Qurm (Qurum) Natural Park, Muscat, Oman.

Morpheus was reluctant to release his grip this morning, but a warm, bright, spring morning beckoned. Muscat should have been creaking under the combined weight of thousands of migrants dropping in to refuel before crossing the Gulf of Oman on their way to their northern breeding grounds and my anticipation was heightened by the purchase of a brand new Helm Field Guide to the area, so it was a bit of an anti-climax to see an empty mud flat when I arrived at Qurm (Qurum) Natural Park.

The park is said to be the biggest in Muscat, but there is no definite information about the opening times. Vaguely, it opens in the afternoon on weekdays and 10.00 at weekends. The lawns and lakes make up the inland section which is subject to gate openings (other websites tell of herons and waders to be seen in this area, but none give gate times). I visited the mangrove section by the beach at Google Earth Ref; 23 37’ 13”N 58 28’15”E. There is no gate here, but birding is done through a high chain-link fence, or from beneath the bridges. Birders will be facing south into the sun at this point. There is free and easy access to the beach where gulls, terns and waders may be found.

I started by the westernmost bridge and worked my way east along the fence behind ‘Starbucks’, unfortunately this meant looking into the sun. A white phase Western Reef Egret fed close to the mangrove line and House Sparrows chattered from the fence. Crested Larks dropped from the fence onto the sand beyond, but getting focus through the fence was tricky. Further along, a Green Bee-eater was perched on the fence and a small covey of Grey Francolins gave me the same focus problem as the larks. It was still early and the francolin treated me to a coarse cry. 

 There are two inlets to allow the tide to ebb and flow through the mangroves. Each is crossed by a bridge along the esplanade. At the second bridge, I got my scope out to look at a bird which might have been a Socotra Cormorant, but which proved to be one of the more widespread Great Cormorant. Some gulls and terns were roosting close to the cormorant. They were all very distant, but eventually I managed to ID them as Sandwich Terns and Slender-billed Gulls. A single smaller bird was a Common Tern.

Behind me and across the road was the beach and I crossed over to do a bit of sea-watching. Swift Terns followed small fishing boats, but a large juvenile gull was too distant to see properly. Common Greenshank fed in the little waves of the receding tide, but didn't take too kindly to my walking along the beach and flushed out over the unusually calm sea. 

Two Common Sandpipers were interacting in the wet sand, one appearing to be acting submissively while the other strutted in front of it. I don’t think that the submissive bird was a young one begging for food. Any ideas anyone?

The fence is a very effective barrier up on the road, but easy access can be gained to the mudflats from the beach by passing under either of the bridges as the water level drops. At the lowest point of the tide, it is possible to cross the water at the inlets. Local people, collectors of crabs and shells, use this access to enter the reserve, oblivious to the signs that mark the boundary and request that the sanctuary be respected.

Two small plovers were engaged in a ritualised dispute. They would walk parallel to each other, apparently sizing up the challenge, and then one would make a lunge, with the back of the opponent’s neck appearing to be the preferred target. I decided that they were Great Sand Plovers, but was confused about the meaning of the dispute. My field guide shows them as passage and winter visitors. Neither of them had attained their breeding colours (they might even have been female), so if it was not a territorial dispute, or a fight over a female, what was the all the fuss about?

Muscat becomes very hot in the summer and it was clear that the warm season was fast approaching. I was glad to be able to watch the plovers from the shade of the bridge where crabs were digging holes in the wet sand. They piled up the excavated sand into spoil piles outside their burrows. I wondered if the size of their spoil heaps indicated how much sand they had dug and thereby how vigorous they were.

Species seen; 21

Great Cormorant 1, Grey Heron 1, Western Reef Egret 2, Black-crowned Night Heron 4, Grey Francolin 4, Greater Sand Plover 5, Whimbrel 1, Common Greenshank 2, Terek Sandpiper 2, Common Sandpiper 4, Slender-billed Gull 7, Sandwich Tern 8, Great Crested Tern 4, Common Tern 1, Laughing Dove 15, Little Green Bee-eater 1, Crested Lark 3, Red-vented Bulbul 2, House Crow 5, Common Myna 6, House Sparrow 20.

Oman has no public transport apart from a few long-distance coaches. Therefore the only practical means of getting around is by taxi or hiring a car. Neither of my taxis had a meter and the price varied between 3 OR (0.5 OR =£1) to get there and 6 OR for the return journey.

