In pursuit of moths and owls in Oman’s Hajar Mountains

In late 2024 my friend Frederic approached me and asked if I wanted to join him hiking John Edwards’ route for the traverse of the Hajar Mountains in the Sultanate of Oman (more details on that route here). Trusting Frederic’s good taste in adventure and having long wanted to visit Oman, I leapt at the opportunity.

The Hajar Mountains

The Hajar mountains are a 700 km long range of mountains and hills in the north of Oman and the UAE. The highest part of this range is in Oman around the Jebel Akhdar massif, where it reaches its highest point, 3009 m, at Jebel Shams.

View of the Hajar mountains at dawn, looking east from our camp on the flanks of Jebel Shams at approx 2600 m.

Due to their altitude and proximity to the coast the Jebel Akhdar mountains are much more verdant than the rest of northern Oman (Jebel Akhdar meaning literally ‘green mountain’), and in some places support a unique open woodland habitat dominated by Dodonaea, Olea, and the beautiful Pashtun Juniper Juniperus seravschanica.

Due to their remoteness little is known about the insect fauna in these mountains (for a survey see Monks et al.), but the birdlife is distinctly south-central asian in flavour, with Persian wheatear Oenanthe chrysopygia, Plain leaf warbler Phylloscopus neglectus, and Ménétries’s warbler Curruca mystacea all being common wintering species. The Jebel Akhdar range is perhaps best-known for being the premier site to see Omani owl Strix butleri. However, most birders only visit two well-known and car-accessible wadis searching for this species. As far as I could tell from my research, no-one had looked for this bird higher up in the Hajar before, so I was excited to see if I could add new sites for this species. Additionally, using my newly-purchased LepiLED, I was eager to see what moths lurked in the Hajar.

The Route

The route for a 200 km traverse of the Jebel Akhdar range was first published in 2019 by John Edwards (hereafter referred to as John), using ancient man- and donkey-tracks for passage of man and beast between the mountain villages. Despite the mountains being very arid, such a traverse is made possible by a network of water sources along the route. Many of these sources are Aflaj - remarkable networks of water channels draining from mountain acquifers, channelling water into shaded storage pools and into fields. Others are more primal, and may simply be a large bucket positioned underneath a cave drip, storing water for thirsty travellers.

The Aflaj in Misfah al Abriyyn. Not shown are the shoals of Killifish that made this tiny channel their home.

The traverse takes about two weeks and John recommends undertaking the walk in February, to maximise daylight hours while minimising rainfall and excessive heat. Not wanting to contradict John’s sage advice, a trip was arranged for February 2025 between Frederic, myself, and Frederic’s friend Lukas.

Days 1 & 2 - Muscat to Hadash via Al Afyah

It was mid-morning on the 6th of February when we assembled together in Muscat airport. Happy to see Frederic again and pleased to meet Lukas, we immediately sought a taxi to take us to our starting point, in the village of Al Afyah, just west off the Muscat-Nizwa highway. Having struggled a bit with directions (my Google Maps app, at least, defaults to rendering arabic names in the saudi dialect, and so was unintelligible to our omani cabbie), we arrived at the start point at approx 1300 and begun filling our water bottles in the aflaj (irrigation system running from a mountain acquifer).

The starting point of our Hajar adventure, the wadi entrance at Al Afyah (approx 700 m).

Starting so late in the day we planned to break the first leg of our journey over two days, camping somewhere up near the top of our 1400 m ascent to the ridge where we then descend 600 m to the village of Hadash in the spectacular Al Ghubrah bowl. Notably there is no water source along this path, so we had to be prepared for two days without resupply.

Here is where I made a dangerous mistake that affected everyone for the next three days. Having already drunk a lot of water, and already having a very heavy rucksack (25kg+), I only filled up my bottles with three litres of water - one litre for our ascent this evening and afternoon, then two litres for the final climb and descent into Hadash. This proved absolutely moronic.

The track from the wadi up the mountain was challenging but very beautiful. Birdlife included Pale Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta, Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti, and Arabian Green Bee-eater Merops cyanophrys, as well as a Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis, which I was very pleased to see.

However my poor state of fitness, the 30°C heat, weight of my pack, and total lack of sleep on the plane the night before began to compound into fatigue, and after a couple of hours I was badly lagging behind the fit and nimble Frederic and Lukas. As night began to fall we were far short of where we wanted to be and had to camp amongst a steep boulder field.

Despite our poor position this was a very beautiful camp, and once the sun set we were bathed in bright moonlight. I am amazed by how bright the moon is in Arabia. While wearing a headtorch was still prudent to avoid falls, in moonlight it was largely unnecessary. Once darkness fell a Pallid Scops owl Otus brucei started its ‘hoo!-hoo!-hoo!-‘ call from somewhere down in the wadi.

