M. I. EVANS
AT DUSK on 26 February 1995 I was birdwatching from the asphalt road at the base of the white chalk cliff above the terraced orchards at Dana village (30 41'N 35 37'E), at c.1,300 metres in the Sharra Highlands of southern Jordan. The site was particularly sheltered. There was a slight breeze and conditions were cloudless and cold with only weak sunlight from the setting sun. I noticed two birds progressing (by hopping or shuffling) quite rapidly up the exposed, tilted rock strata of the cliff. They were approximately 10 metres south of the main spring at the base of the cliff and I was able watch them unobscured at 20 metres range with 10 x 40 binoculars for 20-30 seconds before they flew out of sight. Throughout I concentrated on one of the birds, although the two kept within one metre of each other, behaving as if paired and preparing to roost.Plumage A notably large, dark-looking accentor with thin bill and dark eye. Overall plumage coloration dark grey with thick, well-defined, rich rufous streaking on the puffed-out flanks being the most obvious feature. Pink-orange legs.
Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris is the only large accentor with rufous flank streaking found in the Middle East. As they were viewed from below and their flanks were puffed out, I did not positively note the streaked mantle and characteristic wing pattern. However, I had previously seen the species in Pakistan in 1991 and was thus confident of the identification. The next morning I found a Dunnock P. modularis, the only possible confusion species (with which I am familiar), among the large bramble thickets of the lower Dana orchards - itself a notable record, being the southernmost sighting in Jordan by more than 100 km of this scarce winter visitor.
This is the first documented record of Alpine Accentor in Jordan. Andrews (1995) predicted its occurrence, it being a scarce but regular winter visitor in very small numbers to three localities in northern Israel (Shirihai 1996). Snowfall in Jordan during winter 1994/95 was significantly above average and in the Dana area resulted in over a month's snow-cover in some places in December and January, although there was no snow nearby at the time of this observation. It is unsurprising that the first record should be so far south, as the Sharra Highlands is the largest block of montane habitat in Jordan and is regularly snow-covered in winter.
M. I. Evans, Montrose, Llanddeiniol, Llanrhystud, Dyfed SY23 5AN, U.K.
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