A Eurasian Hoopoe perches on some ancient Roman stonework in the Decapolis city of Jerash. In Jordan spring migration passes through some of the world’s best archaeological sites. Photo: Jon Feenstra
Surrounded by news-grabbing geopolitical powerhouses, Jordan hosts some of the most exciting spring birding anywhere. Long famous for such archaeological treasures as the Nabataean city of Petra, this small and peaceful nation is still new ground for birding tours, and the country’s nature reserves are just waiting to be explored.
It may be new to birders, but Jordan is no mystery to the birds. Migrants moving north from their African wintering grounds pass through the Great Rift Valley before dispersing to breeding areas in Europe and western Asia. Each spring, every pond, woodlot, orchard, and oasis in the desert is a magnet to passerines, and kettles of raptors wheel over the rugged ridges. The migrants join an impressive number of regional specialties.
Birds and archaeology come together as we look for rosefinches and Blackstarts in the shadows of Petra, larks among the Roman pillars of Jerash, and wheatears while walking in the footsteps of T.E. Lawrence in the desert of Wadi Rum.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:30 p.m. in Amman with dinner in our hotel’s restaurant. Night in Amman.
Day 2: After breakfast in our hotel, we’ll drive a short distance north toward the city of Jerash, stopping on the way to bird along the river at Sayl Jerash. White-throated Kingfisher, Eurasian Jay, Palestine Sunbird and Eurasian Blackbird can all be seen here; we’ll also keep an ear out for the explosive song of Cetti’s Warbler and hope to get a look at this notorious skulker. Saving our exploration of old Jerash for later, we’ll visit the upland coniferous woodland of the Dibeen Forest and the oak-covered hillsides of the Ajlun Reserve, where we’ll take in a 360-degree rooftop view of the Mediterranean landscape while Blue and Great Tits chatter from the bushes below us. After a walk through the reserve and lunch in the roof-top restaurant, we’ll take in a little history at nearby Ajlun Castle, a strategic outpost captured by Saladin during the Third Crusade. The stone archways inside open onto a spectacular view of upland Jordan, and we might see a Common Kestrel or a Short-toed Eagle fly by before we return to Amman for dinner. Night in Amman.
Day 3: After breakfast in the hotel, we’ll head for the north end of the Dead Sea. We’ll start with the water catchment dams at Kafrayn and Shuna. Kafrayn may have various waders including migrant Purple Herons. The acacias can be good for migrants like Masked and Woodchat Shrikes and various warblers, and Sand Patridge occasionally comes down for a drink. Shuna Dam can be good for migrant shorebirds like Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Common Greenshank. After lunch at the Dead Sea and a little time to wade or swim in the ultra-salty waters, we will bird around the nearby town of Suwayma. The tamarisk-lined channels are a good spot to find Dead Sea Sparrow, Graceful Prinia and migrant Eastern Olivaceous Warblers (among others). A drive around town might turn up a Namaqua Dove or two. We will return to Amman via Madaba to visit St. George’s Church, whose 1,500-year-old mosaic floor includes the oldest known map of Palestine Night in Amman.
Day 4: We’ll leave Amman after breakfast and head east into the desert. On our way to Al Azraq we’ll stop at two of Jordan’s famed “desert castles.” The eighth-century stone block structure of Qasr Kharana, thought to have been a hostelry, juts out from its flat gravel surroundings; farther east is Qasr Amra, a palace and bath house whose interior murals have survived in remarkably good condition. Behind Qasr Amra, the pistachios and bushes of Wadi Butm stretch off into the desert, where they attract migrants often including Spanish Sparrow, European Pied Flycatcher and Common and Thrush Nightingales. The desert around the castles can have a Thick-billed Lark, though we’ll be lucky to find this notoriously difficult species. After lunch in Al Azraq, we’ll spend the remainder of the afternoon at the Azraq Reserve, an outstanding birding locality—but a mere shadow of the vast wetland that once covered much of this area. The current wetland, still undergoing restoration, is an important stop-over for birds crossing the Arabian Desert. Squacco Heron, Little Bittern, Western Marsh Harrier, Little Crake, Spur-winged Plover, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Bluethroat, and Eurasian Hoopoe are readily found. Less common birds such as Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, European Wryneck and Rueppell’s Warbler are also possible, as are members of the disjunct population of White-eared Bulbuls resident here. The reserve also has its own endemic fish, the Azraq Killifish, Jordan’s only endemic vertebrate. Night in Al Azraq.
Day 5: We’ll spend a little time first thing in the morning birding the Reserve, then we’ll drive north into the basalt desert in search of the black morph of Mourning Wheatear; this “Basalt Wheatear,” possibly a separate species, occurs only in northern Jordan and southern Syria. The dark race of Desert Lark also occurs here and Bar-tailed Lark is possible. Following our return to Azraq and lunch, we’ll return to the Reserve and spend the remainder of the day there, perhaps venturing to the outskirts of town if the ephemeral pond holds any water. Night in Al Azraq.
