This page shows the blog pages. For most trips, there is one blog per day. Clicking on the photo for a day will take you to a slider: a photo carousel that shows the photos large. Clicking on the title will take you to another page with more information about the photos.
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| Titel | Day 2: Night flight and the first new birds |
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| The journey to Oman starts late at night, with a flight to Qatar. From the large and new airport of Qatar we go to Muscat, the capital of Oman. After leaving our suitcases at the hotel, our first destination is the garbage dump. The trucks with garbage attract many vultures, steppe eagles and crows. It is not a beautiful landscape, but it is a place to photograph birds of prey. After the dump we go to the mouth of the Sahil Creek at Qurayyat, where I can take beautiful pictures of the curlew and the desert plover. Furthermore, there are thousands of seagulls, and many species of heron. The most beautiful stop is the (bird) park of the Al Ansab water purification plant where basins are used for sedimentation. The overflows of the basins attract extra many (small) birds to small water animals. It is neatly laid out with knowledgeable guides. Like everything in Oman, admission is free. |
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| Date: | 2025-01-28 |
| Titel | Day 3: The Al Hajar Mountains and the Coast |
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| We start again at the coast, at the Qurum nature park, and along the coast. We see, among other things, Hemprich's Gulls (mainly Black Gulls), Desert Plovers and Indian Plovers (related to our Lapwing). Then we go into the Al Hajar Mountains. There we find the promised Plain Leaf Warbler, Streaked Scrub Warbler and Hume's Wheatear. We end the day with a visit to the coast again. | |
| Date: | 2025-01-29 |
| Titel | Day 4: The coast, a golf course, and to the Sayq Plateau |
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| Everything around the airport is beautifully landscaped and maintained. We start at "Flamingo's Point"; we didn't see flamingos, but we did see, among other things, squacco herons, reef herons, egrets, seagulls and terns. The crows here have a grey neck, they are house crows. Right next to the airport is a very nice golf course. Our guide knows the manager. The friendly man knows where there is no golf, and that's where the birds are. He gives a tour with golf carts. We see, among other things, small green bee-eaters, crested larks and grey francolins. We go back into the mountains in the afternoon, to the Sayq Plateau. It was more productive for the bird watchers than for the photographer, but the striped bunting and menetries's warbler were nice new species that I could photograph. |
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| Date: | 2025-01-30 |
| Titel | Day 5: To the waders at the Barr Al Hikman peninsula |
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| We're going to drive quite a distance today, but that's no problem in Oman. The main roads are straight and good, you can indeed do 300 km in 3 hours. It takes us longer because of the bird stops of course. On the way we see a white-eared bulbul, Hume's whitethroat, booted eagle and a lot of desert wheatear (which we're going to see very often). When we reach the coast the day is almost over. We see flamingos looking for food on the dried-up mudflats, but the real work here will be in the coming days. | |
| Date: | 2025-01-31 |
| Titel | Day 6: The Barr Al Hikman Bay |
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| We start with a piece of mangrove forest, where sometimes special birds can be seen. We go there a few more times, but it does not yield the birds I was am looking for. A few of the others did see an Indian white-eye, a species that lives in the mangroves. Then we go to a large mudflat area, where we find the expected crab-plovers and slender-billed gulls with their pink summer bellies. The birdwatchers think there are about 1500 of each species. A little further on is a fishing port. The fish waste is cleaned up by hundreds, no thousands, of gulls. There are also herons and terns on the pier. The birdwatchers track the wading birds in search of a Great Knot. The guide has found one, and he takes a picture with my camera. I believe him, and I have included the evidence in my collection. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-01 |
| Titel | Day 7: To the endless desert |
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| In the desert there is little to see. The desert in Oman is a truly dry desert, with little vegetation. The only places with life are at the petrol stations, where water is often pumped up. There is often a dry wadi. There is a small park near the village, where the guide (for us) expected to see special birds. Usually, a number of dreams do come true: this time an Indian rock sparrow. We also have photos of a brown-necked raven, chiffchaffs and a cat. The cat shared our interest in birds. The most special experience was getting our car stuck in the sand, about 100 meters from the main road. Soon an Omani stopped and offered to help, but he couldn't get us out. He promised to get help. When the net was gone, the next Omani stopped. He didn't say "stupid tourists", but managed to get the car out. First let the tires partially deflate, and then the car was wrenched out by the strong birdwatchers with his instructions. When he was gone, the crane truck came to help us. That was no longer necessary, and all these free favors are un-Dutch. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-02 |
