Oman. Key Sites visited

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1 Oman One week trip with wife gave a few opportunities to visit some of the sites in Birdwatching Guide to Oman. On the whole I got my target birds (biggest dip was Serin which I thought would be the easiest). However the two most unusual records where White Fronted Goose (5) and Demoiselle Crane Key Sites visited Most of the time we were in Dhofar, I hired a car (easy and safe to drive around) and all the sites were easy to find. We stayed at two Hotels first the Marriot at Mirbat, this over looks Mirbat Island and is effectively an Oasis it was the only place I saw Crested Honey Buzzard and is absolutely full of Clamorous Reed Warbler also good for Tawi Atuyr etc. Second we stayed at the Hilton which is 10mins from the dump etc and the only place I saw White-breasted Swam Waterhen (in front of the Gym) and African Collard Dove (just up the road) Crown Plaza Muscat on the beach with great views, lots of Gulls and Waders and it is easy to walk to the local nature reserve via the Beach, only place I was Pallas Gull and Sand Plover Tawi Atayr Went here three times to find the Serin (but no tickable view) but while I was looking most of my other targets were very obliging Arabian Wheatear, Bruce s Green Pigeon, Palestine and Shinning Sunbirds, Tchagra etc

2 Waddi Hanna is just 10 mins away and this was great for the Pigeon and Arabian Warbler Khawr Rawri Nice site lots of waders and Turns White Fronted Geese were unexpected and the only place I saw Jacana (around 4 of them)

3 Ayn Tobroq One of the new sites this had a number of Paradise Flycatchers and my only Golden-winged Grosbeak Rayat Dump and Sewage Amazing numbers of Eagles at the Dump, and easy access to the Sewage plant, very birdy both Spurwinged, Red-wattled Lapwing and Crane Juweri Marina Short Sea watch plenty of Masked Bobby, Gulls and my only Socotra Cormorants plus a lot of Swift Tern

4 Marriat Mirbat Hotel Probably very good for sea watching at right time of year I just had Gulls and Bobby s, lots of the commoner birds around the Hotel plus a Crested Honey Buzzard Species List Common name Genus Species Arabian Partridge Alectoris melanocephala Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Garganey Spatula querquedula Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope Northern Pintail Anas acuta Common Teal Anas crecca Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus Rock Dove Columba livia Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis Bruce's Green-pigeon Treron waalia Pallid Swift Apus pallidus White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Common Coot Fulica atra Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo White Stork Ciconia ciconia Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides

5 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Great White Egret Ardea alba Little Egret Egretta garzetta Western Reef-egret Egretta gularis Masked Booby Sula dactylatra Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus Lesser Sandplover Charadrius mongolus Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata Ruff Calidris pugnax Dunlin Calidris alpina Little Stint Calidris minuta Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis Slender-billed Gull Larus genei Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Pallas's Gull Larus ichthyaetus Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii Osprey Pandion haliaetus Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis

6 Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata Black Kite Milvus migrans Common Hoopoe Upupa epops Arabian Green Bee-eater Merops cyanophrys Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri Crested Lark Galerida cristata Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris White Wagtail Motacilla alba Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea White-eyed Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer Blackstart Cercomela melanura Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti African Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis Graceful Prinia Prinia gracilis Clamorous Reed-warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus Arabian Warbler Sylvia leucomelaena Palestine Sunbird Cinnyris osea Shining Sunbird Cinnyris habessinicus Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio Black-crowned Tchagra Tchagra senegalus House Crow Corvus splendens Fan-tailed Raven Corvus rhipidurus Common Myna Acridotheres tristis Tristram's Starling Onychognathus tristramii House Sparrow Passer domesticus Rüppell's Weaver Ploceus galbula African Silverbill Euodice cantans Arabian Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus percivali Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Emberiza tahapisi