Fujairah Collage

Fujairah Collage
Some distinctive landmarks in Fujairah

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Visit Fujairah to Watch the Birds

From time to time I am doing a round up of blog postings about Fujairah, and writing about why people visit this eastern city and emirate of the United Arab Emirates.

UAE is for the Birds
There are people in the UAE whose passion and hobby is ‘birding’.

They go in groups or on their own with cameras and binoculars. When they get home they send out their sightings to others and they revel in posting their photos for others to enjoy.

Fujairah: Bird Watching capital of the Emirates
In a posting many months ago I mentioned the claim that many have made, that Fujairah is the bird watching capital of the Emirates and possibly the Gulf.

The emirate of Al Fujairah (and adjoining emirates) with the mountains and coastline contribute to making this area a rich region for birds. It is also an important stopping off place for birds on their global migratory routes. All of this underscores the importance of protecting the eastern environment.

The main birding sites in this eastern region include Sifini Dam and Shawka, Masafi Wadi, Fujairah National Dairy Farm, Ras Dibba, Fujairah Port Beach, Khor Kalba and Huwaylat Road.

Tommy Pedersen maintains a great new web site whose home page is at this link: UAE Birding. The transfer of photos and information from this older web site is currently taking place and when the job is done the old site will be removed.

Fly over and see the information, the discussion forums, the maps for directions to the chief bird sites in the UAE and most of all the extensive photo galleries.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: Attached is a photo of a young Bridled Tern, a great seabird characteristic of the East Coast (as well as the Abu Dhabi coast). It was photographed at Fujairah Port Beach August 2008 by Tommy Pedersen. (Thanks to Tommy for permission to post this photograph).

Click to enlarge and fully appreciate this bird and photograph.

Related Articles:
Birds of Fujairah, FIF, 4 November 2007.
Birds of the UAE, ETE, 4 November 2007.
The Falcon: An Emirati Icon, ETE, 26 August 2007.
UAE on High Bird Flu Alert, ETE, 5 March 2007
Review of ‘Birds of the Middle East’, RBM, 4 November 2007

More in the ‘Why Visit Fujairah?’ series:
Friday Market
Good Cheap Carpets
Fort and Historic Places
Kayaking and Diving
Sun, Snorkeling and Scenery
Weekend Getaway
Beautiful Scenery
Hajar Mountain Drive

No comments: