Amman and Azraq…

We did make it to Amman, and we did have a nice daytrip to several “castles”, including Qasr Kharana, Qusayr ‘Amra, and Qasr al-Azraq, and the Azraq Wetland Reserve, which held the first freshwater we’ve seen all trip, so I had high hopes, and the reserve did not disappoint.

The biggest bird we saw, by far, was this young great white pelican, the likes of which we last saw in London, of all places. Of course, Anne saw it first and came running back to get me as I was wasting my time trying to get yet another red-backed shrike picture.

There were plenty of blue-cheeked bee-eaters, but in a slightly more natural setting than the metal fence post on which we saw the last one.

There were a couple of little grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis), whom I also saw in Aqaba, but who were too far away there for a decent photo, so this is their debut in this venue.

The bird I was most excited to see, however, was this white-eared bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis), because it is our very first one and our fourth bulbul over all.

With standing fresh water, I would have been surprised if there were not dragonflies, but this violet dropwing (Trithemis annulata) is still a stunner.

Finally, back in Amman, there is a citadel atop the hill behind our hotel, and here’s an Egyptian rock agama lizard (Laudakia vulgaris) climbing on the ruins.

Tomorrow we begin our journey home, but we’ve got a few flights to sit through, so it’s gonna take us a while. Wish us luck, and I’ll try to post something to tide you over until I get back to Estabrook.