Maarten picked me up at 5.30 am on 15th November, & we drove to The Golden Tulip Hotel in Ajban where we met up with Oscar. We then set off & just after dawn stopped at Al Maha Fodder Fields. This is a huge green area, but at the moment there is no access so it is rather frustrating from a birding point of view.
At least 4 Marsh Harriers were quartering the grasslands with one Pallid Harrier & two distant ringtail harriers. A few Tawny Pipit were around and a Desert Warbler called from some nearby scrub.
Best birds:
Tawny Pipit
At least 4 Marsh Harriers were quartering the grasslands with one Pallid Harrier & two distant ringtail harriers. A few Tawny Pipit were around and a Desert Warbler called from some nearby scrub.
Best birds:
Greater Flamingo 1; Ruff 10, Red wattled Lapwing 44; Common Snipe 2; Eurasian Kestrel 5; Southern (Arabian) Grey Shrike 2; Bluethroat 1; Desert Warbler 2; Desert Wheatear 4; Isabelline Wheatear 2; Water Pipit 3; Yellow Wagtail 1.
On the way, close to Bab Al Shams we recorded a Marsh Harrier; 2 Brown necked Raven & a Hoopoe Lark, but all were too far for photos.
Walking across to the lake.
Maarten & Oscar
Al Qudra Lake
We quickly moved on to our main area of focus: Al Qudra Lake. This is a totally artificial area one of many in this region of Dubai Emirate but for some reason it is the one with the most bird life.
Arabian Gazelle.
Pin tailed Sandgrouse
Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse
Marsh Harrier
Grey Heron
Great Cormorant
Grey-headed Swamphen.
Just a record shot, as this is still a rare bird
in the UAE.
Common Sandpiper
Booted Eagle
This is a dark phase bird.
It gave superb views.
Notice the distinctive landing lights.
This is a strange place! A real mixture of man made lake but with some good reed beds & some nice desert around together with both natural & planted trees. Unfortunately, there are a lot of introduced species here & hundreds of feral pigeons. But also some great wild birds. The first good bird was a fine dark phase Booted Eagle which gave excellent views to all. Then Maarten moved away from us & flushed a Great Bittern which flew across the lake & into the reed beds. What a great find! Both Pin tailed & Chesnut bellied Sandgrouse were flying overhead. The former were introduced here many years ago & now there is a thriving population established. This is a great spot to just stand around a while & see what flies over &/or reveals itself from the reed beds.
Best birds:
Little Grebe 10; Egyptian Goose 25; Gadwall 8; Eurasian Teal 4; Mallard 72; Feral Pigeon 500+; Eurasian Collared Dove 200; Pin tailed sandgrouse 500; Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse 185; Pallid Swift 1; Common Moorhen 20; Grey headed Swamphen 1; Black winged Stilt 10; Ruff 250; Little Stint 4; Common Sandpiper 4; Great Cormorant 15; Great Bittern 1; Grey Heron 10; Purple Heron 1; Black crowned Night Heron 1; Great spotted Eagle 1; Booted Eagle 1; Marsh Harrier 5; Pallid Harrier 1; Southern (Arabian) Grey Shrike 3; Clamorous Reed Warbler 1; Desert Warbler 2; Desert Lesser Whitethroat 1; Arabian Babbler 5; Desert Wheatear 3 & Water Pipit 1.
Ferruginous Duck
We then moved on to the Expo Lakes area, which is another man-made strange place. It has some good towers which gives an excellent vantage point over the whole area which includes desert & a series of interconnected lakes. We spent a little time in one tower & then drove around the area checking each lake.
Best birds:
Egyptian Goose 30; Garganey 10; Northern Shoveler 6; Gadwall 3; Wigeon 1; Ferrugunous Duck 2; Little grebe 3; Woodpigeon 3 (introduced); Common Moorhen 20; Black winged Stilt 100; Red wattled Lapwing 15; White tailed Lapwing 4; Kentish Plover 3; Common Ringed Plover 1; Black tailed Godwit 7; Ruff 8; Little Stint 2; Common Snipe 2; Common Sandpiper 5; Green Sandpiper 1; Greenshank 2; Grey Heron 3; Great White Egret 2; Little Egret 1; Glossy Ibis 78; Great Spotted Eagle 1; Bonelli's Eagle 1; Marsh Harrier 10; Eurasian Kestrel 1 & Brown necked Raven 1.
Our last stop was the vast & recently discovered Al Qudra Pivots area. This is a private site & they don't like you being there, but we managed to sneak on & had a good time. There are also a couple of man made lakes here which were full of birds.
Arabian Gazelle
Quite common in this locality.
The fields which are a magnet for birds
in this environment.
Northern Shoveler
Our last stop was the vast & recently discovered Al Qudra Pivots area. This is a private site & they don't like you being there, but we managed to sneak on & had a good time. There are also a couple of man made lakes here which were full of birds.
Pallid Harrier
Steppe Grey Shrike
Daurian Shrike
Caspian Stonechat
Showing the distinctive tail pattern.
Best birds:
350 Northern Shoveler; 1 Gadwall; 5 Mallard; 10 Eurasian Teal; 4 Common Pochard; 10 Little Grebe; 1 European Turtle Dove; I Namaqua Dove; 100 Pallid Swift; 50 Red wattled Lapwing; 7 White tailed Lapwing; 25 Kentish Plover; 1 Common Ringed Plover; 3 Curlew; 60 Ruff; 5 Temminck's Stint; 50 Little Stint; 3 Common Snipe; 6 Common Sandpiper; 2 Greenshank; 10 Wood Sandpiper; 50 Cattle Egret; 4 Great Spotted Eagle; 2 Bonelli's Eagle; 8 Marsh Harrier & a Pallid Harrier.
It was a great day out in a largely new area for me. lots of birding sites have changed, being destroyed by development & new one emerged.
Wishing I could teleport to Al Qudra Lake right now! What's your favorite spot there? Let's exchange recommendations! 🗺️
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