Dana is about a 2 hours drive south of Amman (on the Desert Highway

is best) close to the small towns of Qadisayya and Buseirah. The

entrance fee is 2 Jordanian Dinas, and there is a small charge

per night for hiring tents and blankets. The campsite is open

from March to November, and it is best to book with RSCN in Amman

beforehand.

As a naturalist, but particularly a birdwatcher, who has travelled

extensively in the Middle East, I cannot recollect an area like

The Dana Wildlands Reserve where in the course of about a 15 km

stretch one can find such a representative selection of truly

Middle Eastern birds, from mountain to desert species. And what

is more, in healthy populations living in near-natural habitats.

At 1500 metres, the roof of Dana, you look out over the mountain

ridges that fall away to the west. In the foreground are domed

beehive-like rock formations as though made from dough, which,

after kneading was dumped in clusters. On the upper slopes the

dominant vegetation is the juniper which forms extensive stands,

often with Pistacia and evergreen oak. The commonest bird amongst

this scrubby vegetation is the Yellow-vented Bulbul, which breeds

in very high densities; where there are springs or other water

seepages, it is not uncommon to find loose clusters of 30 or more

parading and calling excitedly from the nearby trees. On the steep

rocky cliffs Rock Sparrows gather in small groups, and you are

never far away from the wolf-whistle calls of the Tristram’s Grackle.

When the orchards on the ancient terraces above Dana village are

in fruit, flocks of over 300 grackles will congregate, flashing

black and orange as they swoop in to adorn a fig or pomegranate

tree. On the scrubby slopes, particularly at the higher altitudes,

you may find the occasional pair of Spectacled Warblers, or hear

the jaunty song of the Scrub Warbler as it flits from cover to

cover or hops on the ground like a small jerbil with tail held

aloft.

It is on the high tops that two of the region’s specialities occur

– the Sinai Rosefinch, sometimes in groups of over 100, and the

Syrian Serin, singing from tree tops but descending to feed on

seed plants amongst the sheep-grazed slopes. This is the only

known place in the Middle East where these two species can be

found breeding together.

Griffon Vultures sail overhead in the early morning, venturing

forth from their breeding crags to survey the deserts of Wadi

Araba in search of animal carcasses. The dawn air is often punctured

with the shrill cries of Short-toed and Bonelli’s eagles, both

of which breed, whilst Lesser Kestrels, Barbary Falcons and even

Sooty Falcons can all be easily seen.

And if you’re lucky, perhaps a wandering Verreaux’s Eagle will

ride the thermal air currents, wings held in a shallow ‘V’, spiralling

upwards with rarely, if ever, a wing beat. Owls are firmly in

evidence at Dana. Although occasionally seen during the day, Eagle

Owls, Hume’s Tawny Owls and Scop’s Owls frequently pierce the

night air with their calls.

Wadi Dana, from which the reserve takes its name, cuts a deep

gash in the Sharrah Mountains and, following a precipitous path

from Dana village, you are quickly into the lush, sub-tropical

vegetation of the wadi beds, with tamarisk, phragmites and large

stands of oleander. Palestine Sunbirds start to appear at this

level, as do Sand Partridges on the neighbouring steep arid slopes,

often congregating to dust bathe in sandy hollows, which will

then become criss-crossed with their footprints and masked with

impressions of their bodies and outstretched wings. White-crowned

Black Wheatears, Blackstarts and Mourning Wheatears (‘the veiled

one’ is the translation of the local Arabic name) are all common

along the wadi edge, together with noisy, bold and inquisitive

Arabian Babblers, especially where there is any patch of vegetation.

Soon you are down to below sea level, as the mouth of Wadi Dana

fans out into the wide expanse of Wadi Araba some 40 kms south

of the Dead Sea. Here the landscape gently undulates with stony,

silty and sandy dunes, scattered stands of acacias and occasional

smallholdings bringing bright expanses of green to the desert.

Three species of sandgrouse can be found gathering in the early

morning at the few isolated waterholes sprinkled throughout the

desert. Larks are well represented by Hoopoe, Bar-tailed Desert

and Dunn’s Lark, and in the more remote, wild and barren wadi

systems another of the region’s specialities, the Hooded Wheatear

can be seen making high aerial sallies for insects, like a large

black and white flycatcher, whilst Great Grey Shrikes stand like

sentinels on isolated trees. In autumn large flocks of buzzards,

and smaller numbers of mixed eagles can be seen migrating south,

rising in the thermals high above the hill and ridge.

Ibex are occasionally sighted in the foothills – mostly in the

early mornings – and on the desert plains of Wadi Araba small

groups of gazelles may be fleetingly observed. But it is after

dark that the predators come into their own – caracals, badgers,

wild cats, Blandford and Ruppell’s foxes, wolves and hyaenas.

Only their footprints in the sandy wadis and around waterholes

provide evidence of their presence. Unlike the more visible birds,

we shall probably never know their true populations.

Note: The author travelled to Dana in connection with a World

Bank funded study undertaken in conjunction with the Global Environment

Facility and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

(RSCN) in Jordan.