Once round the lagoon, Dubai, March 2014

My mission today was to test my assertion that it is possible to visit the main Dubai Hotspots and get back to the airport in time for tea. It is easily possible to do the visiting, but it seems that if you want to make it into a birdy extravaganza, you will need the wind at your back and a favourable tide.

There are 4 hotspots that make a circuit around the lagoon at Dubai, starting and finishing at the airport, but the first priority is to set your direction of travel. Clockwise, nothing else will do. By installing central reservations down all the roads, Dubai town planners saw to it that a driver will never be able to turn left, so the tour must be done with a series of right turns, thus a clockwise direction (This will make a circuit of 53kms. Anti-clockwise is tortuous and convoluted. I clocked 70kms on Google Earth, but had to miss out Ras Al Khor Mangrove Hide).

First off is Mushrif Park, just 10 minutes from the airport at Google Earth ref; 25 13 46.66N 55 27 3.24E. See this link for more details.

The gate opens at 08.00, but there is a small car park to the left of the gate and some birding can be done on the approach road. Once in the park, take the 2 km circular route that turns off to the right just after the gate. Indian Roller, Southern Grey Shrike and Grey Francolin will probably be seen; Eurasian Collared Doves, Laughing Doves and White-eared Bulbuls are almost a certainty. My lifer of the day came from here this morning in the form of a Ménétriés Warbler.

There are plenty of stopping places where you can get out and walk in the scrub, but on this occasion, I found nothing that I hadn’t already seen from the car. The circular drive ends back at the gate, but you can go round as many times as you wish.

Birds seen;

Grey Francolin 12, Shikra 1, Red-wattled Lapwing 6, Eurasian Collared-Dove 250, Laughing Dove 60, Rose-ringed Parakeet 8, Pallid Swift 6, Green Bee-eater 2, Indian Roller 3, Eurasian Hoopoe 1, Southern Grey Shrike 5, House Crow 2, Red-vented Bulbul 1, White-eared Bulbul 40, Menetries Warbler 3, Common Myna 20, Purple Sunbird 6, House Sparrow 120, Indian Silverbill 4.

 The next stop is Pivot field (at Google Earth ref; 25 9 52.50N 55 25 50.73E. Seethis link for more details. Turn right out of Mushrif Park, turn right at roundabout, cross 2 roundabouts, turn right at next roundabout, cross roundabout, turn right at next roundabout. Turn right, go back on yourself and find gate to Pivot Field at the top.) and I found that the workers take a break for lunch and close the field to birdwatchers, so time your arrival carefully. 

Pivot Field is a grass farm and features a large pivot watering system. Birders are welcome, but cars are NOT permitted to drive on the grass. The whole site is available to the walking birder and if you can find someone with an experienced eye for a pipit, he will be very useful here. 

Crested Larks have proved easy to find as are Green Bee-eaters and Red-wattled Lapwings. Bank Mynas surprised me today and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Western Yellow Wagtails. Look out for White-tailed Lapwings as well as Social Lapwings in the winter.

Birds seen;

Grey Francolin 2, Cattle Egret 1, Red-wattled Lapwing 18, White-tailed Lapwing 2, Black-headed Gull 3, Eurasian Collared Dove 250, Laughing Dove 5, Rose-ringed Parakeet 2, Green Bee-eater 3, Eurasian Hoopoe 3, Crested Lark 10, White-eared Bulbul 8, Graceful Prinia 2, Bank Myna 60, Common Myna 25, Purple Sunbird 2, Western Yellow Wagtail 20, White Wagtail 8, Red-throated Pipit 4, House Sparrow 30,

The Mangrove Hide looks out onto the lagoon at Ra’s al-Khor (Google Earth ref; 25 11 9.19N 55 19 45.57E). See this link for more details.  There is not much of the lagoon visible, but there is plenty of water even when the tide is out, so there will be birds. Today a Common Snipe fed in the margins while Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal rested on the dry spots. Of course the star attraction on the lagoon is the Greater Flamingo. 

