***This post appears on another forum so apologies in advance if you have already seen it***
Just a really quick write up of a week herping the deserts of UAE. I was actually in the region for 2 weeks, with the first spent doing the boring touristy stuff in Dubai, then the second week spent in the deserts, mostly in Sharjah. Much thanks and pretty much all credit for the critters below go to Johannes Els - a true gent with a superb knowledge of the local area.
First the boring tourist/architectural/city shots...
Cityscape Skyline by Kris Bell, on Flickr
At The Top by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Ultra-Urban by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Level43 by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Pillars of Society by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Sheikh Zayed Mosque by Kris Bell, on Flickr
..now on to the good stuff. First animals out and about on the dunes during the day are usually the small lizards. These toad headed agamas were my favourite lizards of the trip, tiny little animals with so much attitude. They are fiercely territorial with one another and have a range of cool behaviours such as curling their black-tipped tails over in the circle as if to mimic a scorpion.
Arabian Toad Head Agama (Phrynocephalus arabicus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Toad-headed agama by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Schmidt’s fringe-toed lizard (Acanthodactylus schmidti) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Without question, my favourite snake species of the trip...
Arabian sand/horned viper (Cerastes gasperettii) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Eastern Sandfish (Scincus mitranus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Once extinct in the wild, thanks to reintroductions and protected reserves, these ungulates are making a comeback...
Arabian Oryx (Oryx leucoryx) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Oryx Landscape by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Desert monitor (Varanus griseus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Last out in the day were these Uromastyx, that absolutely loved the heat and were active throughout the intense heat of the middle of the day, long after every other animal had headed for the shade.
Leptein's spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia lepteini) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Heading up into the streams that cut through the rocky cliffs (wadis) resulted in a different collection of reptiles...
Sinai agama (Pseudotrapelus sinaitus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Sinai agama (Pseudotrapelus sinaitus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Blue-tailed Oman Lizard (Omanosaura cyanura) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Bagworm moth caterpillar by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian Toad (Bufo arabicus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
As soon as night fell in the wadis, these guys came crawling out of cracks and crevices in significant numbers...
Oman saw-scaled viper (Echis omanensis) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
...meanwhile back in the desert and scrub, the nocturnal animals looked something like the below.
Desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian Sand Gecko (Stenodactylus arabicus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Venomous land mine by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Domino Beetle (Anthia duodecimguttata) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian horned viper (Cerastes gasperettii) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Urchin beetle (Prionotheca cornata) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Zarudny's Worm Lizard (Diplometopon zarudnyi) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Middle Eastern short-fingered gecko (Stenodactylus doriae) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Awl-headed snake (Lytorhynchus diadema) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Persian Wonder Gecko (Teratoscincus keyserlingii) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian sand boa (Eryx jayakari) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
And a few other odds and ends...
Common fan-footed gecko (Ptyodactylus hasselquistii) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Hoopoe (Upupa epops) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Eastern Sand Gecko (Stenodactylus leptocosymbotus) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes arabica) by Kris Bell, on Flickr
Arabian fox at dawn by Kris Bell, on Flickr