Syria - Birds & Archaeology

Syria has played a pivotal role in the Middle East’s turbulent history. This surprisingly small country has been occupied by a formidable array of invaders, each keen to leave their mark, resulting in a historian’s paradise. The ornithological riches of neighbouring countries such as Israel, Jordan and Egypt have been well studied, but the attention of the birdwatching world has only recently focused on Syria. As more birdwatchers visit, they are beginning to record a varied avifauna with several Palaearctic rarities such as Bald Ibis and Iraq Babbler, as well as an excellent range of desert specialists and waterbirds. The breeding species are augmented each spring by hundreds of thousands of migrants that rest and feed in Syria before continuing their long journey north to nesting grounds in Asia and eastern Europe.

Our tour begins in the capital city of Damascus, from where we travel through a harsh desert landscape to our first destination at Palmyra, a huge oasis adorned by a fabulous Roman city. En route we note the first desert species such as Temminck’s Horned Lark and Isabelline Wheatear. Around suitable patches of vegetation or open water, we will look for tired migrants — a diversity that can include several species of shrike and 15 of warblers. At any stage of our journey, but particularly in the desert, we may encounter migrating eagles, hawks and harriers, indeed during our tour we are likely to see 20 species of raptor.

During our stay at Palmyra we will have ample time to explore the ruins of the ancient city, which rival in splendour the better-known sites at Ephesus, Jerash and even Petra. Local breeding species include Griffon and Egyptian Vulture, Desert Eagle Owl, Mourning Wheatear, Menetries’s and Olivaceous Warblers, Desert Finch, and up to 10 species of larks, including Hoopoe, Lesser Short-toed, Bar-tailed Desert and, if we are very lucky, the elusive Dunn’s Lark. The star bird, however, is undoubtedly the critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis, a tiny colony of which was sensationally discovered near Palmyra in 2002.

We travel on through the desert for a 2-day stay in Deir ez Zor, in the valley of the fabled Euphrates River. In the vegetation along the river we may find White-cheeked Bulbul, Black Francolin, Little Crake, Great Reed Warbler and Dead Sea Sparrow, while a local speciality of the reedbeds is the entertaining Iraq Babbler. The highlight of the Euphrates, and possibly of the trip, is a relict oxbow at Mheimideh — a superb wetland with a mosaic of reedbeds and pools full of ducks (up to 10 species), herons (up to eight species) and a good range of waders. Breeding species at this astonishing site include Ferruginous, White-headed and Marbled Ducks, White-tailed and Spur-winged Plover, Blackwinged Stilt, Whiskered Tern, Pied Kingfisher and Moustached Warbler. Those with a passion for archaeology will find the ruined Byzantine fortress of Halabbiyah a spectacular diversion from the feast of birds.

Our next destination is Aleppo, Syria’s second city, which has a stupendous Mameluke citadel and vast medieval souk. We pay a dawn visit to Sabkhat al-Jabbul, the best birding site in Syria, where we will find huge numbers of migrant waders, wildfowl and passerines. Here birds flock in their tens of thousands, among them White-winged Black Terns, Little Stints and Greater Flamingoes, shimmering across the salt lagoons. Dense flocks of Spanish Sparrows inhabit the reeds with Spoonbills, several species of herons and dozens of the ungainly Purple Gallinule.

We travel through the limestone ridge south of Aleppo to visit one of the best preserved of the ‘Dead Cities’s — Byzantine settlements preserved in an extraordinary state of repair. We then enjoy a dramatic change of scenery, limestone mountains and oak woods around Slenfeh, where we will look for Rock and Cretzschmar’s Buntings, Rock Nuthatch, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, White-throated Robin and Orphean and perhaps Olive-tree Warblers. We will spend an afternoon admiring the magnificent Crusader castle at Qalaat Saladin, which is also a good site for birding. A final two nights in Damascus gives us time to visit the montane summer resort of Bloudan, west of the city, and look for the widespread Syrian Woodpecker and the delightful Syrian Serin, which pours out its tinkling song from the lush orchards above the town.

Any visit to Syria is also memorable for the warm welcome from the hospitable Syrian people, and we hope you will join us on this pioneering journey.