OMAN & THE UAE
HYPOCOLIUS & DESERT BIRDS

Some of the best Arabian Peninsula birding in two very friendly and scenic countries with many regional endemics and specialty birds, including a good chance for the unique Hypocolius.  An array of desert, wetland, and coastal habitats.

$6975. 16 days
From Dubai. Limit: 12
Simple to very good accommodations, easy to moderate terrain, mild to warm climate. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.

This new Field Guides tour visits some of the best winter birding areas in two friendly countries in the Middle East.  We’ll enjoy excellent desert and wetland birding with a few seabirds thrown in for good measure, and we’ll seek out the monotypic Hypocolius in the old olive and date palm groves that it favors.  These are fascinating places to visit, unlike anywhere else, and, unusually for Middle Eastern destinations, both are safe and indeed welcoming for tourists.

The United Arab Emirates, or UAE, consist of seven small desert sheikhdoms of, in order of size, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras Al–Khaimah, Umm al Qawain, and Ajman.  Rich in oil and gas reserves, the UAE has of late become less dependent on natural resources as a source of revenue.  There has been a massive investment in infrastructure and tourism that has fuelled an astonishing building boom.  Guest workers, mostly from Asia, now vastly outnumber the local inhabitants.  A suddenly popular retirement destination, the UAE seems to be giving little thought to sustainable development in terms of land and perhaps more importantly water resources.  Vast, green irrigated areas dot the desert, using fossil water reserves or desalinated seawater for totally inappropriate vegetation. Strange as it all is, the result is an oasis for birds that might otherwise perish in these vast arid lands.  Migrant and vagrant species that might normally be pushing hard to get through the desert now find verdant golf courses and wetland habitats that may support them through the winter.

The desert sultanate of Oman is ruled by Sultan Qaboos, a benign western-educated modernist.  We will be visiting both the southern and northern parts of the country.  Near the oasis of Salalah, in Dhofar Province, the combination of reed fringed coastal lagoons and desert scrub proves a major attraction to both Palearctic migrants from the north and Ethiopian migrants from the south.  In this bird-rich area, we’ll be looking for, among many others, Hume’s Owl, Verreaux’s Eagle, Arabian Partridge, Blackstart, Arabian Warbler, Mourning Wheatear, and Rueppell’s Weaver, as well as a chance of Golden-winged Grosbeak.

Beautiful, stark desert scenery, lush oases, and a clear blue sea are all features of this trip.  We’ll visit spectacular dry wadis and mountains (jebels) and enjoy some excellent desert birding.  The north in winter is the best place to see a number of difficult species such as Hypocolius, Eastern Pied, Hume’s, Hooded, and Red-tailed Wheatear, and Plain Leaf-Warbler, as well as Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Cream-colored Courser, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, and Hoopoe-Lark.  The Gulf coast is good for sea and shorebirds such as Persian Shearwater, White-cheeked Tern, and Socotra Cormorant.  Another unique area we’ll visit is the Qitbit desert oases, home to wintering migrants such as Long-legged Buzzard, Lesser Whitethroat, Bluethroat, and flocks of Spotted and perhaps Crowned sandgrouse.  We also plan to spend a couple of days birding around the beautiful capital city of Muscat in the north, where irrigated farms act as a magnet for migrants and residents alike, including Hooded Wheatear, Desert Lesser Whitethroat, Long-billed Pipit, and Blue Rock-Thrush.

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