They sometimes approach close to the hide, But are more likely to be seen further out in the company of herons and egrets. Waders can be seen at a distance and I was able to identify Black-tailed Godwits today, but the small stints were beyond me. A scope is available to borrow from the security guard positioned at the hide.

Birds seen;

Northern Pintail 4, Green-winged Teal 12, Greater Flamingo 60, Grey Heron 6, Great Egret 4, Little Egret 2, Western Reef-heron 4, Cattle Egret 3, Red-wattled Lapwing 2, Kentish Plover 4, Black-winged Stilt 30, Common Sandpiper 1, Black-tailed Godwit 11, Common Snipe 1, Gull-billed Tern 1, Eurasian Collared Dove 15, Laughing Dove 4, White-eared Bulbul 5, House Sparrow 20,

When the tide is right, or at feeding time, the best place to see the Greater Flamingos is at Flamingo Hide, just a short way further round the clockwise route (Google Earth ref; 25 11 31.81N 55 18 39.57E). See this link for more details. 

Hundreds of birds can be seen here when the tide is high or from 15.00 when they get a supplemental feed. A high tide is your best bet as shore birds get pushed up close to the hide too. I arrived at a very low tide today and found a couple of Curlew and a Kentish Plover.

 Apart from these, there was just mud. Oh, and more Eurasian Collared Doves (I returned later to find approximately 700 flamingos crowded around the end of the spit and managed to get some pictures. The hide was quite crowded by now and I had to kneel behind the front row and take pictures over someone’s shoulder). From here, follow signs to Al Maktoum Bridge and you will be back at the airport in no time.

Birds seen;

Greater Flamingo 700, Great Egret 1, Little Egret 1, Kentish Plover 1, Eurasian Curlew 8, Gull-billed Tern 4, Eurasian Collared Dove 25, Laughing Dove 6, White-eared Bulbul 6, Common Myna 4, House Sparrow 20.

If you are not especially birdy, Flamingo Hide is worth a visit anyway for hundreds of close up Greater Flamingos. Mushrif Park is great for a picnic. Pivot Field is strictly for the birder or turf-lover. This picture should please you whichever camp you fall into.

So the circuit itself is easy enough, but timing is important. Check Easytide, and select Al Maktoum Bridge to get a free tide prediction. Otherwise, supplemental feed is put out around 15.00 for the flamingos.

This route is best achieved in a private or hire car as taxis cannot easily (if at all) be found at any of the sites.

 http://www.ukho.gov.uk/easytide/EasyTide/index.aspx

Visit the dedicated Middle East page for more posts from Dubai.

Birding, Birdwatching , Dubai, DXB

Mushrif Park, Dubai, Feb 2013

Readers of this blog, intelligent people obviously, will already be aware of the advantages and pleasures of early mornings, but just in case you need a graphic example to encourage you from your beds, these pictures of the Burj al Khalifa were taken just 2 hours apart!

Mushrif Park carries a UAE Dirhams 10 entrance charge for cars. It only costs 3 Dirhams for pedestrians, so the small area to the left of the entrance booth was busy with parked cars this morning (Google Earth ref; 25°13'28.23"N 55°27'8.09"E). Members are allowed early entrance, but the rest of us had to wait until 08.00. Most of the other people waiting to get in were joggers and warmed up in the small car park while I wandered about in the scrub picking out the expected White-eared Bulbuls, Red-vented Bulbuls and Purple Sunbird.

Two Eurasian Hoopoes were interacting in a fascinating encounter. Bills locked, their barred wings whirred in a strange optical effect as they rose together into the air. I think that they were both males and that a third bird was possibly a female, so this was possibly a display or an aggressive encounter? If anyone has any thoughts, I would be interested to hear them.

Once 8 o’clock came, I drove into the park and took the anticlockwise route that starts at a right hand turn shortly after the entrance. The route describes a circle of about 2.5 miles circumference along a one-way paved road. Grey Francolins were calling and an Indian Roller narrowly escaped having his picture taken. The rollers were seen throughout the morning, but expertly eluded me each time.

The most obvious bird in the park, both visibly and aurally were the doves, especially the Eurasian Collared Dove. Their numbers were augmented by Laughing Doves that added to the surround sound of the morning (thanks again to Xeno-canto for use of their sound archives and facilities).  Occasionally they would be joined by a Rose-ringed Parakeet.

