9th March. Farewell to Sociables.

On our last day of searching for SPs we headed north towards Abu Khaseb. With our eye now in on the habitat, we found 43 birds, making a final, fairly respectable total of 391 birds found. Over 8,000 Km had been covered.Heading back to Deir Ezzor, we stopped off at Muhaymidah, More waders were apparent but little new. 20 fly-over White Pelicans and a couple of Blueththroats were a bonus.As we headed back to Palmyra a sand storm engulfed us. This was clearly grounding migrants with 7 Black-headed Wagtails, 11 Siberian Stonechats, 5 Hoopoes and 3 Pallid Harriers noted. Swallows zipped by and Wheatears perched on every rock.

7th March. You never know when you need a shovel.

Ahmed Aidek kindly joined us today to show us his sites to the south of Deir Ezzor. We stopped first at Al Fedha; nothing but 2 Siberian Stonechats. We turned off south of the main Deir Ezzor-Palmyra highway to explore the huge amount of steppe behind Chola village. Straight away we hit Sociables; 10, then 85 then 5. However, after that they dried up and we finished the day on a total of 116. These were good sites though and further strengthened my view that SPs favour areas of seasonally wet land to feed in. The damp wadis and feda support a richer flora and hence more invertebrates. This is where most of the Sociables are to be found feeding.The supporting cast was good; Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Golden Eagle, Pallid and Hen Harrier, Isabelline Wheatear, Tawny Pipit, Temminck's Lark, Bar-tailed Desert Lark and more Hoopoe Larks than you could point a stick at.

Lunch by the only trees for miles around produced 40 Chiffchaffs, 3 Black Redstarts and 5 Hoopoes.We covered many kilometres of desert habitat, with one dodgy moment when the vehicle got stuck in soft sand. We leapt out to push and quick as a flash Housam produced his salvaged shovel to dig around the wheels. You never know when you need a shovel.

6th March. The chase is on.

With southerly winds for 2 days and reports of large numbers of SPs moving in the Deir Ezzor area we head south. A quick re-check at Al Howl reveals 3 flocks totalling 68 birds. More Northern Wheatears are evident this morning and Swallows zip through.Over to Ar-Ruweira where a further 12 SPs fly east. At the transmitter tower a small 'fall' has taken place; 2 Robins, an Eastern Black Redstart and a stunning Red-tailed Wheatear.We fortuitously met our friends from yesterday in a petrol station and gave Salem a lift back to his house where we ate a quick lunch outside in the sunshine. Calandra, Crested, Short-toed and Lesser Short-toed Larks scuttled around.

Heading south to Abu Khashab, we stopped and scanned, stopped and scanned, stopped and scanned. 550 Cranes went north, 3 Garganey and 2 Ruff were on a pool, a few Finsch's, Northern and Isabelline Wheatears were noted and a Steppe Buzzard soared above. With the sun sinking and the afternoon looking like an anti-climax, we suddenly stumbled on another 51 SP feeding in a shallow damp wadi. A total of 131 for the day and 229 so far. Tomorrow could be the big day.

5th March. International tension.

International trips are seldom unconstrained by the politics of the situation. We had already picked up Yusuf and Mahmoud before the local guide Salem, got in. Nine in the vehicle is not ideal. It was tight. Very tight.

We felt every bump as we drove across a desert now riddled with water-worn gullies after the downpour of 2 days before. We spent 7 hours in the vehicle. With so many people, communication went astray and it took ages to get out and into the vehicle. We were becoming somewhat frustrated!.

The highlight occurred just before lunch. We stopped for a scan and Ghazi picked up a large flock of Cranes heading north. Just under 1,000 went over. Then he picked up 6 distant flying blobs, I got onto them, bustards!! We followed them until they landed. Not the expected Houbara but Great's! Another rare Syrian bird not recorded for some years. While watching them, Ghazi called again, 6 Sociables flying over. He was on fire! The tension was lifted, smiles returned and the customary hand-slapping ensued. Mahmoud nodded towards Mark, commenting "he's happy now".

Abu Mahmoud had offered lunch, which of course was rude to refuse. A typical Bedouin offering followed; communal Arabic coffee, tea, chicken mansaf with spring onions, bread and yogurt, tea and finally, another dose of taste-bud tingling coffee. The local custom is for the head of the house to taste the food to check it is good. Then he watches while the guests eat. Succulent pieces of meat are torn from the bones and placed in front of the honoured guests. How would that go down in the UK? Mel was not eating much so Yusuf placed a particularly plump leg in front of him. Mel tried to explain he was vegetarian so Yusuf kindly plucked him some breast meat instead.

