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A HINT OF SPRING ON THE RIVERBANK

Green Sandpiper, River Ribble, Ribchester

A GREEN SANDPIPER LIT UP A WALK ALONG THE RIVERBANK. It is the first one I have seen since I moved here and made the effort today worthwhile. However, Bill Aspin tells me that up to four have been seen downstream at Brockholes this winter so I should not get too excited. It was also lovely to see Northern Lapwings displaying over the fields down by the river and also to hear them! Five curlews were new this morning, one of them calling in the usual fields where they try to breed. It is interesting to hear that this seems to have sparked the local starlings to start imitating them again. I am so lucky to be able to hear them flying over where we live at the moment. The walk produced an average 37 species and included Common Goldeneye (three), Goosander (five) and at least five tree sparrows of note. I have been trying to photograph the cormorants on the river and the two I got a good look at today were both predictably of the 'continental' ssp sinensis. The full species list from today can be seen here on Ebird.

'Continental' Great Cormorant, Ribchester

River Ribble at Ribchester

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OMANI OWL

Omani Owl (above the right edge of the acacia, Mike Watson)

OUR FINAL OWLING SESSION saw us back at the new Omani Owl site early on our last morning with Johnny Mac again, who had sped back from the east coast the previous day. Teasingly it started to rain as we approached our destination but to our relief the drizzle subsided and we could have one last crack at the owls. Following our usual routine we played the hooting call for some time and continued until after the time of the sighting of a couple of days earlier. We did not hear anything, however, subsequent events suggest that the owls probably did respond very softly and inaudibly beyond around 100m. I usually end each effort with a torch scan just in case anything came in silently… and bingo! Two pairs of eyes looked back at us from the cliff face, occasionally flying short distances as they changed perches. To our delight they remained in view as it got lighter and we eventually managed some daylight scope views as well as some tiny image photos from the track below. Even better was that we saw one bird, now known to be the female, disappear into a hole in the cliff face, its partner sitting on lookout for a few minutes more. This time we could see the vertical flank streaking and even the rusty tinge to the side of the breast as well as gaining a good impression of the owl’s facial disk, its size and round-headed Strix form. A couple of Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse flew over as it was time to leave for yet more shiny airport concourses – I have seen a lot of the latter over the last few years. Needless to say it was a relief to have some more substantial evidence as we passed the baton to the Sound Approach guys, they can now study the first nest site of this enigmatic bird!

Duetting pair at night in a deep wadi in the Al Hajar Mountains of northern Oman.

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SAYQ PLATEAU, OMAN

Common Rock Thrush, Sayq Plateau

THIS MORNING WE HEADED TO ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PLACES IN OMAN, deep in the Al Hajar Mountains, Wadi al Muaydin. Within its steep canyon walls we saw another couple of Plain Leaf Warblers, their presence betrayed by their sparrow-like calls but little else as a company of soldiers on exercise marched past. Continuing uphill, the car engine straining up one million switchbacks, to the Sayq Plateau we passed Hume’s Wheatears and Long-billed Pipits by the roadside and spent the rest of the afternoon around Sayq itself. Wadi Bani Habib delighted with its abandoned village and picturesque almond groves, dotted with cherry trees and pomegranates, as did the various viewpoints over the wonderful terraced fields of Al Ayn (‘the spring’), which cascade over the travertine deposits of the hillsides below. Formed in an earlier, wetter climate the light coloured calcareous travertine was deposited by mineral-laden spring waters flowing from the surface and evaporating. In fact Oman was once part of Gondwanaland and during the last Carboniferous and Permian periods (280-300 million years ago) it was close enough to the South Pole at 40 degrees south to undergo several glaciations! We took a little time to admire these impressive sights and at the same time keep an eye out for birds. Activity was quite low in the afternoon as is often the case on the plateau but we did manage a White-eared Bulbul, the first I have seen up here, as well as a Barbary Falcon whacking a pigeon above the town and a pair of Egyptian Vultures doing a rollercoaster display high over this natural amphitheatre. The evening was cold and windy so we decided against any owling here and retired for a drink at our hotel. No beer here sadly, only Italian wine this time.

Plain Leaf Warbler, Wadi Al Muaydin

The steep canyon walls of Wadi Al Muaydin

Early morning up on the Sayq Plateau, at over 2000m above sea level, was excellent with clear cool air and great visibility. Many of my old favourites were in their usual haunts. A pair of perky Streaked Scrub Warblers were at a site at which we have seen them on successive tours since 2006 and we also saw three of each Common Rock Thrush (all males) and Blue Rock Thrush, nine Red-tailed and 13 Hume’s Wheatears, a male Pied Wheatear, an out-of-place Desert Wheatear and plenty of phoenicuroides form Black Redstarts. Sticking with the thrush family I was happy to see two Oman lifers in the form of a flock of 18 Mistle Thrushes (feeding on juniper berries at Da’an Al Pesaiteen, the biggest flock ever in Oman by far, in fact double the total number of birds previously seen) and accompanying them, and even better, a fine male Ring Ouzel, the eighth record for Oman! Both are rare birds indeed in Arabia! Three of the Mistle Thrushes (or maybe even different birds?) were still around in the late morning drinking from the water tank at D.A.P., alongside a Green Sandpiper and a coutelli form Water Pipit. Also here were at least five Siberian Chiffchaffs, giving their ‘lost chick’ call and one was even singing the ‘speeded up Coal Tit’ song. A couple of brief Common Wood Pigeons evaded almost all of us and I have never seen hunters up here before but we saw plenty of guns this time unfortunately, which does not bode well for the pigeons and partridges here. We checked another settlement in the afternoon, which looked very promising but in the now cloudy weather we only managed another couple of Siberian Chiffchaffs. In contrast to the coast, all of the chiffchaffs up on the plateau appeared to be tristis.

Desert Lark of the grey local form taimuri - they evolve to look like the substrate on which they live

Siberian Chiffchaff, Al Manakhir, Sayq Plateau

Ancient Olive tree, Sayq Plateau (Iphone 5S hipstamatic)

Al Qasha viewed from Al Ayn, Sayq Plateau

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CRESTED HONEY BUZZARD

Crested Honey Buzzard, Al Nahda Resort, Barka, Oman

A LATE BREAKFAST WAS PERFECTLY TIMED with a magnificent male Crested Honey Buzzard in the resort gardens at Barka. Panic ensued in the dining hall (and in the gents toilet!), as mobile phones were abandoned and we raced back to rooms for cameras etc. Fortunately it hung around long enough for everyone to manage a good view as well as some frame-filling photos, including the blood red eyes that identify it as a male. I have learnt from experience that they can be remarkably confiding in Oman and although they are now regular in winter in the south they are still quite uncommon in the north of the country.

Crested Honey Buzzard, Al Nahda Resort, Barka, Oman

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