Birds and archaeology come together beneath the Roman ruins of Jerash. 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 Nabataen 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 6:00 pm 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 Levant Sparrowhawk 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. The tamarisk-lined channels near the town of Suwayma are a good spot to find Dead Sea Sparrow and Graceful and migrant Olivaceous Warblers. A drive around town should turn up a Namaqua Dove or two. After lunch near the sea, we’ll check Kofrayn and Shuna Dams for White-throated and Pied Kingfishers. Blue Rock Thrush, Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Sardinian Warbler, and Arabian Great Gray (aucheri), Woodchat, and Masked Shrikes occur in the brushy areas surrounding the wetlands. 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 Kherana, 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 Eurasian Wryneck, Orphean Warbler, or Common Nightingale. The desert around the castles might have a Thick-billed Lark or two. After lunch in Al Azraq, 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. Night in Al Azraq.
Day 5: We’ll spend a little time before breakfast birding the wooded grounds of our hotel. After breakfast we’ll head to the nearby 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, Bluethroat, and Spanish Sparrow are readily found. White-eared Bulbul is a resident specialty here. The reserve also has its own endemic fish, the Azraq Killifish, Jordan’s only endemic vertebrate. We’ll spend much of the day here, then—if the ephemeral pond is full—check out the shorebirds on the outskirts of town before returning to Al Azraq for dinner. Night in Al Azraq.
Day 6: After breakfast and some brief birding on our hotel’s grounds, 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 Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse and the spectacular Greater Hoopoe-Lark. We’ll settle in to our hotel on arrival in Aqaba on the Red Sea. Night in Aqaba.
Day 7: We’ll spend a little time this morning on the outskirts of town, where just about any Palearctic migrant can appear in the bushes and acacia trees; likely candidates include Common Redstart, Masked Shrike, Rufous Scrub Robin, Common and Thrush Nightingales, and Ortolan Bunting. A short drive 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; Little, Slender-billed, and Caspian Gulls; Little Tern; Kentish Plover; Common Greenshank; Marsh, Green, Wood, Common, and Curlew Sandpipers; and Little and Temminck’s Stints. In the afternoon we’ll do some seawatching from the shores of the Red Sea, where White-eyed Gull is a likely sight. Night in Aqaba.
Day 8: We’ll return to the Aqaba Bird Observatory for a few hours before driving back into the desert and up Wadi Araba, stopping to look for Arabian Babbler and Red Sea Warbler and whatever migrants may be passing through. The scarce Dunn’s Lark is a possibility on the desolate flats, and Green Bee-eaters are readily seen. We’ll continue to Wadi Rum, a natural access point to the desert protected by Bedouin stewards. Starting at Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom—rocks known to the Bedouins as “the flute”—we’ll take a jeep out to some desert seeps and oases, where we’ll hope to find a few migrants and view petroglyphs left by the ancient Nabataen civilization. Pale Rosefinches are common around the rocks and cliffs, and Desert Larks and White-crowned Black Wheatears are widespread on the flats. 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 nose around in the desert for a little while before leaving Wadi Rum. We’ll bird at a few farms and orchards before crossing into the rugged mountains and on to Wadi Musa, stopping along the way for Desert Finch and migrant raptors. Night at the hotel in Wadi Musa.
Day 10: Wadi Musa is the modern town outside the ancient Nabataen 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 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 into 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. Before dinner, we’ll visit 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 Orphean Warbler and Rock Sparrow, then return to the main road to watch raptors from the overlook. After some time there, we’ll return to Amman along the shores of the Dead Sea. We’ll stop briefly at the Wadi Mujib Reserve to admire the geology and the martins, then stop in 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 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, before driving a short distance to look for waterbirds on the reservoir behind the King Talal Dam; if conditions are right, we should find a mix of long-legged waders and shorebirds, likely including Little and Cattle Egrets, Spur-winged Plover, Black-winged Stilt, and Common Sandpiper. We may spend some of the later afternoon in the highlands tracking down species we haven’t seen yet before our final dinner in an upscale Amman restaurant. Night in Amman.
Day 14: The tour ends this morning at Queen Alia International Airport.
Updated: 29 July 2010
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $4,970*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $430
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.