Squacco Heron - Ardeola ralloides
There is a secret place to birdwatch in Dubai tucked away in International City (AKA sh*tty City as it is locted next to one of the major sewage works. There was a great plan to build luxury houses next to their own bird reserve with a lake etc. The lake has thrived abandoned as the housing development was shelved. It is a real gem - bunk over the fence (more like wander through the giant hole) and you are in your own little private Barn Elms or Minsmere. I have only ever seen a security guard once who getsured that I should leave. I smiled and waved my binoculars at him - "Thank You" - "Lovely Spot" I said and wandered on like an escaping British Officer from Colditz. The only other person I have seen - thats a lie two people - were birders. Serious types with bins and cameras like me.
So there is the frisson of naughtiness with busting into what is a private site. A bit like scrumping apples from a garden (the apples were always rock hard weren't they - plus we had our own apple tree so why oh why did I bother ?). There is I am sure a nesting colony of these delightful little herons. Fish arrive as eggs stuck on bits of plant matter in the feet of birds or ducks - I never knew that could happen until recently. Talapia apparently will colonise new water by catching a lift - amazing !!
So here we are - a development gone wrong - a secret little idyll. Squacco a-go-go. It smells a bit - Sh*tty City you see - perhaps not a good place for million pound houses next to the blue collar accomodation with clothes hung to dry out of the windows. Nice idea though.
Warsan Secret Lake, Dubai
December 9 2012.
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