| Titel | Day 8: The desert blooms |
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| We start in the garden at the hotel. Everything in the hotel was neglected, and the grounds around it too. Maybe there were plans in the past, but not much more than a petrol station and restaurants came. All the better for the birds that appreciate the vegetation. For me, that produces beautiful photos of the Silktail. On the way to the coast we pass irrigated agricultural areas. As soon as water is added, you can also grow all kinds of crops in the desert. We see new species that live on the border between desert and water: flightless birds, wheatears, a number of species of larks and a pallid harrier. The guide had found on the web that the rare sociable lapwing had been sitting on a farm for a few weeks. And with his sharp eyes and scope he found them. Eventually we were able to get close to them. There were also sandgrouse but we could not get close to them. At the end of the day we arrive at the coast. The water birds were easy to approach here because they are used to people. Our beach hotel is finally a real hotel again, I was ready for that. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-03 |
| Titel | Day 9: Sea trip and a water purification plant |
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| In the morning we go out to sea in the hope of seeing petrels and other seabirds, but our hope is in vain: we only see a few phalaropes. In the harbour we do see two new species for me: Abdim's storks and an Arabian cormorant. The afternoon program is to scour water spots, including a very smelly water purification plant. The guard takes pictures of everyone, who now can be found with their name on the Web. I think that's bad, it wasn't worth it. After that we go to a spot near the container port. I'm too tired to enjoy it anymore and stay in the car. Mudflats are ideal for bird counters, and they also find a species that I would have liked to see. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-04 |
| Titel | Day 10: Tawi Atair Sink Hole |
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| In the morning I started late. The first sighting was in a city park: a Bruce's Green Pigeon, a green-yellow bird. The most beautiful visit of the afternoon is to the Tawi Atair Sink Hole, where the ground has literally fallen into a hole. It is a nice place to look for birds. Especially the playing of a concert of American vireo attracts a lot of birds, as you can see below. Apparently their song is irresistible to many songbirds. A Bonelli's eagle scans the area from a high point. | |
| Date: | 2025-02-05 |
| Titel | Day 10: Tawi Atair Sink Hole |
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| We start the day looking for Red-bellied Sandgrouse in the desert near Mudayy. The "problem" is that there has been too much rain, which gives the birds more choice to drink. We see thousands of sandgrouse in the distance, and a few nearby. But unfortunately they are very shy. Still in the desert we find ("we" is usually the guide of course) Arabian Desert Partridges. At the same wadi near Mudayy we see (not the guide now :-)) gazelles, a very rare species. After the dry desert we take a trip along the coast. There too we see nice species, including the Knobbed Coot, Fan-tailed Raven and Asian Golden Plover. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-06 |
| Titel | Day 11: In search of the Verreaux's Eagle |
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| Today we will visit the parks where the guide expects to find new species. We start with the Ain Razat Park at the Wadi Razat. For me it is a good photo stop because the birds are fed with (what appears to be) food scraps. That always helps, especially in a desert. Wadi Darbat Park was the first place where there seemed to be enough water. Trees, orchards and a park where you can rent pedal boats. We see a young Imperial Eagle there, and a little further a White-winged Tern. Here too the vireo concert is successful, we see among other things a Hoopoe, a Blackstart and a lot of Abyssinian White-eyes. We continue east, to an increasingly higher mountain top. The goal is the Jabal Samhan viewpoint, where you can look more than a kilometer into the depths. The target was a Verreaux's Eagle, which sometimes soars along the cliff. And a couple did, but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture. The last stop is the Tawi Atair Sink Hole. This time we find the Cinnamon-breasted Bunting and especially the Yemen Serin. The Serin is only locally found in Oman, most populations are in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. After that we go to the airport, for a night in airplanes and airports. |
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| Date: | 2025-02-07 |