The next day was a truly beautiful dawn and we were awoken by the raucous calls of Grey francolin Ortygornis pondicerianus and the more pleasant song of the Sand partridge Ammoperdix heyi - the latter a real boost to morale as it was a species I had wanted to see.

However any boost to morale was soon deflated upon checking my water supply. In the heat of yesterday, and being ill-disciplined, I had drunk most of my three litres of water and had a mere 500 mL left for our long climb and descent into Hadash. With hindsight I’m not sure whether rationing water or drinking it as I had the day before would have been the better option. I was sweating horrendously in the walk up to camp the day before and had reasoned that water was probably better use in my body than on my pack in such circumstances.

Frederic and Lukas recognised the seriousness of the situation too, and to prevent us having to spend another night without a water source, they very kindly offered to take some of my luggage with them for this part of the journey, so as to make sure we all got to Hadash that evening. This helped a lot and by about midday we arrived at the base of the final scramble over the ridge to Hadash. By now I had drunk all my water and Frederic and Lukas were kindly sharing their responsibly rationed supplies with me.

However a brief boost to morale was afforded by us reaching a shaded plateau at the base of this scamble, with long flowing chest-height grass. The habitat was amazing and can best be described as some sort of Olea woodland-savannah. This would have made for a perfect camp site - as evidenced by a recently used firepit and small shelters constructed by overnighting goatherds. Alas we had to leave this little eden and carry on over the mountain to Hadash.

View looking east from approximately halfway up the final scramble (approx 2000 m). The small savannah plateau can be seen below.

The scramble up was tough but by about 1400 we had reached the top of the col and were now looking into the immense Al Ghubrah bowl, one of the best views I’d seen in a long time. On the scramble up, we were joined by Black redstarts Phoenicurus ochruros, handsome Hume’s wheatears Oenanthe albonigra, and at the very top of the scramble, rewarded by a close and slow fly-by of a Bonnelli’s eagle Aquila fasciata cruising along the ridgeline.

View looking north west from the top of the ridge into Al Ghubrah bowl. Omani owl country.

Now began our descent into Al Ghubrah to Hadash. This is where I first realised that John is the real deal. In his book he describes the route as having ‘some exposure’. I would describe this route as ‘very exposed’. The route to Hadash is spectacular and takes you about 2 km along a cliff face, using a series of ledges and gullies. The path is well-marked and well-worn but for much of it there is nothing but air to your side, and a 30+ m drop in places onto the rocks below.

Sadly we had run out of water by the time we reached the col and we didn’t have time to savour this spectacular route or the views, with only three hours left before sunset. Thirsty we pressed on, and came off the cliff onto the slopes above Hadash - looking delciously green - just as the sun dipped behind the mountains. Headtorches on, we traipsed for about 40 mins through more open Olea woodland down to Hadash. At Hadash there is a car park for tourists and above it, a flat area of gravel perfect for camping. We hastily dumped our packs there and filled up from the village’s Aflaj, bookending a very adventurous start to the trip.

I have to say this is one of the most fun routes I’ve ever done, and would love to do it again, but not with a large trekking rucksack full of nine days of food! In particular the large pack makes some of the moves on the descent difficult where the path does under an overhang and the pack forces you out towards the precipice.

We went back to camp and ate in the dark, then hastily made our beds and went to sleep. The cliffs around Hadash look perfect Omani owl habitat, but sadly I was too tired to conduct any kind of survey. I slipped quickly into sleep.

Days 3-8 - Hadash to Misfah al Abriyyn, via Wukan, Muscat, and Nizwa.

We were woken at dawn by the call to prayer from the Hadash mosque. Still shaded by the large cliffs to our east, the morning was pleasantly cool. The birds of Hadash were making the most of the cool air and all around us we could hear the songs of Grey francolin and Sand partridge. At breakfast I also managed to spot a Scrub warbler Scotocerca inquieta skulking around at the base of a bush.

View looking across Al Ghubrah bowl at dawn, hidden by clouds.

The view at breakfast was pretty spectacular with our camp at 1500m sitting above the blanket of cloud covering the Al Ghubrah bowl. However once the sun showed his face over the ridge this quickly burned off and we knew we had to get underway.

After our ordeal the previous day we opted for a low route, walking the main vehicle road connecting Hadash to the village of Wukan, the next campsite on John’s route. The road proved not too birdy but some close views of Hume’s wheatear as we were leaving Hadash were much appreciated. After hitching a ride on the back of a beat-up Toyota Hilux and a bit of thirsty walking in the heat, we arrived at Wukan by the mid-afternoon.

