Thursday, May 30, 2019

Dubai and the Persian Gulf 03.05-17.05 Birding without bins

About the only thing about life that is predictable is that it is unpredictable. An overnight trip to SE England turned into a few weeks in Dubai, including some time offshore in the Persian Gulf.

This was not exactly planned for and as such I had no luggage, no binoculars and no DSLR. Equipped only with eyes and a "point and pray" superzoom I had to make the best out of the few chances I got to look at any birds....


Common Mynah

Graceful Prinia

Laughing Dove


Red-wattled Lapwing - this pair had raised young in the middle of a busy road junction!


White-eared Bulbul


For the first few days I was stuck in a hotel but one morning I took 20 minutes free to walk around the block. This produced a selection of the commonest birds in the area, White-eared Bulbul, Graceful Prinia, Common Mynah, Red-wattled Lapwing, House Sparrow, Indian Silverbill, Laughing Dove, Collared Dove and House Crows were the species I managed to identify here. Some flocks of swifts went unidentified.




Leaving Dubai behind....

Sunset in the Persian Gulf



A six hour transit in a small boat out to the vessel I was joining produced several Bridled Tern and a few Greater Crested Terns.



Bridled Tern - a common species offshore

Cormorants


Just a couple of the different kinds of Grasshoppers that turned up onboard - a long way from land!

Greater and Lesser Crested Terns (birds 3,4 and 5 from left) resting on a hose

Greater Crested Terns with one Lesser Crested Tern (in flight on right of image)


Greater Crested Terns with one Lesser Crested Tern (in flight)

Greater Crested Terns with two Lesser Crested Tern (front centre)





Marsh Warbler



Willow Warbler

Butterfly (one of several species seen)

Cicada?


Once offshore I was, as so often the case, stuck inside. Towards the end of the trip I had some opportunities to pop out on deck. There was almost always a passerine on deck feeding on the huge number of grounded insects. The only species I managed to identify were Willow Warbler, Marsh Warbler and a Yellow Wagtail (the latter as I left the vessel).

Nocturnal Sooty Gull


Once night I went out on deck for a breath of fresh air and was rewarded with several Sooty Gulls feeding around the vessel - no doubt attracted to the small fish and other creatures attracted by our lights.

How to charge a camera battery without a charger......(don't try this at home!)

As the trip was so unplanned I did not even have the charger for my camera battery with me. I did, however, have access to a few helpful bits and pieces which meant I managed to charge the battery without this essential bit of gear (not the first time something this has happened!)


Greater Crested Tern Roost

Seabirds were generally limited to small feeding parties of Greater Crested Terns and Bridled Terns. However, on one occasion a group of well over 200 Greater Crested Terns rested on the hose of a loading buoy, among them were several Lesser Crested Terns and a few Cormorants were knocking about.

Returning to Port Rashid

The way home was once again in a small boat. This time I was not hunched over a laptop and manged to see two Long-tailed Skua (flying south), two Swallows (more predictably heading north) and quite a few more Bridled Terns and Greater Crested Terns.

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