After our night in Sohar on 3 November we headed inland to Nizwa, which is one of the largest cities in Oman. First we did some birding at a mangrove swamp near Liwa a few kilometres up the coast from our hotel in Sohar. Once we left the main road the drive was along a sandy beach and we could observe the mangrove from across a water channel. Photography was difficult as the birds were quite distant and jumping in and out of the mangrove.
A number of birds were on the sand or scrub quite close to the car enabling us to get photos of an Isabelline Wheatear and a male Desert Wheatear. In the surrounding trees we had Red-tailed Shrike and Delicate Prinia.
As we were leaving the coastal area and starting our journey to Nizwa we stopped near some playing fields as we’d seen a pipit on the grass. This proved to be a Water Pipit, a bird we knew from the UK. On a wire by the road we saw an Arabian Green Bee-eater, a bird we never tired of photographing throughout the trip.
We then started our drive towards Nizwa in the high interior of Oman, which was to take several hours. The journey was largely uneventful, but we did have a remarkable raptor sighting on the Sultan Thuwaini bin Said Road near the mid-point of our drive. As we were driving along this well-used modern highway we suddenly saw dozens of raptors circling ahead of us. We stopped as soon as we could at a safe location and jumped out of our vehicles to observe this remarkable sight. The birds turned out to be Egyptian Vultures and we estimated there were approximately 180 circling above us, plus one lone Imperial Eagle.
After the excitement of the Egyptian Vultures, we completed our drive to Nizwa where we stayed at the Intercity Hotel for two nights. After checking in and after having a short rest we then drove out to the Wadi al Muaydin a few kilometres to the northeast of Nizwa. The goal was to see some owls, but unfortunately, despite a lot of effort we had no sucess. However, we enjoyed a very pleasant field dinner before returning to the hotel.
On 4 November we spent the whole day in the Al Hajar Mountains looking for some high elevation birds. Our first stop was in a parking area just off the Jabal al Akhdar road where we walked a few hundred metres along a track and saw Striolated Bunting, Persian Wheatear and Desert Lark. We also spotted a One-pip Policeman butterfly and a little later an Arabian Tahr mountain goat.
Moving on, we drove further up into the Hajar mountains along the Birkat al Mauz Road stopping near Duwaykhilah and birding a side road. Along this dusty track we had good views of Hume’s Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher, White Spectacled Bulbul and Eastern Orphean Warbler. This interesting parched landscape had hardy scrub and a very old olive tree towering above the rest of the vegetation.
Continuing our drive up into the mountains, we came across the Peak Cafe where we had an excellent coffee and a brief break from the birding.
We then drove further along the Birkat al Mauz Road, birding at several locations. The stop at Al Jebel Al Akhdar was particularly productive as we got excellent photos of Scrub Warbler, Redstart and Desert Wheatear.
Later in the morning we drove to even higher elevations, reaching the highest point for the day. From there we got amazing views down into the valley below.
After such a full morning of birding we were ready for our lunch, which we had at the excellent Zaatar restaurant in the Hotel Indigo, Sayq.
We then returned to our hotel in Niza for a rest before our second evening birding session when we again hoped to see some owls. Late in the afternoon we set off for the Wadi Tanuf, which is north of Nizwa and down a rough track off the highway. After parking our two vehicles, we had another excellent field supper of flatbreads, dips, dates and fruit. We then walked a short way up and down the wadi and we heard owls, but unfortunately, we never got sight of them. However, the action picked up as we started driving down the wadi back towards the main road. Using a torch, Zac spotted a small mammal moving across one of the steep sides of the wadi. We all jumped out of the vehicle, and after getting the light onto the animal again, could see that it was a Blanford’s Fox, an animal that is rarely found in Oman.