Here I made the painful decision to temporarily part ways with Frederic and Lukas, who I was again lagging behind and would only slow down. We agreed to rendezvous at the village of Misfah al Abriyyn in five days’ time, the next point on the route which would be easily accessible by taxi.

Over that afternoon and the following day I explored Wukan, a scenic agrarian village which held my first Purple sunbirds Cinnyris asiaticus and Delicate prinias Prinia lepida. There was also a large roaming flock of Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita which I searched several times for a Plain leaf warbler Phylloscopus neglectus, but sadly they proved to all be collybita. At the top of the village a lone Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka was a welcome contrast to the ubiquitous Hume’s wheatears. Like Hadash the village is surrounded by steep cliffs which, covered in gnarled Olea, seemed like a perfect place to harbour Omani owl. Taking advantage of my long stay in the area I spent a couple of hours both nights listening for the owl at the top of the village beneath the cliffs, but heard nothing and left empty-handed.

Listening for Omani owls at Wukan, looking east towards Hadash, and the scramble on day 2 (the far ridge).

The issue with not following John’s route is I now had to take a massive detour to link up with Frederic and Lukas again at Misfah. This route would have to take me first to Muscat, then along the Muscat-Nizwa highway (past the starting point of our hike) to Nizwa and on from there to Misfah somehow. Luckily I managed to hitch a lift with a kind young Finnish couple from Wukan back to Muscat. After an evening’s birding the mangrove estuary near Al Qurum beach, and a couple of hours in a taxi, I arrived in Nizwa.

From Nizwa my plan was clear: hire a car and look for Omani owl. One of the two car-accessible wadis visited by birders in pursuit of Omani owl is near Nizwa. I won’t reveal the specific wadi, but it’s easy enough to find if you know where to look. After arranging a 24 hr rental with one of the Nizwa hire car companies, I was off in pursuit of owls.

Car camping in the Omani owl wadi.

The plan was merely to camp out in the wadi, explore a bit in the dark, and listen for the birds. From what I could tell the owls should be active at dusk and dawn, so no need to lose too much sleep looking for them. I parked up next to the most-visited spot for the owls, and waited. As dusk fell I was optimistic, with a Pallid scops owl opening up song right next to camp as soon as the sun sank behind the ridge. However around 30 mins later strong winds blew up out of the desert, deafening me and likely causing any owls to hunker down in shelter. The wind went on til around 2300, and no further owls were heard. I passed out some time around 0100, and woke again as light was creeping into the wadi.

Like many of my mornings in Oman, the view was beautiful. The light in the wadis during the early mornings and late evenings really brings out the colours in the rock, and the air is pleasingly cool. A drive deeper into the wadi revealed it to be quite birdy, with plenty of passerines skulking amongst Acacia at the base of the cliffs. These included Lesser whitethroats Curruca curruca and Menetrie’s warblers Curruca mystacea, as well as Striolated bunting Emberiza striolata and Hume’s wheatear higher up the cliffs. Overhead three Brown-necked ravens Corvus ruficollis croaked.

Morning light in the wadi.

Having drawn a blank on Omani owl, it was time to hand the car back and make my way to Misfah. At the least I’d got my eye in for the owl’s habitat and would be on the lookout for similarly massive cliffs elsewhere in the Hajar. After an hour’s ride in a taxi I stepped out onto the tarmac carpark in front of Misfah village.

Misfah is popular with tourists, and rightly so. The mud and stone houses in the old village, at one time fallen into disrepair, have been recently restored and the village now supports three guesthouses. Also, unlike many places in Oman, you can hear the sound of running water, and walk under the shade of trees. The aflaj flows through the village and irrigates the village’s tiered fields planted with Date palms, Banana trees, and other crops unfamiliar to me.

Bananas and Dates growing next to the Aflaj in Misfah al Abriyyn.

Misfah is also an important part of John’s traverse of the Hajar. While staying the night in Misfah (a mere 900 m above sea level) is a considerable loss in elevation for walkers coming off the ~2000 m ridge above, it is possible to have post delivered to the guesthouses, thus making resupply of food and other essentials possible. Frederic had posted a parcel full of food ahead for us and the proprietor of our guesthouse was happy to hang onto it until we arrived.

After exploring the village a bit I walked up along the valley behind the village, which I expected Lukas and Frederic to come down on their descent into Misfah. At the head of the village overlooking the source of the Aflaj there is a ruined watchtower, and thinking there was no better place to watch for foreign intruders into Misfah, I sat and waited for the others. As it turned out I had only to wait fifteen minutes before I saw two familiar figures, dusty from the mountain, descending through the valley.

