We have started going for a walk in Mushrif country Park on Saturday mornings. The bicycle track forms a circuit of about 5 km and it takes us about 50 minutes to walk.
It is a pleasant walk - rather green and full of birds and birdsong.
The track undulates and from the high point there is a good view across the trees to Mirdif and on a clear day, the skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Road.
I keep trying to photograph the birds we have seen, with conspicuous lack of success. For example, this is my best effort at capturing a hoopoe:
So the following pictures have been borrowed from better photographers than I; but we did see the birds! The most common bird in the park is probably the White-cheeked Bulbul, of which there are many jauntering from tree to tree with a flash of yellow underbelly.
Another very frequently spotted one is the Common Mynah, which we also often see at Nad al Sheba;
Then there are the pigeons and doves, of which we've seen several different types:
We've seen a number of parakeets, but surely they are feral rather than native:
There are a lot of delicate little browny grey jobs which might be pipits:
Today we saw one with a crest which I discover is a crested lark:
And although they are apparently quite common, we were thrilled to see a Little Green Bee Eater today, as they are so pretty:
To cap it all, last Saturday I thought I saw a dead snake, until I got closer and realised it was a live snake! It was only about 30 cm long, but was probably a Sawscale Viper, so it's a good thing I didn't try to pick it up! It looked exactly like this, down to the way it was curled, with it's head in the middle.
