misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) (03/14/90)
Together with my boyfriend I visited the United Arab Eremites 27.2-8.3.
The sole purpose of the trip was birding, i.e. we spent all daylight hours
in the field. We had about 150-152 species which
included many very intresting ones. The weather was very good and
we had no problems with anything. The local birders were very helpful
indeed, providing us with lots of information. We also spent one day
with 5 of them, that was one of the best days, for them also.
We also visited three sites on the Oman side and managed to get 21
species in that country.
The most intresting species:
Green Heron B. striatus 1
Squacco Heron A. ralloides 2
Indian Pond Heron A. grayii 1
Greater Flamingo P. ruber about 600 - 1000
Griffon Vulture G. fulvus 2
Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus 1
Spotted Eagle A. clanga 3
Bonelli's Eagle H. fasciatus 1 This bird was later shot by a sheik, possibly
for killing a Great White Egret. We witnessed the
incident, very tragic. A short account of this will
hopefully appear in English newspapers and birding
magazines.
Lesser Kestrel F. naumanni 2 (good record)
Grey Francolin F. poniderianus very common
Crab Plover D. ardeola 280
Lesser Sand Plover C. mongolus many 100
Greater Sand Plover C. leschenaultii many 100 but fewer than Lesser
Stone Curlew B. oedicnemus 1 heard
Pacific Golden Plover P. fulva 1
Red-wattled Lapwing H. indicus 6
White-tailed Plover C. leucura 1
Great Knot C. tenuirostris 5 This was the second record, the first was in 86
Broad-billed Sandpiper L. falcinellus 10 - 50
Terek Sandpiper X. cinereus over 100
Red-necked Phalarope P. lobatus 2
Pomarine Skua S. pomarinus 2
Sooty Gull L. hemprichii 3
Great Black-headed Gull L. ichtyaetus 50 - 100
Swift Tern S. bergii 20 - 30
Lesser Crested Tern S. bengalensis 50
Saunder's Little/Little Tern 50 -100 altogether but only 3 half identified.
1 probable Little and 2 Saunder's. We feel that we
do not yet know enough about the identification of
these two difficult species which are seldom seen
close enough.
Whiskered Tern 3
Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse P. lichtensteinii 4 + calls
Rose-ringed Parakeet P. krameri here and there
Eagle Owl B. bubo (pale race) 1
Little Owl A. noctua 2
White-collared Kingfisher H. chloris 27 (the largest count of this race yet)
White-throated Bee-eater M. albicollis 1 (second record, first was in december)
Black-crowned Finch Lark E. nigriceps 10 - 15
Hoopoe Lark A. alaudipes 5 - 10
Richard's Pipit A. novaeseelandiae 3
Tawny Pipit A. campestris 10 - 20
Citrine Wagtail M. citreola 1
Grey Wagtail M. cinerea 5
White-cheeked Bulbul P. leucogenys 5
Red-vented Bulbul P. cafer 2
Black Redstart P. ochruros phoenicuroides 20 - 50
Redstart P. p. samaisticus 3
Isabelline Wheatear O. isabellina very common
Pied Wheatear O. pleschanka 100
Desert Wheatear O. deserti 10
Finch's Wheatear O. finchii 1 (good record)
Red-tailed Wheatear O. xanthoprymna 10
Hume's Wheatear O. alboniger 5
Rock Thrush M. saxatilis 4
Scrub Warbler S. inquieta 4
Clamorous Reed Warbler A. stentoreus 20 - 30
Olivaceous Warbler H. pallida 5
Menetrie's Warbler S. mystacea 20- 40
Desert Warbler S. nana 10 - 15
Orphean Warbler S. hortensis 10
Desert Lesser Whitethroat S. minula 50
Plain Leaf Warbler P. neglectus 2
Purple Sunbird N. asiatica very common
Isabelline Shrike L. isabellinus very common
Great Grey Shrike L. excubitor pallidirostris 2
Great Grey Shrike L. excubitor aucherii common
Woodchat Shrike L. senator 2
Indian House Crow C. splendens very common, a problem species which they
will try to exterminate.
Common Mynah A. tristis common
Bank Mynah A. ginginiatus 20
Indian Silverbill E. malabarica 50
House Bunting E. striolata 5
The numbers are not exact as I don't have our fieldnotes here,
they're just estimates based on memory.
All the good species we found (Great Knot, Wh-t Bee-eater, Lesser
Kestrel and Finch Wheatear) were untwitchable as they could not be
relocated. We searched for the Great Knots many hours the following
morning and I'm rather certain we would have found them if they had
been present, even though there were about 3000 shorebirds there. So
maybe they really were on migration. 2000 - 3000 have been recorded
in south Oman last winter, 1 was found in Bahrain in january. It
will be intresting to see how common they really are. The mudflats in UAE
are not checked frequently enough in my opionion, anything could be found
there. If Great Knot is a regular common winter visitor to south Oman
I suppose they should turn up regularly in the UAE, there are some very
good shorebirdsites there.
This list was made for European birders, so many species you Americans
might be intrested in have been left out. The list includes birds that
are rare in Europe or rare in the UAE.
Annika Forsten, Abo Akademi, Finland misan@ra.abo.fi