We got up early, sett off to Mirbat, stopping for coffee on the way. We parked in the car park, had our packed breakfast of eggs, cheese, fruit and then walked to the harbour wall where our boat was waiting for us. It was a bit of a steep climb down a ladder in the wall. We then organised ourselves on the seats and set off. There was a striated heron on the rocks as we left the harbour and at least three green turtles showed themselves in the bay.
As we travelled out we saw lots of swimming crabs. They seemed to mainly use their hind legs in a rapid sculling motion with a little help from the other legs.
We spent about three and a half hours offshore and we managed to see lots of Red-necked Phalaropes in flocks dotted about the sea, Joanin’s and Persian Petrels and stunning views of Masked Booby, including one that sat on the water really close to the boat.
We also saw Socotra Cormorants in the distance and lots of Sooty Gulls. As we returned we saw more green turtles in the bay, although the views were limited to heads and backs.
We clambered up the harbour wall ladder again and walked back to the car. On the sand around the dhows were several yellow crabs feeding and we stopped at a small wet area as we drove out for Abdim’s Storks with a Glossy Ibis and a Striated Heron pottering around in the greenery. We stopped to take photos of the archway and to note the ‘war torn’ buildings left over from The Mirbat War, where a group of Communist guerrilas attacked the Omani government during the Dhofar Rebellion, and then headed out to Wadi Samhain.
We stopped at the ‘Location of Gravity’ an odd place where the road gave the impression of travelling uphill when you were running back down hill - more marked from inside. There were a few birds and a flat snake that was probably a viper sp.We kept driving up until we stopped by a radio mast at Jamal Samhain, parked up and walked to the edge of the cliffs. Looking down was amazing and the views were brilliant. We were looking out for Verraux’s Eagle which were known for patrolling the cliffs. I started to look at the plants, which were quite interesting when someone spotted a Verraux’s flying along the cliffs and up onto a rock a little further along. I made it to where the others were and managed reasonable views in the scope. The bird eventually did a bit of a fly rounds, giving slightly better views before settling back on its rock.
Travelling on we parked near a farm area, made our way around the cows, spent a bit of time scanning the camel pound and slowly walked down the slopes, looking for Yemen Serin in the bushes. Although we spent some time we didn’t manage to find any but there were several Arabian Semaphore Geckos some flicking their tails about showing the origin of their name.
We also found a Long-billed Pipit which gave good views.
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