First day of birding in AD

[GregoryAskew]

I took my first bird walk in the UAE yesterday morning and was thrilled by the first species I encountered. I have been staying at the Aloft Hotel on Abu Dhabi Island and walked to the nearby public gardens. Along the way and in the park, I saw the following (all of which I believe are pretty common for the city):
Laughing Dove (first UAE bird!)
Common Mynah
House Sparrow
White-cheeked Bulbul
Alexandrine Parakeet
Collared Dove
Red-vented Bulbul
Grey Francolin
Purple Sunbird
House Crow
White-spectacled Bulbul (probable...based only on a yellow vent...I didn't note the spectacles)
Hoopoe (what a wild critter!)
Rock Pigeon (are there Stock Pigeons about as well?)
Eurasian Whimbrel (4 birds about the gardens...the oddest encounter by far)
Falcon sp.
Bee-eater sp. (gliding above the trees...European?)
Warbler sp. (A lot of tail action...Eastern Olivaceous? I saw a total of three birds working the same tree)
Flycatcher sp. (very brief view)

I am very excited to get to Al Ain, which is where I have been assigned to teach; I've heard it's quite beautiful and I imagine the birding will be awesome.

Greg
(Vermont, USA)

[daveclark]

Hey Greg - this is Dave in Al Ain - let me know after you get here and maybe we can check out some of the sights together - dave

[Andrew Ward]

Greg, if you are still in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and would like to join a bird walk around the grounds of the Emirates Palace hotel, let me know. A small group of us will be meeting at 7am to check out the grounds. We are usually finished by around 10.30/11 and sometimes go on to another site thereafter. There's usually something of interest to see and sometimes it can be really good. If you are coming, I'll need to let the hotel know so that there's no issue with security. Send me a private message with your mobile number so I can tell you exactly where to meet (it is a big place!).

Welcome to the UAE!
Andrew

[Sandman]

Yes Greg - welcome to us!