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Tuesday, 3 December 2019

UAE 19 Review (2)

Hopefully you agree that there's not much point repeating diary form entries, so I thought I'd do some Site/Area posts with highlights.

Al Qudra Area

We used this area as a base on numerous occasions during our stay with Robert and Laura. A relatively easy 45 minute drive South from their house with great potential to find "good birds" and for Louise to read her novels in peace and quiet (VERY important!). A series of artificial lakes have been created and obviously act as a magnet to birds in this arid environment. Some species have been introduced which does cause some headaches but generally it's an excellent habitat.

Main targets: (Lifers in capitals)

LAPPET-FACED VULTURE
NAMAQUA DOVE
CLAMOROUS REED WARBLER
ARABIAN BABBLER
CHESTNUT-BELLIED SANDGROUSE
Cream-coloured Courser
White-tailed Plover
Greater Hoopoe Lark

Always the chance of something...else, as always. The BIG something else came in the form of my UAE Blue-cheeked Bee-eater at Duck Lake. So, which of the above did I see?

NAMAQUA DOVE

I looked hard for this bird over several days amongst the THOUSANDS of Doves and Pigeons present in the area. Finally on the 17th I found a single bird, which stayed just long enough for me to grab a pic...


CHESTNUT-BELLIED SANDGROUSE

VERY difficult to get close to but with patience I was able to get good views of this smart species...


Cream-coloured Courser

Always special BUT very difficult to find as they blend in perfectly with the landscape. They are also VERY skittish. I eventually got near enough to get an image...


White-tailed Plover

A big bonus here after distant views near Abu Dhabi. This one showed rather well!



Greater Hoopoe Lark

A favourite of mine. Looked for three times but only one brief view. Nice though.


LAPPET-FACED VULTURE
CLAMOROUS REED WARBLER
ARABIAN BABBLER

All looked for...none seen.

A fine site.

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A lone Barnacle Goose (H.102, P.122) passed south this morning on the Bud walk. My 167th species for the Village.

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