Jordan in Spring

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a relatively small Muslim country, situated in the Near East at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. The ornithological appeal of this little-known country derives from its position at the juncture of three land masses — Europe, Africa and the Middle East — and the diversity of its avifauna reflects this. Despite neighbouring Israel’s huge popularity with European birdwatchers, Jordan has, illogically, remained completely neglected. On this holiday we will enjoy the heavy migration of birds that annually takes place through the region at this time of year, without attendant hordes of birdwatchers. Furthermore, Jordan is a place of cultural fascination, rich in sites of archaeological interest.

The wildlife opportunities in Jordan are outstanding and the tour runs at the optimum time, when the country’s resident birds are joined by European and west Asian migrants arriving from their African winter quarters. Together with these spring visitors we will also enjoy the specialist birds of the region’s varied desert landscapes, amongst them the elusive larks, whose pale plumages can make them almost invisible against their arid, sandy habitats. Adding to this ornithological experience is the excitement of Jordan’s scenery, which is some of the most varied and impressive in the Middle East. The contrasting backdrops to our daily walks can be explained by differences in geology, and an insight into the country’s varied rock types — limestones, multicoloured sandstones and basalts — will add to our appreciation of Jordan’s scenery and wildlife.

Our holiday begins at the Dead Sea. This is a dramatic location, the waters of the huge, saline lake taking on an almost ethereal beauty in the mist of early morning, whilst the towering sandstone cliffs on its western shores provide an impressive backdrop. Here, we should see the first of the typical desert birds, including the strange, ground-dwelling Arabian Babbler, Blackstarts and Tristram’s Grackles. The extensive and well preserved Graeco-Roman ruins of Jerash lie in Mediterranean surroundings of ancient Gillead, and we will have a full afternoon to explore and soak up the atmosphere of this magnificent site. Our route there will give us an opportunity to birdwatch by the Zarqa River and in the native pine woods of Dibbin. Leaving Amman, we enter the stony expanses of the Eastern Desert. Here we will stop at two 8th century ‘desert castles’s of the Omayyad Period, and search for desert specialities such as Red-rumped Wheatear and Temminck’s Horned Lark, and we may be lucky to discover migrant Thrush Nightingale and Collared Flycatcher in a tree-lined wadi.

Precious little water remains in the famous Azraq oasis but we will use it as our base before heading into the boulder-strewn, lunar landscape of the black Basalt Desert. Our main quest will be to find the dark morph of the Mourning Wheatear but this is a little-known area and we hope to discover much more. Azraq’s castle is built of basalt and is where Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab Army rested before their final assault on Damascus. Trees and scrub around the resthouse and at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve provide cover for exhausted migrants as well as the resident Desert Finch. With luck there will be some wetland habitat to explore but that is dependent on the winter rains.

The 6th century mosaic map at Madaba will be our first stop before we wind our way down the length of the ancient King’s Highway, following in the steps of many a trader, army and pilgrim. We will stop en route to watch Calandra Larks and look for Jordan’s national flower, the localised Black Iris. The landscape is dramatic as we cross the canyons of Wadi al-Mujib and Wadi al-Hasa and no less so at Kerak Castle, commanding the route down to the Dead Sea and west to Palestine. We will arrive at our campsite overlooking Wadi Dana in time to explore and photograph the dramatic view in the rich evening colours. One of the specialities of Dana, and indeed Jordan, is the Tristram’s (or Syrian) Serin which has one of the most restricted distributions of any Western Palearctic bird. We will also be on the look-out for raptors; for, as well as breeding Bonelli’s Eagle, the mountains here lie on the main migration route heading north.

Lost for centuries and rediscovered only in 1812, the ancient Nabataean capital at Petra is one of the highlights of our holiday. Carved from the rose-red sandstone and hidden amongst a range of hills, the city and the vast facades of Petra’s magnificent palaces and temples, are only accessible through a long, narrow winding chasm. Petra is also an excellent place for birds, with two extremely localised specialities — the beautiful Sinai Rosefinch and Hume’s Tawny Owl, which only emerges after dusk. Raptors migrate over the site and we may be lucky enough to witness a spectacular aerial passage of thousands of Steppe Buzzards, Black Kites and Steppe Eagles. We now travel southwards, stopping at the dramatic valley of Wadi Rum where we will camp in traditional Bedouin style, until we reach the southernmost town of Aqaba, Jordan’s port at the head of the Red Sea. Here, a variety of migrants make their landfall from the south. We will watch for such unusual seabirds as White-eyed Gull and Brown Booby, and visit the local sewage works — not on most tourists’s itinerary but one of the most productive birdwatching sites in the whole region. Without doubt this will be a most exciting end to a fortnight packed with ornithological and cultural interest.