JORDAN'S FLYWAY HOTSPOTS -
Spring Migration Spectacle & Western Palearctic Specialities!

DAY 1     ARRIVAL IN AMMAN  - 18th March 2026
This is purely an arrival day into Queen Alia International Airport,  Amman, (Airport Code: AMM) and it seems arrivals are usually late evening via British Airways or Royal Jordanian but are direct from London, Manchester and Amsterdam. As arrivals are so late, we will be staying at a nearby airport hotel for convenience. Night in Amman.

DAYS 2 - 3   BURQU - AZRAQ WETLANDS - SHAUMARI WILDLIFE RESERVE
We will head east this morning, undoubtedly seeing our first Common Mynas & White-spectacled Bulbuls along the way and out onto the stone desert around Burqu looking for Basalt Wheatear, which can be elusive and we will need a bit of luck to find it. Currently it is lumped within Mourning Wheatear under the new Avilist system. Other species present here include Namaqua Dove, Thick-billed & Temminck's Larks, Blackstart, Trumpeter Finch and occasionally Red-rumped Wheatear.

In the afternoon we will head to the Azraq Wetlands where will see a variety of species including Purple & Squacco Herons, Black-winged Kite, White-throated & Pied Kingfishers, European Red-rumped Swallow, White-eared Bulbul, hopefully a migrant White-throated Robin, Eastern Orphean Warbler, or Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, along with Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Masked Shrike, Graceful Prinia and maybe a passing Little Swift. The surrounding area has Greater Hoopoe Lark, Mediterranean Short-toed Larks, White-crowned & Pied Wheatears, Great Grey & Woodchat Shrikes, Tawny Pipit, Spanish Sparrow & more.

DAY 4     MUJIB BIOSPHERE RESERVE - FIFA NATURE RESERVE  
During these first few days of the tour we will swing by the Dead Sea to give anyone who wants an option to swim in the ultra saline water. Definitely an experience! There is a lot of habitat to explore and we may well visit Mujib Biosphere Reserve for species such as Levant Sparrowhawk, Fan-tailed Raven, Tristram's Starling and Striolated Bunting.

Later in the day we will visit Fifa Nature Reserve where we hope to see Sand Partridge, Arabian Babbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Desert Finch, Dead Sea Sparrow and Indian Silverbill. And nearby we hope to find the often tricky Arabian Warbler, whilst we will need to stay until dark to make an attempt at Nubian Nightjar. Two nights at the highest (in altitude!) hotel in Jordan, the Jabal Dana Hotel at 1600m.

DAY 5    WADI DANA
Wadi Dana is truly spectacular and is home to both of our primary targets - Syrian Serin and Sinai Rosefinch. Other species in the area include Chukar, Little Owl, Arabian Green Bee-eater, Pale Crag Martin, Calandra Lark, Long-billed Pipit, Sardinian Warbler, Palestine Sunbird & Tristram's Starling amongst others. In the right conditions this area can be excellent for raptor migration with 100's of Steppe Eagles passing, along with Short-toed & Booted Eagles, European Honey Buzzard, Steppe Buzzards, Black Kites, Pallid Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, even the odd Black Stork amongst flocks of White Storks and other species. Weather permitting, as it can be quite cold and windy here, we will make our first attempt and for Desert Owl. Night at Jabal Dana Hotel.

DAY 6     PETRA  
We will spend a half day at one of the most iconic archaeological sites in the world - the ancient city of Petra. Whilst exploring this fascinating place we could see species such as Pale Crag Martin, Blue Rock Thrush, Fan-tailed Raven, Blackstart. Mourning Wheatear, Rock Sparrow & even Streaked Scrub Warbler. There's also a few Sinai Rosefinches present before the crowds start to arrive and don't forget to keep looking skywards for any raptor passage! Night in Petra.

DAY 7    WADI RUM
Our route to the stunning Wadi Rum takes us across the barren windswept uplands of the Sharra Mountains where we have further opportunities to witness some mega raptor migration if the weather conditions are favourable. Wadi Rum is one of the best sites to see Sinai Rosefinch, along with Sand Partridge and Hooded Wheatear and we can also hope for a sighting of the near-mythical Verreaux's Eagle which is occasionally reported from this area. We'd also expect to see Laughing Doves, groups of European Bee-eaters heading north, Desert Larks, Desert, Mourning & White-crowned Wheatears perched up nicely for photos, Brown-necked Ravens patrolling the desert, skulking Streaked Scrub Warblers and noisy Trumpeter Finches as well. We will hopefully catch a sprinkling of migrants out here such as European Turtle Dove, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Eastern Black-eared & Masked Shrikes, Common Rock Thrush, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warblers, Ortolan Bunting and others. Night in a luxury bubble camp in Wadi Rum!

DAYS 8 - 9     WADI RUM - AQABA BIRD OBSERVATORY
It's going to be prime migration time, so anything can and does appear. We can hope for a rare Black Scrub Robin, but more likely are species such as European Honey Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk and Alpine & Pallid Swifts migrating overhead, Eurasian Wryneck, a Semicollared Flycatcher or Thrush Nightingale staying in the shade of a large tree, Eurasian Hoopoes, flocks of Western Yellow Wagtails with the odd Red-throated Pipit joining them, various hirundines, shrikes, Bluethroats, or a skulking Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Cretzschmar's Bunting, Indian Silverbill, as well as big numbers of commoner migrants. House Crows have now colonised the area and should be pretty obvious too.

The lagoons of the bird observatory act like a magnet to migrating birds and to add to our list we could see Greater Flamingo's, flocks of Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron, Ferruginous Duck, Pygmy Cormorant, a number of shorebirds including Spur-winged Lapwing, Greater Sand Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Collared Pratincoles, various terns including Caspian & White-winged, along with Baltic, Caspian, Slender-billed & Armenian Gulls. Meanwhile, some scanning out into the Red Sea from South beach could give us our main target of White-eyed Gull. Night in Aqaba at a lovely hotel.

DAY 10 AQABA - AMMAN
We will have most of the day to search for any new migrants before taking a late afternoon flight back to Amman, where we will spend our last night together at an airport hotel. Night in Amman.

DAY 11 - AMMAN - END OF TOUR - 28th March
Morning flights back to UK/Europe and end of the tour.