Autumn, Arabia 2022
Late August, and temperatures in the mid-40s welcomed us back to the Middle East. Although the heat did eventually ease up, it’s fairly safe to say that this trip was an absolute slog. However, as with most places (if you stay there long enough) you’ll end up with a pretty decent highlight reel, and so as usual I’ll just post some short free-time highlights here.
The fashion offerings weren’t quite as classy as during previous visits, but we did spot the following gem.
The sunsets as usual were absolutely delightful, so here’s a few shots of them along with some more bird highlights…
The main target species of this visit, in fact the main target since back in 2021, had up until now evaded us. Would this finally be the time we encountered an Egyptian false cobra? Yes. Yes it would. Two of them within three days in fact. We’re not sure if it was an amazing late October thunderstorm that somehow got them moving, but we were eternally grateful for whatever happened which enabled us to come face to face with one of the true greats of the natural world.
A few more falsies, plus diadems and (hornless) horned vipers.
Here’s a final assortment of shots from the visit - I don't think I'll get around to posting any aquatic videos this time.