Qurm (Qurum) Natural Park, Muscat, Oman.

The Cat's back

Another bright morning enticed me into Mote Park while the rest of my family were bonding at the hairdressers (a grooming procedure that I no longer have any call for). A chilling wind was a cruel reminder that spring can be fickle. The breeze didn’t stop the birds singing on an otherwise beautiful morning, but it kept them off the outer perches, sheltering from the cold.

The Blackcaps were very vocal again this morning, joined by the Wrens and Chiff Chaffs. The Chiff Chaff, so obvious during the warmth and stillness of the past week, eluded me this morning, so they don’t appear in the list below. The Kingfisher also continues to elude me.

A Great Tit showed well in a sheltered spot in the lea of a Hawthorn tree close to the lake. The River Len had an extra flow to it today after showers yesterday afternoon which also served to depress the temperature. A Wood Pigeon sat for me at the Mote House end of the causeway. It hadn’t seen my approach and was now relying on the still and silent technique instead of the more usual clattering flight to avoid being seen.

Along with the Kingfisher, I was also hoping to capture some more shots of the Green Woodpecker and the Great Crested Grebe to make 10000 Birds gallery posts. The Green Woodpecker could be heard “yaffling,” but was not seen. The grebe is not a confiding bird and stayed beyond the effective range of my lens until I came across one on a nest. As I watched, the male came by to check on the sitting female. She looked disappointed that he had not brought a gift, but perhaps he was concerned to see me paying her too much attention.

I bumped into Simon the local blogger and his mum and joined them to walk across the grassed areas to the south of the lake. Thankfully, he forgave me my trespasses. A female Mallard looked as if she was considering a large fallen tree trunk as a potential nest site. She looked nervous at our approach. A drake flew up from the ground nearby to join her. It would be very easy to anthropomorphosize and imagine him putting a comforting wing around her as reassurance.

Simon ripped me with a Red Fox across the lawns and a Linnet that I didn’t see well enough to count, but we both saw the Herring Gulls and Eurasian Swallow that he called.

We strolled back to the Len where the Blackcaps and Wrens continued to serenade us and there we parted company. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was feeding in the trees across the stream and while I was looking for it a European Robin appeared and sat well for me.

Species seen; 31

Great Crested Grebe 5, Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 6, Greylag Goose 1, Canada Goose 6, Mallard 15, Common Pheasant 3, Common Moorhen 3, Common Coot 8, Herring Gull 2, Black-headed Gull 60, Stock Dove 4, Common Wood Pigeon 30, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, European Swallow 1, Northern Wren 2, Dunnock 5, Mistle Thrush 1, Song Thrush 2, Common Blackbird 4, European Robin 6, Blackcap 8, Long-tailed Tit 2, Great Tit 12, Blue Tit 15, Nuthatch 2, Eurasian Jay 4, Eurasian Magpie 7, Carrion Crow 15, Common Starling 3, Chaffinch 7.

Back at home 3 Common Buzzards were using the breeze to perform syncronised stunt flights across the small patch of sky over my garden.

Western Reef Egret

The Western Reef Egret, Egretta gularis, is a stocky, medium-sized heron that hails from the coastal waters of the Middle East and tropical Africa. The name implies that there must also be an Eastern Reef Egret, Egretta sacra, which is similar, but with noticeably shorter legs and less contrast between the legs and yellow feet. Abiding by the suggestion of its name, the Eastern Reef Egret is to be found in South-east Asia, Japan and Australasia.

Both species have light, dark and intermediate colour morphs. The dark morph is the more common and shows a white streak on its throat. The streak is less noticeable in the Eastern species.

In most cases the two species would not come into contact with each other. The most easterly of the Western Reef Egrets can be found as a remote population on the east coast of India (this population and the Sri Lankan birds may yet cause a taxonomic dilemma). The Eastern Reef Egrets’ westernmost population lives on the Andaman Islands, 1300kms across the Bay of Bengal (again, tick it in pencil).

In common with other egret species, the Western Reef Egret develops breeding plumage that includes elongated plumes on its back and hind neck. They breed in small colonies, often with other heron species. They are seldom seen far inland and prefer to feed on fish and crustaceans along rocky shores and beaches.

