Back in the UAE!

A brief sojourn back into the UAE, before I depart on my long anticipated big trip on 27th.

Early morning & moody skies at Zakkar Pools.

Today is the 25th March & Oscar asked me to guide two of his friends around the Al Ain area. I was happy to oblige & so the 5 am alarm saw me up & about. I met his two friends Chris & Tony at Oscar's flat & after brief introductions, we were off down the road to Al Ain, arriving at Zakkar Pools with a smattering of rain (unusual here) & grey overcast skies.

Chris & Tony in the back wadi.

As usual lots of species on offer here, but nothing unusual: 26 Great Cormorant; 28 Grey Heron; Purple Heron; 2 Great White Egret; 2 Little Egret & a Western Reef Heron. 65+ Little and a lone Black-necked Grebe; 8 Wigeon; 2 Gadwall; 7 Mallard; 22 Teal; 17 Northern Shoveler & 3 Pochard were out on the water. 2 Black-tailed Godwit; 85 Ruff &  75 Little Stint were the best of the waders on display.

Green Mubazarrah.

We quickly moved on to the Green Mubazarrah,  where 7 Egyptian Vulture & a Short-toed Eagle were seen. We saw the vast majority of the residents species, but next to no migrants at all. It was pretty quiet! We drove up the mountain seeing more Blue Rock Thrush & a nice male Red-tailed Rock Thrush.

Blue Rock Thrush.

Indian Roller.

 A young Arabian Babbler.

Hoopoe.

Hume's Wheatear.

Brown-necked Raven with food.

Khalifah - a top UAE birder.

 Crested Honey Buzzard.

Adult male Crested Honey Buzzard.

Two Crested Honey Buzzards.

This could be a Eurasian Honey Buzzard.

 Khalifah was around, & we quickly settled on the next stop at the Compost Plant. This yielded 3 Crested Honey Buzzard & a possible Eurasian Honey Buzzard.

Looking from the eastern side towards

Jebel Hafeet.

Chris, Khalifah & Tony.

Striolated Bunting.

Trumpeter Finch.

A quick trip around the far side of the mountain proved to be a good choice, with many Striolated Bunting & a lone female Trumpeter Finch noted. 

Then it was time to meet Angela at the Golf Club & we had a pleasant evening seeing Osprey; 3 Western Reef Heron & two, maybe three Pintail Snipe.

I met up with all the guys at the marina next to Abu Dhabi Mall on 26th March. It was good to see Maartin again, as I hadn't seen him for a while.

Leaving shore.

The very modern Abu Dhabi.

We set out to sea, travelling around 4 kms out in very shallow seas.

White-cheeked Terns have just arrived to 
breed on the offshore islands here.

 Great Black-headed Gull.

One of the best looking gulls in the world.

 First winter birds.

A full adult bird.

One of the very variable 
Yellow-legged Gulls found here.

Around 15-20 Great Black-headed Gulls were noted & gave good views.

 Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin

We also came across a school of around 20 Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphins which stuck around for a while & entertained us all, but proved very difficult to photograph!

Heading for Lulu, with the city of 

Abu Dhabi in the background.

We eventually turned around & headed for Lulu Island to target the Grey Hpocolious there.

Maarten on Lulu Island.

Robin & myself in front of our transport

 on the island!

Robin, Dick & Maarten.

 Grey Hypocolious

This species is always wary & very difficult
 to get close to.

 At least 15 birds were present.

Me, enjoying the afternoon.

Bits & Bobs + a trip to the UK!

I spent just over a week in Abu Dhabi on returning from South Africa. For the most part, Clare & Ahmed were in Thailand & I was looking after the cats! A weekend working in Doha was a welcome break! I arrived in beautiful sunshine on a wonderful winter's day. Thought I would go for a walk, but was thwarted by a Shamal which came from nowhere & ruined the rest of the day. I did take this photo at dusk & I think it is quite atmospheric.

Doha at dusk.

Anne; Colin; Me; Robin; Leanne & Liz.

Returned to Abu Dhabi & enjoyed a night at The Club with friends, then flew to London on the 10th March. Yet again the weather was fantastic, bright sunshine, on a lovely crisp winters day.

The white notice says  Welcome granddad!

I know you can't read it!

Second photo!

Third time lucky? I don't think so!

Please note, I added the dinosaurs!

Arrived at Nicci & Justin's house & was shown to my little Granddad room! The kids were there to greet me!

 Early spring flowers in Hyde Park.

Enjoyed a day out in London, mainly to renew my passport. Everything was fine, but I had to wait for four hours to collect it. So, I went for a brisk walk around Hyde Park. The weather was pretty mild for the time of year & I really enjoyed the walk. Plenty of birds on The Serpentine including several Grey Herons.

Grey Heron among the more usual fare

 on The Serpentine.

There was a bit of a surprise awaiting me in Kensington Gardens, a Cetti's Warbler was singing! This could be the first record for central London. I later found out that this bird had been there for at least 10 days previously.

Peter & me!

Then it was time to meet Peter for lunch. Peter was on the Colombia trip with me back in November 2014, but unfortunately had to go home early because his Dad was involved in an accident back home. It was great to see him again & to find out his Dad was recovering very nicely. He is 90 years old! It was great to see Peter again.

 Gabe & Peache's bedroom!

 Gabe & Peaches with their 

Comic Relief umbrellas!

Justin, Peaches, Gabe & Alistair.

The weekend was spent at Nicci & Justin's house: the Saturday was mainly spent watching rugby & on Sunday I went for a local walk around a nearby park & then joined up with the kids at a local playground.

Rowan is so poor these days!

She is wearing rags!

Me & Rowan.

Evening meal at The Manly's house.

On 16th went tp pick up Rowan, who has come down for a couple of days to see her Daddy! The evening was spent at Nicci's house catching up on all our news.

 Borough Market

Different foods from all over the world!

Even Boston!

The iconic Shard.

Rowan with The London Eye in the background.

Enjoying a cocktail at The Milestone Hotel.

The next day Rowan & I enjoyed an outing to the South Bank in central London.

 Nonsuch Park.

It was a little sad saying good bye to her on the 18th. In the afternoon I went for a walk around Nonsutch Park. This is a huge area of green, mainly open grassland with some scattered woodland. It was a nice walk & I saw 6 Green Woodpeckers!

Tony Curtis at 90!

On 19th, I went on the train to Newbury. The reason was to visit an old friend of mine from Mutare, Zimbabwe: Tony Curtis. 

I met Tony in 1986 when I first arrived there & we did quite a bit of birding together, mainly around the eastern highlands. Tony was in his early 60's back then, so I was keen to see how he had got on in the intervening years.

As he opened the door I received a pleasant surprise! He is now 90 years old & still sprightly, with a dry sense of humor. We had non stop talking for the best part of the next five hours. We covered a lot of ground & he cooked lunch for me, complete with beer & wine! I really enjoyed seeing him again.
On the way home saw 2 Red Kites, a Common Buzzard & 2 Roe Deer from the train. How times have changed!

What I should have seen, but didn't see!

Taken from the Daily Telegraph.

The 20th is the date of a total eclipse here in the UK. I arose early to try & view it but it was very cloudy & not much to see. It did get very dark though!

The next day I flew back to Abu Dhabi.