Figure 1. Map of the East-African migratory flyway.

The central issue is to identify what makes Barr al Hikman so special that so many shorebirds winter there. Apart from the fact that a large number of shorebirds visits the site, surprisingly few is known about for example food availability and feeding conditions for wintering shorebirds. How rich in food is this site in comparison to alternative wintering sites (for example sites in South Africa)? Can the site sustain more birds than currently observed in winter, or is the site's carrying capacity reached? To be able to compare Barr al Hikman to other wintering and stopover sites, i.e. to understand the exact role of this site in the worldwide network of migratory flyways, more knowledge about this important site is essential.

Table 1. Minimum and maximum number of 14 species of Siberian-breeding shorebirds as recorded at Barr al Hikman (from Birdlife IBA factsheet)

We visited Barr al Hikman in January 2007 to study the ecology of shorebirds wintering at this site. The main aims of the expedition were (i) to identify and describe main feeding habitats, including the sampling of invertebrate densities, (ii) to estimate the number of wintering shorebirds, and (iii) to ring shorebirds.

The expedition should be seen as a pilot in which it is important to gain experiences with the field site and to establish contacts with the local authorities and counterparts in Muscat. This expedition is a preparation for a much larger expedition that is planned for the winter 2007/2008.

Jim de Fouw, WIWO (jim.defouw@wur.nl)

Raymond Klaassen, WIWO (raymond.klaasen@zooekol.lu.se)

Mick Green, Natural Research

Andrew Thorpe, Natural Research

Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME), http://www.osme.org/

Swedish Ornithological Society (SOF), http://www.sofnet.org/

Some first impressions of the first visit

The 2007 team: Raymond Klaassen, Mick Green, Jim de Fouw, Andy Thorpe (from left to right).

The village of Hayy, nearby shops and restaurants. Possibility to buy groceries fresh vegetables, coffee and rice, and…cold drinks!

The centre of Barr al Hikman consists only of sand desert and Sabkha (salt flats, like here).

At the edge of the mudflats near Shannah small dunes are very suitable for camping. Birds are just in front of the camp, observation and catching opportunities are perfect. A 4WD is indispensable to reach such sites.

Basic field camp near Shannah. During the fieldwork nice clear blue sky’s with daily temperatures between 25-30 C^°, at night temperatures dropped to 20 C^°.

During the expedition one camp served as kitchen, sleeping place, ringing area.

Mudflats with Sea grass beds near Shannah with high densities of invertebrate prey. At high tides these shallow waters are fished by local fishers during night with small boots and bright lights.

We sampled invertebrate prey in different habitats by sieving and subsequently sorting out 30 cm deep soil cores. In clayey habitats worms (Polychaeta) were particularly abundant, whereas in sandy habitats small shellfish (Bivalva) dominated.

Cores were sieved and sorted out at location, in the back ground the huge mudflat the khawr Barr al Hikman.

A low rocky outcrop near Filim provides a good view over the mudflats. A good point to make detailed observations on foraging birds.

A mixture of Dunlins, Curlew Sandpipers, Sanderlings, and sandplovers roosting at high tides. Broad-billed Sandpipers were locally abundant among such flocks Calidrus wader species.

Roosting Crab plovers at Shannah. Many adults with begging chicks were seen during field trips.

Oystercatchers and Caspian Terns on a sandy beach near Sshannah. The nearby island Masirah includes all 18 tern species which are found in Arabia!

Mick Green during the survey, counting a flock of Barr-tailed Godwits

A dense flocks of Bar-tailed Godwits, with Great knots "hiding" between them. In the back a mixture of roosting Western reef Egrets (white-and dark-morph), Great white Egrets and Little Egrets. On the far horizon Flamingos can be seen.

Mick and Andy setting the nets for the night catch. At different places in Barr al Hikman we made small catches to get familiar with different places and the local tidal regime.

Curlew Sandpiper (above) and the Redshank were most abundantly caught. Catches were especially fruitful at rising tides and near night time roosts.

The last catch included two Terek Sandpipers!

Andy measuring the biometrics of a sandplover. All birds were ringed (British BTO scheme) and biometric data was collected. In addition small blood samples were taken from a subset of species for genetic analyses. Barr al Hikman is a very suitable to make large catches of shorebirds, which is required in order to establish the link with stopover and breeding sites.

Common Tern Sterna hirundi on the balance

The people in Oman were very hospitable and friendly, and were always interested in our work. Here local fisherman are watching trough the telescope.