College campus

Back in Salalah

Al Hafa Beach, the old part of Salalah

Mughsayl

Immature flamingo stretching its wings.

Pregnant camel, snowy egret and western reef heron.

Immature flamingos. The one on the far left is bottom up in the manner of a mallard.

Looking east towards Salalah. The surf is very rough these days as the khareef will start soon. This is the only part of the Middle East that catches the edge of the monsoon from SW India making it cool (relatively) and green in July and August.

Too hot to breathe

The coast at Mughsayl close to the recently opened border with Yemen. The stiff wind made it a tolerably cool day.

A pair of Tristram's grackles taking a break from tending their nest on a barren cliff. Only a hint of orange is visible here on the male, but when they're flying, the flash of their brilliant orange primaries is stunning. I love their voices, and luckily, they whistle constantly whether perched or flying.

The view from my terrace towards the NE on a rare cloudy morning. Unfortunately, it's now too hot to be out on the terrace even at night; there's not much change in temperature from day to night and the stone holds the heat.

Plantation afternoon

Banana trees at the lowest level, papayas in the middle and coconut palms towering over the others. Irrigation channels carry water through the plantation; Leaf litter and camel manure act as fertilizer. Lots of ring-necked parakeets and weavers among the trees.



Weaver's nests dangling among the banana and coconut trees.

Banana flower, a gorgeous magenta and sunflower yellow.

Papaya tree

Male weaver and hibiscus.

Salalah

Corn, a major crop around Salalah, is grown for the oil which is favored for cooking. The crop is damaged (estimated loss=10% annually) by the gorgeous, but voracious ring-necked parakeets which were imported from India. (Scroll down for a photo of the perpetrator.) There are experiments in progress to lure the parakeets out of the fields with contraceptive-laced food which might be more to their liking than corn.

When the irrigation comes on in late afternoon, the nearby farms are great places to watch birds. The courtship displays and songs over the last few weeks have been fantastic.

The beautiful culprit in the destruction of the corn fields.

You know that you're in the hinterlands when your airport looks like this. This is it.....the entire airport. When I'm expecting a guest to arrive by air, I sit on the terrace and watch for the plane to pass over just to the north. There are so few flights each day that there's never a question if the plane I see is the one my visitor is on. No need for a phone call or text message on arrival; when the wheels hit the ground, I'm already waiting at the gate.

View from my office looking north towards the Dhofar Mountains. They're hills really, especially compared to the towering, jagged mountains up north around Sohar and Rustaq.

Terrace looking NE towards the mountains before the intense heat and sun damaged the flowers. The only plants that seem to be unfazed by the current weather are arugola, marigolds and the ficus trees.

Guest bedroom (any takers?) This east-facing balcony is now very crowded with plants that had to be moved from the terrace because of intense heat and sun at this time of year. The quilt on the bed is one that I made last year in Ibri of traditional indigo and white fabrics that I bought in China.

Ruppell's weavers

The male Ruppell's weaver builds the nest (or several) and the female inspects to see if the structure is fit for raising a family. The male sometimes stands on top of the nest singing and fluffing up his feathers while she disappears inside to complete her tour.

After finishing the nest in the top left of the picture above, this fellow began working very quickly to destroy, straw by straw, all the other nests in the group. As one male weaver looks much like another, we're uncertain whether he was tearing down his own inferior creations, or if he was eliminating the work of a rival.

At the end of the day, only these and the newly constructed nest were left.

This lizard spent the day lurking on the branch above a nest. The next morning there were shattered egg shells on the ground under the tree. The end of his incredibly long tail isn't visible in the photo.