Oman DAY 2 26th

Day 2. After an early breakfast, we drove through a checkpoint up onto Sayq plateau. We parked up at Wadi Bani Habib where we looked for striolated bunting but no luck. 

     

We began to walk down to the wadi bottom. I went part way down where we had an agama on a rock face and rockthrush flitting on the rocks. A sunbird and whitethroat were feeding in the bushes and then the others went on and I stayed around the viewpoint before wandering back up slowly to just below the top. Several pale crag Martins were zooming around below. There was a Lesser Whitethroat came into a bush quite close and the Blue Rockthrush popped up on a rock, and again on the rim of a flat view area. 

As I walked back up, I saw an Eastern Black Redstart fly through onto a branch before going off down the valley. I chatted with various people, commenting on the President’s plane that passed overhead with it’s attendant guard jet and then the others arrived back up. We had a comfort break and suddenly 2 big raptors appeared - Lappet-faced Vulture. 

We then went to Khab Hail Mahlab, a parking and picnicing area, parked up and scanned for Humes wheatear and Red-tailed Wheatear. There was a pair of Humes on a rock pile and as we walked around there were small Hijar rock geckos dashing about. We wandered up a small wadi where a rock thrush was on the post and then made our way back to the car and drove  back down to a lunch stop where DW found a preying mantis in a tree. We had some food and then went back to the hotel for a break. Brenda, Jules and I managed to fit in a swim in the pool before we went back out to the wadi in the hope of seeing Omani Owl again, we hung around for a while, the others went back along the wadi to try for Pale Scops owl and we stayed by the rock face with no luck. The others returned to a spot along the wadi, we walked along to them explaining to a Norwegian group who were also waiting for the owl that we would be playing a tape, they followed us along and we waited for a response but nothing answered so we called it a day and went back for a buffet dinner by the pool at the hotel. 

Following the log we turned in.