As our stay in the guesthouse was not til the following evening, we made camp that night in the dried riverbed at the bottom of the valley. Here I actually started to look for moths, and as night fell we picked a site to hang the LepiLED. We settled on a large smooth rock near our camp, with a convenient branch above to suspend the lamp.

LepiLED in action outside Misfah al Abriyyn.

Pretty quickly after lighting up moths started to arrive. I was pleased to find that I could assign most of them a family, and some of them a probable genus, based on species I’m familiar with from the UK. One I was also able to identify straight away, Chiasmia latimarginaria, having seen images of this species in a Facebook post about moth trapping on Jebel Akhdar. Another fairly straightforward ID was of Eublemma alexi, the genus being immediately obvious and the species being nice and distinctive.

Chiasmia latimarginaria. Eublemma alexi.

By far the stand-out moth for me though was a gorgeous blue and yellow Stathmopoda. Afromoths.net lists several very similar species in this genus, so I suspect the identity of this moth will have to remain unknown without dissection.

Stathmopoda sp.

After a couple of hours’ mothing we turned off the LepiLED and wriggled into our sleeping bags.

Having spent the previous nights either in a car or a guesthouse it felt good to be sleeping under a bright starlit sky again. As I looked up I could see the silhouettes of bats nectaring in the trees above me. When the moon came over the ridge a Little Owl Athene noctua started its mewing call.

Days 9-13 - Misfah al Abriyyn to Jebel Shams

The following day was spent relaxing in Misfah and enjoying the greenery. Lukas was eager to take some time off the trail and see the cultural sights of Oman, so over the next few days it would just be Frederic and I walking. With this in mind we planned a circular route that would take us back up onto the ridge from which Frederic and Lukas had just descended, along west to Jebel Shams, then back down a long valley to Misfah, where we would rendezvous with Lukas again.

As we were only going to be gone for three days, we opted to leave surplus food and belongings in Misfah. Fortunately the owner of our guesthouse was extremely accommodating and happy to let us leave it with him. The hospitality in Misfah is really top-notch and the kindness shown by the owner of our guesthouse made a lot of what we did possible. The owner warned us about the ‘crocodiles and tigers’ on the mountain, and waved us off.

The walk up to the ridge was a gentle ‘donkey track’, still in active use by donkey caravans. This made the trail easy to find, either by the constant stream of donkey droppings amongst boulder fields or the worn-smooth path across limestone pavements. Though we started early, the temperature was initially quite warm and unpleasant for walking. However by the time we reached the summit of the ridge at approx 1800 m it had dropped to a pleasant ~18°C.

As we climbed the vegetation changed too, and it was here that I first started to see Pashtun junipers.

Leaving the blog entry here for a bit, will update more later.

List of birds seen in the Hajar Mountains, Feb 2025

Grey Francolin Ortygornis pondicerianus
Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi
Rock Dove Columba livia
Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis
Pallid Swift Apus pallidus
Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus
Bonelli’s Eagle Aquila fasciata
Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei
Little Owl Athene noctua
Arabian Green Bee-eater Merops cyanophrys
Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis
Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti
Delicate Prinia Prinia lepida
Pale Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta
White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis
White-spectacled Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos
Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
Scrub Warbler Scotocerca inquieta
Lesser Whitethroat Curruca curruca
Menetries’s Warbler Curruca mystacea
Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros
Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius
Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka
Hume’s Wheatear Oenanthe albonigra
Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus
Indian Silverbill Euodice malabarica
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea
Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis
Striolated Bunting Emberiza striolata

List of moths identified from the Hajar Mountains, Feb 2025

With credit to Arno Beidts and others on iNaturalist for their help.

List up-to-date as of 15/01/2026. As more species are identified, or identifications change, this list will change.

Psychidae
Amicta quadrangularis

Gelechiidae
Tuta absoluta
Ochrodia subdiminutella
Deltophora fasciella

Pyralidae
Epicrocis pseudodiscomaculella
Etiella zinckenella
Aphomia sabella

Crambidae
Noorda blitealis

Geometridae
Neromia pulvereisparsa
Conolophia conscitaria
Chiasmia latimarginaria

Noctuidae
Pandesma robusta
Heliothis nubigera
Caradrina atriluna
Thysanoplusia exquisita
Pseudozarba mesozona
Epharmottomena leucodonta

Erebidae
Antarchaea erubescens
Creatonotos omanirana
Casama innotata
Acantholipes circumdata
Tytroca dispar
Eublemma alexi
Ocnerogyia layla

Unidentified moths from the Hajar Mountains, Feb 2025

If you want to help out identifying these, please contribute to the observations on iNaturalist.

Zelleria sp.? iNat observation here.

Gelechiidae sp. iNat observation here.

(to follow)