Day 6: After breakfast and some brief birding in the desert around Azraq, we’ll make the longest drive of the entire tour: four hours to cross the entire country, with a stop in the desert to stretch our legs, have a picnic, and look for desert specialties such as Cream-colored Courser, Temminck’s Lark and the spectacular Greater Hoopoe-Lark. We’ll check in at our hotel on arrival in Aqaba on the Red Sea with perhaps a little afternoon sea-watching for hopes of Brown Booby and White-eyed Gull. Night in Aqaba.
Day 7: A short drive just outside of town will take us to the Aqaba Bird Observatory, where a series of evaporation pools is the first fresh water encountered by migrants after their long flight across the Red Sea. Among the many waterbirds here, we can hope for Garganey and Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe, Black-headed, Slender-billed, and Caspian Gulls, Little and Gull-billed Terns, Kentish Plover, Common Greenshank, Marsh, Green, Wood, Common and Curlew Sandpipers, and Little and Temminck’s Stints. Black Storks, White Storks and raptors such as European Honey-Buzzard, Booted Eagle and Levant Sparrowhawk may pass overhead. Really just about any Palearctic migrant can appear here between the ponds and the adjacent acacia forest; likely passerine candidates include Common Redstart, Masked Shrike, Red-throated and Tree Pipits, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Blackcaps, Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin, European Pied, Semicollared and Collared Flycatchers and Ortolan Bunting. Arabian Babblers can also be found here. Night in Aqaba.
Day 8: We’ll return to the Aqaba Bird Observatory for a few hours before driving into the rugged landscape of Wadi Rum, a natural access point to the desert and a reserve protected by Bedouin stewards. Starting at Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom—rocks known to the Bedouins as “the flute”—we’ll do a little birding on foot around the visitor center looking for such resident species as White-tailed Wheatear, Brown-necked Raven and Desert Lark. After watching the sun set over the sandstone cliffs and perhaps searching for Hume’s Owl, we’ll spend the night in the Bedouins’ desert camp, which is fully equipped with beds in private tents, electricity and running water.
Day 9: Dawn in the desert will bring the whistles of Tristram’s Starlings. We’ll have breakfast in camp, then take a Bedouin-guided jeep tour out to some desert seeps and sheltered canyons, where we’ll hope to find a few migrants and view petroglyphs left by the ancient Nabataean civilization. Pale Rosefinches are common around the rocks and cliffs, and Scrub Warbler and Hooded Wheatear are possible. Following the tour we’ll cross into the rugged mountains and on to Wadi Musa, perhaps stopping along the way for migrant raptors. Night at the hotel in Wadi Musa.
Day 10: Wadi Musa is the modern town outside the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. This two-thousand-year-old trading city is nothing short of stunning, with elaborate tombs carved into colorful sandstone cliffs. We’ll spend the entire day marveling at the sights of this rightly famous archaeological wonder. Though not famous for its birding, Petra does have Common and Pallid Swifts, Fan-tailed Raven, Rock Martin, Blackstart and occasionally Syrian Serin. Migrant buzzards may be seen passing overhead, while warblers and buntings often stop at the seeps for water. Night in Wadi Musa.
Day 11: We’ll leave Wadi Musa to drive through the mountains to the village of Dana. From here we’ll have an amazing view of Wadi Araba from high above. In the late morning, these picturesque ridges provide good vantage points to watch dozens or hundreds of Eurasian “Steppe” Buzzards kettling on the thermals. Eurasian Griffon is resident here, and one occasionally soars by. The old village of Dana, with its cobbled streets, weathered brick houses and orchards can be productive for migrants, and White-spectacled Bulbul, Palestine Sunbird and Sardinian Warbler are common. After lunch in town, we’ll drive into the scenic canyon of the Dana Reserve, where we’ll have dinner and spend the night in a campground equipped with beds in private tents and running water.
Day 12: This morning we’ll do a little exploring in the canyon for Chukar, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Cretzchmer’s Bunting and Rock Sparrow, all the while watching the sky for raptors and the rocky hillsides for Ibex. In mid-morning we’ll return to Amman along the shores of the Dead Sea. We’ll stop for a picnic lunch at the Wadi Mujib Reserve to admire the striking geology and the House Buntings, and take a walk along the Mujib Canyon with opportunities to cool our feet in the mountain waters. Night in Amman.
Day 13: We’ll leave our hotel after breakfast and head back north for some relaxed birding among the Roman ruins of Jerash. Crested Larks abound, and Black-eared Wheatears sing from the tops of Corinthian columns. The amphitheatre is in near-perfect condition and the streets through the colonnaded plaza still show the ruts left by ancient chariot traffic. We’ll have lunch on the grounds of a local villa, perhaps in the company of Syrian Woodpecker, and have time to wander the picturesque orchards before returning to Amman for our final dinner. Night in Amman.
Day 14: The tour ends this morning with transfers to the Queen Alia International Airport.
Updated: 14 May 2012
Prices
- 2013 tour price not yet available : *
- (2012 tour price was $4,970) :
Notes
This tour is limited to seven participants with one leader, 14 with two leaders.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.