 

The park is popular with picnickers in the evenings and small car parks and barbeque facilities are provided at regular intervals. I stopped at one such car park to chase a potential Arabian Babbler. A large brown bird had flown up into a tree as I approached, but I could not find it again, so turned my attention to the Pallid Swifts instead. Having taken about 200 shots at the swifts, I eventually got one that I liked.

I had been surprised to see a Eurasian Marsh Harrier earlier in the day and was able to return the favour by shocking the bird as it came low over the trees nearby. It panicked when it saw me and nearly stalled in mid-air as it tried to stop and turn around.

There is a road that cuts back to the centre of the circle. It is sign-posted to the equestrian centre and comes out by the mosque, adjacent to the grassy area where the Pallid Scops Owl may sometimes be seen at dusk. I had popped in quickly on the previous evening, but neither saw nor heard the owl. Nor have I seen any evidence or reports that the owl is still seen here regularly. I must follow that up.

Birds seen;

Grey Francoln 8, Eurasian Marsh Harrier 1, Shikra 2, Red-wattled Lapwing 4, Eurasian Collared Dove 400, Laughing Dove 60, Rose-ringed Parakeet 15, Pallid Swift 4, Green Bee-eater 3, Eurasian Hoopoe 8, Southern Grey Shrike 1, Red-vented Bulbul 25, White–eared Bulbul 80, Black Redstart 2, Purple Sunbird 3, House Sparrow 120.

 For previous visits to Mushrif Park see the links below;
 http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/approach-road-to-mushrif-park-is-lined.html
 http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/mushrif-park-dubai-november-2012.html

Visit the dedicated Middle East page for more posts from Dubai, including; Ras al Khor  and SafaPark.

Mushrif Park, Dubai, November 2012

Bill Oddy used to enter “None” into his birding diary if he saw nothing at his local reservoir and Corey Finger can eke three posts out of not seeing a Virginia Warbler. So I hope you will forgive me for writing up a post in which I visited Mushrif Park and failed to see a Pallid Scops Owl.

Hundreds of doves, mostly Eurasian Collared-doves, were flying in to roost in the tops of the trees that line the approach road. Grey Francolins were calling from the areas beyond the fences on either side.

An Oriental Honey-buzzard circled above me as I passed the gate and paid my 3 Dirhams entry fee.

Most birds were preparing for the night, but a few Green Bee-eaters were taking advantage of the dying light to pick off a few insects that had been drawn out by the dusk.
 

The sun had dropped surprisingly quickly from the sky this evening and caught me on the hop. I had arrived at the turn-off to the park to hear the evening call to prayer as I alighted from the taxi at around 17.00. I had hoped to see an Arabian Babbler this evening, but the darkness was falling fast that my prime focus became the owl.
I made my way to the lawns opposite the mosque where the Pallid Scops Owl is said to hunt for insects by the lights of the toilet block. A group of British and Canadian birders were already in place with a similar intent, but none of us saw nor heard the owl.

 

Gray Francolin10, Oriental Honey-buzzard 1, Eurasian Collared-dove 400, Laughing Dove 50, Rose-ringed Parakeet 12, Pallid Swift 40, Green Bee-eater 10, White-eared Bulbul 6, Common Myna 6.

 

I caught the train to Rushadiya, beyond the airport and grabbed a cab from there. I had to rely on a lift back from the park as there is no taxi rank there. The turn in for the approach road Google Earth ref; 25°13'49.52"N 55°27'3.30"E is from a main, multi-carriageway road (Al Khawaneej Rd) with a central reservation. Catching a cab from here, without crossing 6 lanes of fast traffic in the dark, means hailing one driving in the wrong direction. There is a roundabout less than a mile along the road to make a turn.

For a previous visit to Mushrif Park, follow the link below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/approach-road-to-mushrif-park-is-lined.html
Visit the dedicated Middle East Page for more posts from Dubai including Safa Park and Ras al Khor

Mushrif Park, Dubai, UAE. Oct 2011

The approach road to Mushrif Park is lined with flowering shrubs with trees behind which today were filled with White-eared Bulbul and Eurasian Collared Doves.