4th March. Al Howl scores a half century.

Bir Said, Eiwa, Al Almair and Al Ruweira presented a gloomy procession of sites as we worked our way checking from Ar-Raqqa across to Hassakah. No SPs were seen and precious litle else; a few migrating Cranes and 5 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, even the huge numbers of Skylarks seen last week had moved on.
We reached Al Howl by 4.00pm for the final checks of the day. At last we hit lucky, with our biggest flock of Sociables so far; 50 birds. Contrary to current wisdom, these birds were feeding in floodplain pools rather than steppe. We paddled around in ankle deep mud trying to check for colour rings. A close Bimaculated Lark added to the occasion.
We attracted the usual crowd, who helpfully also called the security men we had managed to avoid all day. All ended well with the usual invitation to tea, this time sat out on plastic chairs in front of a car workshop. We sat supping tea as the sun went down.

2nd March. Birds on the move.

Shortly after first light, we were at Sed Wadi Abyed, a lake 10 km north of Palmyra. We worked along the lake shore, in and out of the bands of Tamarisk while keeping an eye on the high cliffs on each side. Chiffchaffs were everywhere, along with a few Bluethroats, Water Pipits and Lesser Whitethroat. Overhead were Red-billed Chough, Alpine, Pallid and Common Swifts. An excellent site for migrants and one we must return to.
Driving north through some amazingly desolate and stunning scenery, Housam screached to a halt. We assumed he had spotted something good. Well in a way he had; a shovel lying by the side of the road which was quickly put into the boot. We arrived back at Lake Jubbal by lunchtime, and back searching for SPs. We found just 3, all on fallow within arable land, a contrast to the usual steppe habitat. The fallow has a sparse flora and is very stoney. Lake Jubbal measures an impressive 220,000 ha. Wildfowl seem almost impossible to count; in one bay we managed 156 White-headed Ducks, 630 Shoveler and 750 Pochard.

With the fine sunny weather today, birds were definitely on the move. By the end of the afternoon, 1200 Cranes had arrived at the lake, the whooping calls of each successive flock announcing their arrival, and audible at around a mile distant.

We walked out to the lake at dawn the following morning from Yaseem's house, where we again slept communally on the floor. It was a cold night but day dawned bright and we were soon looking at around 1,850 White-headed Ducks, perhaps 25% of the world population. As the sun warmed the morning, the Cranes that had roosted on the lake overnight began to lift off and circle up, all with loud bugleing calls. We counted 3,613 in all, wave after wave passing over us heading north.
By a stroke of luck we met Abu Said, a sheep farmer, at lunchtime. Bread with sheep's yogurt, cheese, butter and colostrum, all freshly made that morning, were promptly laid out. Served with camomile tea of course.

1st March. Houbara Houbara!.

For our 'day off' from Sociables we aimed to start out at the Talila reserve. But first we had to meet the president of the Desert Commission. Over a cup of camomile tea he urged us to seek out further rare species in the Palmyra area. By the end of the day we had obliged.
We drove deep into the reserve to hear about their breeding programme, gathering photos of Arabian Oryx and Sand Gazelle, whilst adding 10 Hoopoe Lark, 14 Temminck's Horned Lark, 230 Lesser Short-toed Larks, 3 Greater Sand Plovers and the usual wheatears along the way. The desert flora was the best we had seen.
The afternoon passed slowly by, with little added but many miles covered as we travelled deep into the desert. By 4.30 we turned back towards home. Staring idly out of the window as always, a movement caught my eye. HOUBARA! HOUBARA! The car erupted. A Houbara Bustard ran parallel with the vehicle and up over a ridge. I fired off a few shots with the camera. Ahmed leapt out of the car and did a jig. Much high fiving ensued.
We circled around quickly but failed to find the bird; it must have flown in all the commotion. We scanned around from a high point and in the next 30 minutes added 2 Cream-coloured Coursers, 243 Cranes, 3 Dotterel and a Lybian Jerd.
We ended the day having completed our first loop of Syria, covering 5,060 Km and with the first recent record of Houbara Bustard under our belts. The president was duly informed (and now has a framed photo on his desk).