The recent
improvement in my capacity to cope with extreme heat has suffered a setback.
Although it was very warm in Muscat today, the heat was not extreme for this
part of the world, but I felt very uncomfortable and even a little distressed
at times. I had ventured out to the Qurm Natural Park (Google Earth ref; 23°37'15.01"N
58°28'17.83"E). The road runs along the north-eastern edge, separating the
mangroves and the beach. Three bridges allow the tide to run back and forth
into the mangroves and make for good vantage points. The big drawback here is
that the early mangrove observer will be looking into the sun all morning, but
the good news is that viewing out to sea gives perfect light conditions.
The tide had
almost reached its height as I arrived at 07.30. This was by luck rather than
any forethought. Birds were resting up on the sand bars inland from the bridge.
There didn’t appear to be very many until a Marsh Harrier appeared in the
distance and all the birds began to move. Before then Kentish (Snowy) Plovers
had tucked themselves into footprints made in the dry sand and I had missed
them.
They quickly
disappeared along with the Greater Sand Plovers and the Lesser Sand Plovers.
Altogether, fifteen shorebird species were seen including Eurasian Curlew,
Ruff, Pacific Golden Plover and Greenshank.
The taxi
dropped me at La Mer restaurant, by the first bridge on the south-western end
of the road. This end is dominated by the Hotel Intercontinental, Muscat and
most of the action took place at this end. I walked the length of the road to
the cliff on which the Crowne Plaza sits finding Purple Sunbirds and Green
Bee-eaters on the fence which protects the reserve and forces viewers to watch
from outside.
A Western
Reef-heron was seen at the far end with a Squacco or Indian Pond Heron which
took flight so suddenly and was gone so quickly that I couldn’t decide which it
was. Both light and dark forms of the reef-herons were seen today with the dark
ones favouring the beach and the light ones in the mangroves.
A Booted
Eagle found a thermal and quickly gained height spurred on by a falcon that may
have been a Lesser Kestrel.
As the tide began
to run back out, an Osprey flew over and took a few exploratory plunges into
the current flowing out from the mangroves. The bridge would have made the
perfect place to wait for a photo opportunity, but the heat drove me on and I
ended up having to take shelter under the bridge.
Looking down
onto the beach from the promenade, the sun was over my shoulder and made
photography more appealing. Slender-billed Gulls and the Heughlin’s form of
Lesser Black-backed Gull were seen here, but they were all very shy and flew
quickly as I drew level with them.
Birds seen;
35
Grey Heron
8, Western Reef-heron 4, Black-crowned Night-heron 5, Osprey 1, Eurasian Marsh
Harrier 1, Booted Eagle 1, Red-wattled Lapwing 18, Black-bellied Plover 2,
Pacific Golden Plover 18, Lesser Sand Plover 35, Greater Sand Plover 6, Kentish
Plover 15, Terek Sandpiper 8, Common Sandpiper 5, Common Greenshank 7, Whimbrel
4, Eurasian Curlew 8, Bar-tailed Godwit 3, Little Stint 3, Dunlin 4, Ruff 2,
Slender-billed Gull 25, Sooty Gull 6, Lesser Black-backed Gull (Heuglin’s) 15,
Sandwich Tern 1, Laughing Dove 12, Rose-ringed Parakeet 8, Common Kingfisher 1,
Green Bee-eater 6, House Crow 40, Barn Swallow 3, White-eared Bulbul 2, Common
Myna 50, Purple Sunbird 6, House Sparrow 100.
A previous post from Qurm can be seen at the link below;
Visit the dedicated Middle East page for more posts from the region including Ras Al-Khor in Dubai and Green Island in Kuwait.
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