Arabian Peninsula - spring 2021
February 2021, and although the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic had put a stop to most leisure-based travel, a work window had opened and suddenly the Arabian Peninsula was open for business. As another reminder of our inability to handle the Covid situation, the UK remained on a list of suspended countries – meaning a couple of weeks quarantine in Bahrain would have to come first.
Instead of my usual trip-based ramblings, this ‘report’ will just focus on the odd wildlife sighting or two which occurred during my non-working time. So, with minimal words and hopefully a few interesting pics, let’s begin with Bahrain…
Instead of my usual trip-based ramblings, this ‘report’ will just focus on the odd wildlife sighting or two which occurred during my non-working time. So, with minimal words and hopefully a few interesting pics, let’s begin with Bahrain…
My time here was largely restricted to opportunistic birding around the hotel, where highlights included numerous Oriental honey buzzards, Egyptian nightjar and a quite delightful little Eurasian scops owl.
After 14 full days of quarantine, copious amounts of hummus and Arabic bread, it was finally time to move across to the Arabian Peninsula to see what creatures awaited.
Herp-wise, things were initially slow-going, although Acanthodactylus sp were ever-present, as were Uromastyx aegyptia - the latter is certainly not one of the great lookers of the herp kingdom. A few warmer days (and nights) were required before some of the other suspects began to show up in better numbers.
Days off usually provided opportunities for exploring the coast, although some mountains were visited on a couple of occasions. Coastal highlights included osprey, Eleanora’s falcon, sooty shearwater, brown booby – and then some absolutely amazing swirling kettles of honey buzzard as April drew to a close.
As migration activity died down, the warmer nights finally started producing a few snakes.
Just the two species, but both were most welcome. Hopefully more to come on future visits too - there's still plenty of unfinished business in this part of the world!
And finally, here’s a few additional shots that I thought I'd sneak in at the end.