Arabia: Exciting owls

Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species

Today is Saturday and we have said farewell to group 1 after an good week with a hidden bonus as we packed up camp this morning, more of which later!

After a week of hard work, the team completed 55 (of 62) quadrat surveys, multiple bird counts (where Matthias and Georgina deserve special mention for passing on their extensive knowledge to other citizen scientists) and the hunt for the elusive Pharaoh eagle owl goes on. Our camera traps captured Arabian red foxes, Arabian hare and jerboa, none of which we spotted during daylight hours.

We did spot and identified 58 different species within the DDRC – it might have been more if some of us had realised we were counting insects too 😉 In total we racked up 44 bird, 8 mammals, 4 reptile and 3 insect species. Highlights included our flagship species, the Arabian oryx, as well as desert foxes and plenty of Arabian and sand gazelles.

Weather has been very pleasant with slightly cooler temperatures than earlier in the week, which enabled us to get more survey work done in in the afternoons. Most of us revisited the highly recommended new Visitors Centre here at the DDRC to help identify what we’d seen, or perhaps it was because it is the nearest Costa Coffee shop…. 🙂

We rounded off group 1’s week with an evening meal at our desert camp. A superb South Tyrolean pasta dish and a pepper side dish produced by the amazing Elisabeth. We all hope she comes on an expedition again 😉

Ah, nearly forgot the bonus. While breaking camp this morning, our birders suddenly got very excited and rushed off to a nearby ghaf tree. There, roosting in the branches, was what we think was a long-eared owl. Photographs were taken and will be sent to the Dubai Birding Committee for confirmation. If we’re right, this would be a huge first for the DDRC. Standby group 2, the location is right next door to camp!

Update from our Arabia expedition in Dubai, UAE working as an oryx volunteer in the desert of the UAE