Odonata - Jordan

Not a great deal of wetland habitat encountered in Jordan, so a small Odonata tally of just 8 species after two weeks, mostly consisting (as usual) of Libellulids. The only damselfly recorded was Platycnemis dealbata, pictured here, although one other species eluded me at the Zarqa River. The bird observatory at Aqaba was another good site and produced sight records of Pantala flavescens, Anax parthenope and Anax imperator.

The widespread Orthetrum chrysostigma at the Zarqa River.

Another widespread species, Crocothemis erythraea, again at the Zarqa River.

The beautiful Trithemis annulata, scarce along the Zarqa River.

Perhaps the best of the lot, I do not see Trithemis arteriosa very often. It was only seen around the swimming pool at our accommodation near Wadi Rum.

Seeing Hume's owl around Petra (Jordan)

Mike Edgecombe took this distant image of one of a total of four Hume's owls we saw around Little Petra in just one hour. I was the lighting director as usual...

Having just seen six birds in just three night sessions, I think it is safe to say that seeing Hume's owl in Jordan is much easier than in neighbouring Israel. I saw my first bird without a tape by just wandering along the road below Dana village (down into Wadi Dana) at night. It was just 300 metres from the village. Our best encounters however were in the wadis around Little Petra - on the Wadi Araba road 15 minutes from Wadi Musa (Petra). We made contact with a bedouin guide called Faleh ("Far-lay") who can be reached on his mobile (0779142906). Whilst it would be easy to find the owls on your own, it is better to have a local guide with you if you are creating a disturbance at night near people's livestock, tents and womenfolk. Faleh knows several nearby territories and with his help you will soon find owls if you use playback.

Well met!

A big cultural day today for the team, the incredible Nabatean ruins at Petra being the focus of our attention. Although I enjoyed the ruins, I kept an eye out for Sinai rosefinches and eventually found a pair a short way up the trail to the monastery. My first male!

Incredibly down at the restaurant I bumped into Mike (and Ginny) Edgecombe, they were travelling with John and Jane Gregory. Amazingly the last time I had seen this birding duo together had been at a similar chance meeting at Angkor Wat in Cambodia! The upshot of all this was that we arranged to go owling together in the evening. Two nights ago at Dana village I had been lucky enough to see my first Hume's owl and Mike was green with envy. Could we see some more?

Mike and John Gregory picked me up and we headed down to Little Petra. A side wadi drew my attention and we wandered down it. John played the 'tape', we got an immediate response and before long they were happily watching their lifer Hume's owl. The responding bird was a female and before long the deeper song of the male was heard and he eventually flew in to join the female in the defense of their territory. We spent a good ten minutes watching these birds and Mike got some reasonable images, the best of which I will post when he sends it.

Although they reacted positively to a new owl, I could not get Mike and John to appreciate the splendour of Bufo viridis. Birders!

Before too long the local bedouin arrived and we negotiated a price to be guided to another territory hoping for closer views. A nearby wadi produced another pair, but the views were more distant and the birds drifted off relatively quickly. Still four Hume's owls in an hour was a great result and we returned happily to a bar in Wadi Musa to celebrate. A good day.

Postcard from Jordan

The focus of the first four days of the tour is a lot of black iris twitching. There is a swarm of black iris species and we have spent time chasing down three of them.

It is nearly 20 years since I was last in the Middle East. The birding has been slow in the north-west - too much hunting I suspect. Good to catch up with a variety of wheatears though and tomorrow we head south to the Dead Sea and beyond and we should start seeing some desert birds.

Not many wetland habitats encountered so far. A few stops at the Zarqa River have produced large numbers of Platycnemis dealbata though - a new damselfly for me.

Orchids have been on the menu too, violet limodore (pictured here) is a widespread parasitic species that I always enjoy seeing.

In the absence of dragonflies I am spending plenty of time looking at reptiles. This Ptyodactylus gecko is one of several new species for me.