Herpetological trip to Oman: 4. to 17. Februar 2009 |
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trip report by Thomas Bader, Gerald Ochsenhofer and Christoph Riegler |
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Day 3 (06-Feb-2009): The Wadis in the Western Hajar Mountains
Between Awabi and Rustaq some nice Wadis can be explored, all of them contain surface water and at some locations it is possible to swim in the warm pools. At first we drove south to the Wadi Abiyad. Soon after the last small village the road ended and we had to drive on the riverbed of the Wadi with 4WD. At the first water pond we stopped and soon we found our first Bufo arabicus. These diurnal toads play the ecological role of our water frogs, which are lacking in Oman. They are omnipresent, often in high densities, very variable colored and always very active, quick and not at all shy. The tadpoles share their habitat with some species of fresh water fish (Cyprinidae: Garra bareimiae, Cyprinion microphtalmus).
 Bufo arabicus
On the way down to some pools we found impressive but harmless snakes – the Wadi racers Platyceps rhodorachis. This beautiful snake takes over the role of our Natrix in Europe as it is mostly found in or near water and preys on fish and tadpoles. The snakes are quick and agile swimmers and also skilled climbers on rocks. We found an adult and a juvenile specimen in this Wadi. In total we saw 8 Wadi racers, also other tourists and locals reported the snake to be quite common in this area. Another Pseudotrapelus was observed on a rock and of course Pristurus rupestris was omnipresent.
After this nice walk down to the pools we had an ample bath in the pools during the worst time of the day in the afternoon before we went back to the car, which we left about 3 km behind. A stop in a palm yard brought only masses of Arabian toads and so we decided to drive into the next Wadi, although it was already quite late, but this Wadi is known for records of cat snakes. The Wadi Bani Kharus leads northwards directly to the higher mountains of the Western Hajar. This valley is a paradise for geological researchers and also the old irrigation system named falaj is the evidence of a highly developed former culture.
The sun was already going down and when we reached the last village after 25 km we caught the last rays of sunlight. Here we had a fantastic opportunity to watch the mating display of Bufo arabicus. The call of the toads sounds a bit like snarling. While we watched the toads, Hannes made one of the most valuable records of the trip, when he stumbled across a small skink along a tiny piece of grass near the stream. Until today only a few records of Ablepharus pannonicus have been recorded from Oman, mostly from Wadis in higher elevations. The habitat was similar to these of A. kitaibelii, only the size of the habitat of less than one square meter differs in default of larger grass areas.
Back in the hotel we found a single individual of the Turkish gecko Hemidactylus turcicus parkeri, which is now also called Hemidactylus robustus. Because the larger H. flaviviridis occupies the best places near lamps, H. turcicus must displace to other habitats like wooden elements or even trees. During the night we visited the location from the first day, where we observed the sand snake and found another nocturnal gecko – Bunopus spatalurus hajarensis, characterized by its light color, brown cross beams and tubercles, which are located in parallel longitudinal lines.
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 Day 4 (07-Feb-2009): The Final Day in the Batinah
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