Al Warsan Lakes, International City, Dubai
Posted 21-08-10 at 06:11 AM by ijwilki
Dragged myself out of bed before 05.00 this morning to visit a recommended site in Dubai. Entailed a drive of over one and a half hours, but at that time and it being Ramadan the roads were extremely quiet. With temperatures rising to in excess of 40 degrees by mid day I wanted to get there in good time.
International city is a massive residential complex and the lakes are to be developed as a nature reserve. Due to the recession most of the construction work is on hold and there is no disturbance to the lakes at the monent which is probably a bonus.
Glad I made the effort - had a great 3 hours birding until I withered under the unrelenting desert sun - well worth the visit.
The main highlights for me were a couple of Squacco Herons, a couple of Purple Herons and an Indian Pond Heron. A Grey Heron then showed which meant I had seen 4 different species of heron on one trip. A couple of other notable firsts were several White-tailed lapwings and a Purple Swamp-hen.
List of birds seen:
Little grebe
Black-winged stilt
Ruff
Common sandpiper
Green sandpiper - to confirm
Wood sandpiper - to confirm
White-tailed lapwing
Red-wattled lapwing
Indian pond heron
Little stint - to confirm
Bar-tailed godwit
Moorhen
Purple swamp-hen
Squacco Heron
Coot
Purple Heron
Little ringed plover
Ringed plover
Kentish plover
Crested lark
Laughing dove
Blue-cheeked bee-eater
Unidentified tern
Thoroughly enjoyed my visit despite the heat. I'll be going again soon.
I've attached some photos and I'll put some more in the album
International city is a massive residential complex and the lakes are to be developed as a nature reserve. Due to the recession most of the construction work is on hold and there is no disturbance to the lakes at the monent which is probably a bonus.
Glad I made the effort - had a great 3 hours birding until I withered under the unrelenting desert sun - well worth the visit.
The main highlights for me were a couple of Squacco Herons, a couple of Purple Herons and an Indian Pond Heron. A Grey Heron then showed which meant I had seen 4 different species of heron on one trip. A couple of other notable firsts were several White-tailed lapwings and a Purple Swamp-hen.
List of birds seen:
Little grebe
Black-winged stilt
Ruff
Common sandpiper
Green sandpiper - to confirm
Wood sandpiper - to confirm
White-tailed lapwing
Red-wattled lapwing
Indian pond heron
Little stint - to confirm
Bar-tailed godwit
Moorhen
Purple swamp-hen
Squacco Heron
Coot
Purple Heron
Little ringed plover
Ringed plover
Kentish plover
Crested lark
Laughing dove
Blue-cheeked bee-eater
Unidentified tern
Thoroughly enjoyed my visit despite the heat. I'll be going again soon.
I've attached some photos and I'll put some more in the album
Total Comments 2
Comments
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A great species list, Ian! I have just googled Red-wattled Lapwing and I was surprised to see what a colourful bird it is! It reminded me of a Black-winged Stilt with such long legs!
Cor, 40 degrees! No wonder you were wilting! Enjoy your next visit! I am off to check out your album pics now!Posted 21-08-10 at 07:32 PM by Little Sparrow
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Nice to read of your amazing bird list Ian.......some awesome pics in your album also.......I don't think I could cope with that sort of heat tho!Posted 23-08-10 at 12:45 PM by Twitcheruth
