Dubai Pivot Fields, UAE

While 31°c can hardly be considered hot chocolate and mittens weather the winter has begun here in the UAE on what is celebrated as National Day.

A quick walk around the pivot fields late this afternoon was rewarded with a few of the regular wintering birds. A pair of european stonechat have taken up residence by the rubbish tip and a small mixed flock of the less common plovers has now started to form with single sociable plover and northern lapwing together with three pacific golden plover.

Male european stonechat

Tawny pipit

The owners have dug out a large pit in the sand to take rubbish and as the water table is only about 1.5m down it has started to fill up and now hosts a few waders such as several red-wattled plover and white-tailed lapwing, thirteen little ringed plover, three wood sandpiper and a single common sandpiper. A moorhen was picking around the debris too.

Little ringed plover

I also noticed three badly oiled birds (black-headed gull, wood sandpiper and white-tailed plover). Perhaps there has been a recent spillage?

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10 Grey francolin

1 Moorhen

13 Little ringed plover

3 Pacific golden plover

60 Red-wattled plover

1 Sociable plover

50 White-tailed plover

1 Northern lapwing

1 Black-headed gull

100 Collared dove

50 Laughing dove

3 Little green bee-eater

4 Hoopoe

50 Crested lark

8 Skylark

6 Richard's pipit

2 Tawny pipit

60 Water pipit

8 Yellow wagtail

50 White wagtail

8 White-cheeked bulbul

2 European stonechat

3 Isabelline wheatear

1 Graceful prinia

2 Daurian shrike

1 Southern grey shrike

30 Common myna

2 Starling

200 House sparrow