Halfway up the drive is a control gate (25 13 25N 55 27 08E) where you will be charged the entrance fee which currently stands at 6 Dirhams (@ 5 Dirhams = £1). In the unlikely event that you are on foot, the entrance is 3 Dirhams. Just beyond the gate, a leaking drain provides a small oasis that drew in a lot of bulbuls, doves and House Sparrows. Little Green Bee-eaters were easily seen here too. This one appeared to have been eye-deep in soft mud. Would bee-eaters be excavating burrows at this time of year perhaps?

The park is a good example of Ghaf woodland. The Ghaf tree has become endangered and efforts are underway to replant it into the desert. The plantation-style straight lines that can be seen from Google Earth images suggest that this park is aiding the efforts to preserve it.
I had arrived close to dusk and had a very specific target bird in mind, but before it got dark I wanted to explore an interesting looking tract of scrubland beyond the main centre of the park. The spot I sought was beyond the mosque and the restaurant, but I was disappointed to see that it was a picnic area approached through a Smurf inspired arch. There were no picnickers here today so I had a look round, but found little more than I had seen already. 

Beyond the next car park and the cycle track the small trees thinned out and the environment began to resemble a scrubby patch of desert. An Isabelline Wheatear perched on a low bush here and I had to wait for it to fly before I could see its distinctive tail pattern. The Burj Khalifa was visible in the distance through the glowing light of a gulf dusk. The Muezzin began his azan, calling all to prayer, at 17.52 as the sun set on this Thursday evening in the second week of October.

Opposite the mosque is a patch of trees. Pallid Scops Owls are said to be resident here and often give spectacular views as they feed in the spotlights of the administration building there. As I approached, a small, cryptically plumaged bird flew from the top of one of the roadside lights into a tree. Surely it was one of the owls, or would that be too big a presumption to make? It was such a brief sighting that I cannot rule out Little Owl nor Eurasian Scops Owl at the moment and will have to defer the pleasure of getting the red pen out.
Hoping for a better sighting, my eyes were drawn to movements through the trees as I sat on the grass watching the brightly lit areas. Mostly these were bats, but occasionally a dove would clatter out from its roost, wings whirring.
I did hear a soft ‘woo – woo - woo’ call coming from behind the administration building which I took to be the Pallid Scops Owl, but no more sightings were had and families were arriving to set up picnics on the grass to celebrate the start of the Muslims’ weekend.

I had a return flight to London this evening and no firm plans as to how to get back to the hotel, so I left the owls un-ticked and headed home. As my friend Martin often philosophically states, I have a good reason to return to this very pleasant site on another occasion.
To reach Mushrif Park, take the Metro train to Rashidiya Station at the airport end of the Red Line. An all zones pass costs 8.50 Dirhams. Bus 11a runs from here to the park entrance but has an infrequent schedule about once every hour. I took a taxi from the station rank and paid 20 Dirhams.
There is no taxi rank at the park and I was lucky to find one for the return journey. If you are stuck and time is running short, it may be possible to walk about a mile back towards the airport and catch one of three buses that run through the nearby estate as shown in the photo below.

Birds seen; 12

Eurasian Collared Dove 150, Pallid Swift 6, Little Green Bee-eater 8, Indian Roller 3, Eurasian Hoopoe 3, Barn Swallow 8, White-eared Bulbul 40, Red-vented Bulbul 5, Isabelline Wheatear 1, Common Myna 15, House Sparrow 60,

Back at home, I was able to listen to the call of the Pallid Scops Owl on Xeno Canto and am happy that this is what I was hearing. With a couple of pairs resident in the vicinity, it would be too strict for me to deprive my list of the Pallid Scops Owl. I confess that if I didn’t know that the owls were commonly seen  at that particular spot, I may not have been able to identify it, but since it is documented as the likeliest owl to be seen and with a definite call heard, I can afford to be less anal than usual.

Mushrif Park, Dubai, UAE. Oct 2011