The individuals in the photographs were found in the Middle East where the schistacea race (also known as the Indian Reef Egret) occurs. The light morph bird was seen in Safa Park, Dubai 2011 and the dark one in Doha, Qatar 2008. Note the feet of the darker bird, they are rosy from the ankles down onto the feet, but yellow beneath.

The nominate race E. g. gularis is described from West Africa and has made recent forays to the USA, although it has yet to visit the UK.

Poaching on the patchwork

I returned to Mote Park again today, for no other reason than it was another glorious day. Hopefully, Simon won't be too upset about me poaching on his patch. Just in case, this link will take you to the rightful Mote Park Bird Blog. This time I came in at the side gate for the path that leads along the bottom of Jenner’s Bank. The Chiff Chaff’s irregular song was easy to pick out again and the “Ticha Ticha” of the Great Tit was very noticeable.

A Red Fox at the top of the slope slunk into the deep bushes when it saw me. Two Sparrowhawks appeared in the sky above me. I could not distinguish sexes and assume that they were two males. For a moment, I wondered if the lower bird might be a cuckoo. Its wings seemed sharper and it looked a little bigger.

Blackcaps sang from the tangles as I walked down towards Old Pond and a female Blackbird sat for a picture on the other side of the stream.

On the lake a flock of Black-headed Gulls can usually be found. Today they counted a few Common Gulls in their number and a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over. A Mute Swan was feeding from the new leaves on a bankside Weeping Willow. I had not previously noticed them feeding on tree leaves which are notoriously difficult to break down in the gut. More commonly I see them feeding in the fields or on grass and bankside vegetation. Are tree leaves any more difficult to digest than other greenery?

I bumped into John who joined me for a while. The Old Pond held some Eurasian Jays in the bushes on the far bank, but the Water Rail has not been seen there for some time.

We sat by the bank of the lake to watch the Great Crested Grebes performing their courting dance. Two pairs could be seen from where we sat, but they didn’t come close enough for a really good look. Both pairs gave their rendition of the ‘head to head’ display, fanning and raising their crest and cheek plumes during the mirrored dance. Only one of the pairs was seen, distantly, raising themselves from the water in the climax of the courtship known as the ‘penguin dance’. We tried changing our position on the bank to get a closer look, but the birds were difficult to predict and we felt as though we were chasing them and left them to their intimacies.

We were not so considerate to the swans. The cob was blowing bubbles in the water to impress his pen, a behaviour that neither of us had noticed before. Intrigued, John and I stopped to watch and witnessed the full blown intimacy of swans. While the prelude had seemed playful with both birds blowing bubbles and necking, the afterglow was tender and the birds took the moment strengthen their life-bond with an elegant dance.

John headed home and I followed the River Len upstream, still hoping to see a Kingfisher. A beautifully marked Mallard shone in the uncommon sunshine.

I crossed the river at the top bridge, intending to pass through the Yew forest on the way back to my car.

On the northern slope beyond the river is a damp patch of rank vegetation and a small Ash tree. A harsh bubbling call attracted my attention from the lower branches of the Ash. A Common Whitethroat (07/04/11) was singing, but without any real commitment. It stayed low as if not confident in his performance.

Species seen; 38

Great Crested Grebe 4, Grey Heron 3, Mute Swan 12, Greylag Goose (Feral?) 1, Canada Goose 8, Mallard 20, Tufted Duck 4, Eurasian Sparrowhawk 4, Common Moorhen 4, Common Coot 6, Common Gull 4, Black-backed Gull 2, Black-headed Gull 80, Stock Dove 8, Common Wood Pigeon 35, Eurasian Collared Dove 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Grey Wagtail 2, Northern Wren 3, Dunnock 3, Mistle Thrush 3, Song Thrush 1, Common Blackbird 6, European Robin 8, Common Chiff Chaff 5, Blackcap 5, Common Whitethroat 1, Long-tailed Tit 2, Great Tit 20, Blue Tit 25, Eurasian Nuthatch 3, Eurasian Jay 4, Eurasian Magpie 12, Eurasian Jackdaw 5, Carrion Crow 25, Common Starling 1, Chaffinch 8, European Greenfinch 1. 

Mote Park is a large park of 450 acres in Maidstone, Kent. The site of a large estate purchased by the Maidstone civic authority in 1929 and is now a public park. Parking is available during the day, but vehicle access is restricted between 08.00 and dusk. Outside of these times, parking is available at the leisure centre and pedestrian access to the park can be had from there. Pedestrian access points can be used anytime.
Maidstone BC has produced a site with all the relevant details
http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/parks_and_open_spaces/country_parks/mote_park.aspx

While the cat is away....

It seems a little ironic that during the week I am spending at home, the local patch blogger has packed his binoculars and taken to the other side of the Atlantic. With a beautiful morning at my whim, I thought it might be nice to maintain the continuity of Simon’s four years of hard work documenting the wildlife of Mote Park. I would like to stress that this is an unofficial, flagrant trespass onto Simon’s patch and for a more complete site with archived posts, links and bird lists, visit http://motepark.blogspot.com/

I parked by the Willington Street Gate and entered slowly hoping to catch a Kingfisher on the small River Len which flows through the park and into the large lake before overflowing at the far end and off through Maidstone to meet the River Medway.

First birds seen this morning were Eurasian Magpies and the abundant Common Woodpigeon. I could hear a Chiff Chaff singing from the bushes lining the path climbing the slope to the left. The path here proved productive with Eurasian Robin, Black Cap and the first Eurasian Swallows (06/04/11) of the year. Eurasian Wrens were very common this morning with the strident, trilling song seemingly coming out of every patch of vegetation.

I wanted to stay close to the river to stand a reasonable chance of seeing a Kingfisher as it passed up and downstream. The Kingfishers have had it hard in the UK during the last couple of cold winters and their numbers have been hit dramatically. My records show that I have only seen 2 in the UK during the last 18 months. They were forced to migrate to the coast to find unfrozen water where they can feed, but many perished nevertheless. Simon has reported just one in the park so far this year.

A bridge crosses the river about 300 meters along the wide tarmac path. There were plenty of small Dace and Roach in the river here and it looked like a good place to stop. Incidentally, today was a glorious day, warm and bright, so to have the time to sit in the shade waiting for Kingfishers was a real pleasure. Chiff Chaff and Long-tailed Tits kept me entertained during my vigil, but most exciting was a pair of Green Woodpeckers who came to inspect a hole in the Alder tree on the far bank. First the male with his black rimmed red moustache took a look.

He appeared keen, but she was less impressed. The female wears a plain black moustache and this particular female had a narrow gap between the black of her face and the red of her crown where the green showed through. They stayed on the alder while trying to decide, sidling around to the blind side when dog walkers or joggers crossed the bridge and returning to inspect the hole again when it was quiet. They flew off to make up their minds, but didn’t come back during the hour or so that I stayed. It is quite a busy path and this may have swayed their decision. I later learned from John that a pair of Green Woodpeckers had used this hole last year.

There was a lot of activity this morning. Blackcaps were competing with Robins, Wrens, tits and Chaffinches to fill the morning with song. Beyond the bridge Nuthatches were pairing up and a Carrion Crow looked to be feeding chicks already. A drumming from overhead was a Great Spotted Woodpecker who was playing hard to tick. Green Woodpecker “yaffles” were heard throughout the morning, though I didn’t see any more.

Species seen; 32

Grey Heron 2, Mute Swan 1, Canada Goose 8, Mallard 6, Eurasian Sparrowhawk 1, Common Moorhen 4, Common Coot 6, Common Gull 5, Black-headed Gull 100, Stock Dove 6, Common Wood Pigeon 40, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Green Woodpecker 3, European Swallow 2, Northern Wren 8, Dunnock 2, Mistle Thrush 2, Song Thrush 1, Common Blackbird 4, European Robin 6, Common Chiff Chaff 5, Blackcap 5, Long-tailed Tit 3, Great Tit 15, Blue Tit 25, Eurasian Nuthatch 3, Eurasian Treecreeper 1, Eurasian Magpie 4, Carrion Crow 15, Common Starling 1, Chaffinch 5, European Goldfinch 1.

Blue Tit

 

Mote Park is a large park of 450 acres in Maidstone, Kent. The site of a large estate purchased by the Maidstone civic authority in 1929 and is now a public park. Parking is available during the day from 08.00, but vehicle access is restricted after dusk. For visits after dusk or early mornings, parking is available at the leisure centre and pedestrian access to the park can be had from there. Pedestrian access points can be used anytime.

Maidstone BC has produced a site with all the relevant details http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/parks_and_open_spaces/country_parks/mote_park.aspx

 

Mote Park, Green Woodpecker,