The Crow

missing desert

It has been for a while I haven't been in desert. I wouldn't think that I could miss desert.
yes, I am.. That's why we have one picture from my archive.
I would prefer to sit silently and enjoy the peace at desert but these guys had different preference..

Salute

Another bird which salutes the morning.

Anar Fruit

Yesterday I was invited for breakfast at newly opened restaurant, By chance I got two invitation for the same place, at the same time but from different friends. In those moments I think Dubai is not a big city. :)

I thought there is something important, somehow I should see it on Friday.

I was not wrong, after I had nice and long breakfast, on the way back, I noticed this tree.

Actually first I saw its flower. Even I recognised the flower I was not sure until I saw the fruits on it. I was not expecting to see pomegranate tree in Dubai. I grab my camera and try to take couple of pictures.

I really like the colour of its flower, in this picture you can see those small flowers on the up right side of the picture. Flowers became fruit like this,This fruit is not mature yet, It has to be in red colour.

This is also new to me, I didn't know that this tree can survive from deserted climate.

It is symbolize fertility and prosperity in Iran & Turkey, also it was known as "fruit of the dead" in Ancient Greek mythology.

It is considered to have originated in the region between the Himalayas and Egypt. It has been cultivated since ancient times. Today it is getting more famous and commercialized with vitamins & antioxidant content. You can read more about on Pomegranate from here.

I like the fruit and the juice but the pomegranate sauce is my favourite in all forms. it is good with salads even I use it while cooking.

If you are a foodie, you can give a try once on one of your salad. It will perfectly match with olive oil. afterwards you may use it more often :)

Birds

Most people would not expect to see that much bird in Dubai, thinking it is deserted area.
Surprisingly there are many, in terms of number of different species as well.

Especially during sunrise and sunset, they are more visible.. of course if you are not spending your time indoor, you can enjoy their presence.

There is one bird sanctuary here at the end of the Creek. I tried to reach there once, but I lost my way at that time, :))
There, you may see even flamingos in their nature. One day, I would like to visit.
this picture at taken at Jumeirah Beach

for Birds..

I found this place at Jumeirah..
It is always surprise me the number of birds and variety of species.

Water is important here in this region. You will see these for birds. providing water.

calmness of desert

I wish everyone has a calm and relaxing Sunday..

Spider Lily Crinum

couple weeks back, one of my friends asked me to take their family pictures. we did photo shooting around their house. I saw this flower at that time.

I didn't know the name, after google it, i found the name, spider lily crinum. or I found wrong name :)
according to Wikipedia, this is planted in mainly warmer regions. this is the reason I thought I found the correct one.

again in Wikipedia, it says, this plant is poisonous. it may cause skin irritation. This is the reason I am thinking it might be wrong.

if this is really dangerous community authorities would not plant it on public area.

Wild Desert flower

I shared close picture of its flowers last week. Today I realized I didn't show the plant itself.

First I saw this in the middle of desert at one of safari tour. I thought it is just overthere not here in the city. But I forget one fact that this city was also desert like that.. All those fancy buildings, parks, hotels and highways there was sand and wild plants like this. I am not sure if this one will survive after they completely done Jumeirah Cornish project. 

Flower from desert

Another post from my photo walk on Saturday morning instead of running.. 
This flower was on the sand naturally. 
The colors were eye catching.  It looks like similar flower I saw couple years ago at outside of dubai and I learned that time it has poison.  This one also may had poison under this beauty. 

natural life in Dubai

I wouldn't thought that much different birds can live in Dubai with this temperature. 

After I moved, I figured out, desert is also hosting so many different bird species. Especially last two decades, parks and greenery areas are increased in Dubai so the population of birds as well as the number of different species. 

I took this photo at the Creek Park. It is public park. Even the quality is not good, I like this picture since bird visible with its beauty. 

a tree from the Crek Park

Even Dubai is located in the desert, there are plenty parks available in the city.
The Creek park is one of them. it is located next to the creek. there is small entrance fee which is reasonable.
Unfortunately i do not know the name of this tree but its form is very different and unique.

Arabian Oryx

Taken at Dubai Desert Conservation Resort. In this resort there are several animals, such as Arabian Gazelle, Desert Gazelle, Arabian Oryx, sand fox, wild cat, snakes, lizards, and also various plants.

While we were going to camp area, we saw this Arabian Oryx.

T for turtles

Taken at the start of The Big Jumeirah Sea Turtle Race  in 2012. Jumeirah group has Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Every year they release found and rehabilitated turtles to the nature. Some of turtles tagged with satellite transmitter to collect data about their journey, migration behaviour. All of the transmitter data is publicly available on this link who are interested.

According to information on their web site, there are two types of Sea Turtle commonly found in the Gulf of Arabia. They are under protection with law in UAE.

I couldn't catch the turtle release in 2013 and in 2014 one school sponsored the transmitter and the release was organised by the school as educational purpose for their students.

posted for ABC Wednesday. you can see more post from here about letter T all around the world.

Flame tree at The Greens

This is the season now, every May, these trees became red and till July they keep their flowers.

Its called flame tree. if you check wikipedia, you can see flame tree may refer different types of trees in different region.
I am not specialist on trees but according to Mr. Google, I guess we have Delonix Regina here in Dubai.
In fact, the beauty of tree is more important than the botanical name :)

Bougainvillea

I guess Dubai is one of the best places for Bougainvillea. I think this is one of the most popular plant in the city.
You may see pink, white, yellow, orange colours all around the city. Each garden has one or two, public parks has also a lot, even I have it at my small balcony. OK. They are not happy like this one but still they are nice. : )
We can see their flowers even during summer time but winter is their season. Of course I am talking about winter time in Dubai , not winter in north. :))

Tree in Desert?

I remember very well the first time when I was at desert.

I was just surprised with the variety of animals and plants. I do not know why, but I was thinking, if it is desert, there is nothing to see besides sand.

I was wrong and totally mistaken.

There are plenty of trees without special care, without irrigation system.

This picture was taken long time back. You can see how old the tree is. There are several type of trees which can resist desert climate. Some of them has long and strong roots to get deep water, some of them has special leave structure to get vital water from the humidity of weather.

Also you can see many 4x4 vehicle coming from desert after weekend picnic.

Enjoy your Sunday!! 

Morning Sunbeam

I took this photo at the traffic light in the greens, while I was on my way to the office.
If you look at the west side of the road you will have high rise buildings and a view of a city which looks like a city in si-fi movie.
If you look at the East side, you have the beauty of naked nature.
I prefer to look East to see this :)