Petra!

We made it to Petra, though driving through the modern city was a bit of a trick, but the archeological site was far more amazing than I had even imagined. The iconic building carved into red sandstone, called “The Treasury”, and seen in many movies, is only the tip of the iceberg. Petra was a booming metropolis from about 400 BC to 106 AD, and there are dozens of other buildings to see as well.

Even better, old stone buildings were not the only sights to see, and this striking bird is our very first Tristram’s starling (Onychognathus tristramii), a female. I read that “the species is named after Reverend Henry Baker Tristram,” “an early, but short-lived, supporter of Darwinism.”

Here’s the glossy black and slightly less cooperative male. I read further that “[they are] also known as Dead Sea starlings or Tristram’s grackles, [they are] native to the Middle East, [and they are] the only member of the genus Onychognathus found mainly outside of Africa.”

We also saw laughing doves, pale crag-martins, white-spectacled bulbuls, a Eurasian blackcap, and a blackstart, but none allowed pictures as nice as I’ve already shown you.

Luckily, I had a couple of hours before our drive to Petra to go visit the Aqaba Bird Observatory one more time, and a couple of new birds came out to say “hi”. This first one darted around in the top of a tree, as we’ve seen plenty of warblers do in Estabrook, but this one is our first graceful prinia (Prinia gracilis). If “prinia” sounds familiar, perhaps that’s because you read about the tawny-flanked prinia I saw in Malawi a while back.

When I saw this bird, I figured it for another western yellow wagtail, but I remembered what Anne always says, “take the darn picture and worry about who it is later.” Well, she’s been proven right again, and my sources tell me that this little cutie turns out to be yet another wheatear, if you can believe it, an Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina), in fact.

I first noticed these critters darting around on the hot sand at Wadi Rum, but I never managed to get a picture, so I was glad to have one more chance to capture a black desert ant (Cataglyphis nigra) on film. I read that they are known for extreme heat tolerance and the ability to navigate by observing the sun’s location, which avoids depending on pheromone traces that can be obliterated by blowing sand and allows taking a direct path back to the nest after locating prey to minimize exposure.

Finally, the blue-spotted Arab butterflies were still plentiful, and this time I got a good look at the dorsal (top/in) side of the wings. They sure are pretty, aren’t they?

Our next stop is Amman, the capital of Jordan, and Anne has us booked on a tour of the Azraq Wetland Reserve, so there might be even more wildlife to see. Keep your fingers crossed.