatcher (right)

I have great hopes for this patch and finding warblers during the rest of the autumn but its a long journey.

face of great reed warbler

There were also three Turkestan shrike in the patch. I saw one trying to catch one of the resident house sparrow but failing.

one of the Turkestan shrike

Separation from Daurian shrike is more difficult in autumn with some birds but these were relatively straightforward. Overall each of these birds were browner than Daurian shrike especially on the crown. The tail is a big clue too being so very dark.

a second of the Turkestan shrike

Amazingly I observed nearly 30 rufous bush robin and over 20 spotted flycatcher in the patch. There were a small number of rosy starling too.

male golden oriole 1

It was very early for golden oriole migration but one male gave a good display. I thought I glimpsed a female too but I am not certain.

male golden oriole 2

Not quite every bird was taking in the shade. A flock of barn swallow passed through briefly with some stopping to rest on the tallest tree in the farm.

barn swallow

Both a green sandpiper and a common sandpiper flushed from the water tank too.

This visit was very worthwhile and I intend to go again as many times as I can this season though it is a 340 kilometre round trip.

Wadi Salalah with warblers

Early on Thursday morning I visited Wadi Salalah for the first time in over a month. There is no longer continuous water all across the wadi. However it now consists of large pools, reeds and sedge grasses. This is a habitat I haven't found elsewhere in the city and the birding did prove to be a little different.

For a start I found my first chiffchaff in the country.

chiffchaff

It's an uncommon bird in southern Oman. It is so uncommon I saw 202 species ahead of it.

pools at Wadi Salalah

I never thought I would be so happy at seeing this "ordinary" bird.

second view of chiffchaff

Indeed the habitat appeared more amenable to migrant passerines than most others I have seen in Dhofar. Though I have made a mental note to get into the local plantations and see what they can offer. 

third view of chiffchaff

While I only saw one chiffchaff, I observed three great reed warbler in the wadi.

great reed warbler

One was in a barren tree next to the one with the chiffchaff and was very confiding.

second view of great reed warbler

This small cluster of trees over hanging the reeds and in the shade caused by the wadi's side wall were a "purple patch". A male and female shining sunbird also hopped on to them at one stage.

graceful prinia

Several graceful prinia were seen in the wadi including in the same cluster of barren trees.

I suspect there were sedge warbler there but I failed to get any good views.

bluethroat

The site was good for passerines all round.  Among them, bluethroat were easily seen.

second view of bluethroat

Bluethroat were of all ages and both genders.

female or immature bluethroat

Both citrine wagtail and white wagtail were noisily present.

citrine wagtail

Generally in the Salalah area, the number of Turkestan shrike has gone down just as the number of Daurian shrike has gone up. I believe this one is a Daurian shrike. However contrary to what I have read in some sources there are still some Turkestan shrike here and look set for the winter.

Daurian shrike

The pools in the wadi meant waders were a still feature of the bird population.

spotted redshank

Temminck's stint was the most common but in the deeper pools birds such as common redshank and green sandpiper were present. Two spotted redshank were also there. 

Thanks are due to an anonymous commenter who recommended I re-look at the identification which had been common redshank in earlier versions of this blog. I should have been more careful particularly as this wadi is very similar to the muddy estuaries they prefer in winter.

little ringed plover

Little ringed plover was there last time I visited too.

two dunlin

Dunlin was the second most common wader though.

flamingo

Despite the low water levels, five flamingo were in the deepest water which was only 10-15 centimetres.

greater white fronted goose

Close-by was a greater white fronted goose. There seems to have been a major influx of them in Dhofar this year.

tawny pipit

Next to the wadi is some dry scrub land with scattered trees and birds from that habitat drifted over from time to time. These included tawny pipit and crested lark.

crested lark

One bird in the scrub land which didn't appear in the wadi this time was Ruepell's weaver.

Ruepell's weaver

I was pleased to visit a different an uncommon habitat at wadi Salalah. The next day I went to West Khawr for the first time which only about 2 kilometres from the wadi. There I once again  added to my Oman list. I will blog about that next.

Intermediate egret and more at Khawr Soly

Every week day, either very early or after work,  I try to visit East Khawr, Khawr Soly (Swali) and Ayn Hamran as they are close to my work and flat. Occasionally I go west of the city instead.

Now East Khawr is crowded with visiting birders! Two weeks ago I had it to myself.

My stops there are often short there to see if anything new has arrived. However Khawr Soly is peaceful and I am getting very good results there.

Yesterday, I added two more birds to my Oman list there.

Intermediate egret

The first one was an Intermediate egret. You may recall from a recent blog I had been looking for this bird and Khawr Soly was my best guess where it might be. It turned out to be right.

The black tip to the yellow bill shows this particular bird is of Indo-Malay and not African origin.

second view of Intermediate egret

I first noticed it in the grass margins of the lagoon with it characteristic S bent neck.

Intermediate egret in grass

The general structure is quite different from great white egret. Also the bill is shorter and more robust. The yellow gape line doesn't extend past the eye as it does with the great white egret either.

There were several other egrets and herons around. I counted four grey heron, one purple heron and a western reef heron (eastern) which is often called Indian reef heron.

Western reef heron

This is quite similar to a little egret but the bill is slightly curved, the bird isn't as elegant and if you look closely there are yellow-green tinges to the legs as well as feet.

Eurasian spoonbill

A confiding Eurasian spoonbill was also present.

Tufted duck

Among the moorhen and common coot was a single tufted duck. It is one of those with white undertail coverts like a ferruginous duck. However it head shape and overall colouration mark it out as a tufted duck. Some pictures also show pale feathering near the base of the bill (just noticeable in this picture). This feature is only seen in tufted duck. Following referral to experts, I have changed my identification from ferruginous duck to tufted duck.


This was also a first for my country list and also the first diving duck I have seen here too.

Northern shoveller

Northern shoveller was the other duck present.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater

Blue-cheeked bee-eater flocks were observed at East Khawr, Ayn Hamran and Khawr Soly yesterday or the day before. This one was at Khawr Soly.

Osprey

Three birds of prey pasted over Khawr Soly too. They were Bonelli's eagle, marsh harrier and an osprey.

What it lacks in quantity, Khawr Soly makes up in quality.

Great reed warbler

The highlight from my last visit to Ayn Hamran was a great reed warbler high up  (6 metres) a tree. This is the only reed warbler that does this.

Second view of great reed warbler

Otherwise a red-backed shrike was a new arrival.

red-backed shrike

Namaqua dove are nowhere near as common in Dhofar. Oman as when I birded in Riyadh. This was the first time I had seen one at Ayn Hmaran.

Namaqua dove

East Khawr had many hundreds of birds yesterday including some special ones but nothing I hadn't seen on previous days. However, I did like to see a common snipe walking around and feeding in the open like the other waders.

common snipe

I am sure I will continue visiting these three venues during the week for some time yet.