Just coming to the end of a one week holiday, staying at Dukes The Palm Hotel on Jumeirah Palm, Dubai. As usual, not a birding holiday but I have birded the hotel gardens and adjacent small marina on a few mornings at 5.30am, also been on a 2hr touristy boat trip, doing a circumference of Jumeirah Palm and also had a late afternoon/evening trip to the Desert Conservation Reserve which is east of the village of Murmansk, an hour or so south east of Dubai.
The city of Dubai is larger than I thought, currently has a population of around 4 million. Desalination plants provide a never ending source of water, so much so that the grass verges by most of the roadsides are a lush green colour despite the searing heat.There are several parks and plenty of greenery.
Temperatures over the last week have been around 26-29*c at 5.30am, soon climbing to 42*c by late morning and at that level for the next several hours and in the shade. I would never advise anyone to come here at this time of year, especially birders. It is bearable for a couple of hours from 5.30am but too much after that. Temperatures from December through to the end of March vary from 20-25*c and would suit me better. The birding is also much better then. We were due to stay in February but circumstances dictated we couldnt.
The trip list is on the meagre side but gave me ten lifers
Rock Pigeon Laughing Dove Red-wattled Lapwing Black-headed Gull Little Tern Saunders Tern Common Tern White-cheeked Tern Lesser-crested Tern Western Reef Heron Striated Heron Western Cattle Egret Grey Heron Eurasian Hoopoe Arabian Green Bee-eater Rose-ringed Parakeet Great Grey Shrike House Crow Brown-necked Raven Pale Crag Martin Red-vented Bulbul White-eared Bulbul Indian Pied Starling Common Myna Purple Sunbird Indian Silverbill House Sparrow
I had also booked a morning birding trip out with the only proper bird guide I could find after doing the usual searches. It was going to be desert birding and he had a list of around 20 desert species I wanted and we should have managed most, if not all of them. He let me down, two days before we were due to go out. He wasnt cheap either. Whilst not happy, probably best not to name names as his reason may well have been genuine, although I have my doubts. Such is life..
A few photos attachedStriated Heron, Lesser-crested Tern, White-cheeked Tern, Indian Pied Starling, Common Myna.
Back to Dubai last week for a few days, determined to get out of the city this time. I looked at Tommy Pedersen's excellent website, www.uaebirding.com, and decided to contact local birder Neil Tovey, who offers full or half day birding trips. A half day costs around £100 for up to 4 people, and for that, my husband and I were picked up from our hotel at 5.30am ( to avoid the 38 degree afternoon heat) by Neil in his 4x4. Unlimited cool soft drinks and snacks were included, and a very informative UAE bird list book, "The Sandgrouse", for me to keep.
We drove out of the city to a small lake, then the legendary pivot fields, then to a saltwater lagoon with mudflats, then to a beach with a breakwater, passing through 4 of the Emirates. By the time we had been returned to our hotel at 12.30 pm, we had seen over 70 species of waders, passerines, raptors , seabirds etc etc, including the local speciality of crab plover. The final half hour looking out over the Gulf was the most spectacular, when around 50,000 Socotra cormorants all converged on a shoal of fish, looking like a Biblical plague, turning the sky and the sea black.
Neil was an excellent, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable guide. A brilliant value excursion in every way.
I was in Dubai last week, and while my husband was working, I had a few days holiday. Avoiding the shopping malls was a priority. I had no transport apart from taxis and the Metro, so most of the exciting but less accessible birding venues were out.
Fortunately, our hotel was just across from the Media City offices, which all face onto a small artificial lake, edged by a few palm trees and ornamental bushes, with some parched and scrubby grass. Early morning and evening visits to this tiny green space in the glass and concrete jungle revealed:
A flock of hybrid mallard/farmyard type ducks A pair of Egyptian geese About 40 black-headed gulls 1 slender-billed gull 8 little grebe, lots of displaying behaviour, one sitting on a nest in a reed clump Countless noisy common myna and house crows 3 pied myna 1 red vented bulbul 1 chiffchaff 1 hoopoe 1 red-wattled lapwing 1 common sandpiper 1 common kingfisher 1 graceful prinia Countless Indian variety house sparrows
At each visit I was scolded by security guards, who said taking photos was forbidden, as the media company HQs nearby made this a "sensitive area". However, when I reassured them that I was only birdwatching, and showed them my binocs and bird id book, they were quite friendly, clearly thinking that I was bonkers.
I also managed to visit Safa Park, which added: Grey francolin Collared dove Laughing dove Ring necked parakeet Indian roller White eared bulbul Marsh warbler Purple sunbird Red vented bulbul
The "women and children only" section of the park was particularly quiet, and the bulbuls could be seen in the evening making quick flights from the bushes to catch insects.
Emirates Golf Course was also accessible, with a perimeter path that allowed views of the course. This added: Eastern Cattle egret Green bee-eater Tree pipit Pale rockfinch Swift
In all, I was very happy with the birding that could be managed in Dubai with little time and few resources.
-- Edited by Lynne Webster on Thursday 5th of April 2012 08:40:51 AM
-- Edited by Lynne Webster on Thursday 5th of April 2012 10:15:54 AM
