Review by Britany B - Gary Burns Bird and Mammal Guide Dubai
Jan 24
In 2021, my boyfriend spent the morning with Gary taking photos while on a solo trip to Dubai. As we were planning our trip back to visit the Middle East in 2023, we knew one of the priorities was to go back out with Gary.
While I am not a “birder”, I enjoy seeing wildlife when we travel and I try and learn the local species that we see while my boyfriend takes incredible photos of them. I was definitely excited for the possibility to see Little Owls, as I loved the photos of these beautiful birds from 2021.
We met Gary before dawn and discussed what we wanted to see that morning. Having gone out looking for wildlife with my boyfriend countless times, I know that it’s impossible to predict what you will see, and I knew that there was a chance that we would see nothing at all.
With the desert starting to light up before dawn, we headed out into the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve. Gary is always up to date with where the owls have been and where they have been disturbed, and always has a few potential spots to check out.
We spent over an hour (nearly an hour and a half) looking at various Little Owl spots with no luck. We did see a recently used Arabian Red Fox den, some Mountain Gazelle and some desert birds (shrikes, Desert Wheatears) in the early light. We laughed about it being my boyfriend’s bad luck, especially as he had such instant luck with Gary previously. Then Gary found two Little Owls in a tree.
We were able to take as many photos of the owls that we needed. Gary even got my boyfriend to try his new camera to compare. They calmly watched us as the sun slowly came up. With the pressure off after seeing the Little Owls, we headed off to check out some of Gary’s favourite spots. We spotted some beautiful Black-crowned Sparrow-larks and Cream-coloured Coursers. We even came across third Little Owl for a lot more shots.
As we continued to look for wildlife to take photos of, Gary found a Arabian Red Fox running up a dune. He said to get ready, as they always turn one last time and he was correct! It was such a quick but lucky encounter, we were so glad for the opportunity.
We saw an Indian Roller and a Common Kestrel amongst more common birds. Then we spotted a Greater Spotted Eagle and a Western Marsh Harrier hunting near us, followed by a pair of Kestrels. We then spotted an endangered Lappet-faced Vulture, which was a special moment, even for Gary, but I also noted how it wasn’t the prettiest bird!
Gary told us that we were going to experience his favourite secret snack and was excited to share it with us. Without giving the location away, we ate some of the most amazing fresh fried Indian snacks I've ever had!
We kept moving and saw more shrikes, larks and some Arabian Green Bee-eaters, which are stunning and some of my favourites. As we approached the Al Qudra Lakes, we saw Stone-curlews while looking (unsuccessfully) for nightjars. A Grey Crowned Crane flew right at us and we stopped to watch more Western Marsh Harriers circle the lakes, looking for food.
Gary had been paying attention to the time and said that we had a perfect opportunity to see more Lappet-faced Vultures, as they frequented a specific spot that he was aware of. We were happy to head there. We found four or five Lappet-faced Vultures preparing to take off and stopped to watch the giant birds make slow lumbering takeoffs. The vultures circled around us and we had amazing views. It was quite a sight.
As our morning was coming to an end, we opted to go see the Dhub (Spiny Tailed Lizard) before it got too hot. I had never seen these lizards and I was surprised at how big they were. We watched as they basked in the sun and got darker as they heated up.
We did another lap of the lakes, taking photos of the flamingoes and various waterfowl. We then saw a soaring Griffon Vulture out of nowhere. As we drove back to our rental car, we noticed literally hundreds of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse hiding in the shade.
I didn’t know what to expect with our morning with Gary. I had heard how my boyfriend’s experience had been a couple of year prior and I had seen Gary’s amazing photos on Instagram. I knew that there was always a chance that we would see nothing. I also knew that I wanted to see the Little Owls more than any other species.
Getting up hours before dawn and driving into the desert was easily worth the experience that we had. I have done a lot of the classic touristy experiences in Dubai (within reason),\ but this was up there with the best of them. I learnt so much listening and asking questions about the various species of wildlife that we saw. We talked about the migrations and the different birds that made Dubai their home throughout the year. We discussed other spots that we had visited and the spots in Oman that we were going to next.
Gary is a wealth of knowledge and has a great sense of humour. Even more so, he still has a sense of wonder and excitement about seeing these special animals. He was definitely more concerned that we didn’t see any owls for the first hour than we were. But he shared in our joy when we did eventually find them.
Gary was so patient and very enthusiastic throughout the whole trip. He is incredibly passionate with his photography and respectful towards all the animals we saw. Needless to say, I would definitely go out with Gary again in a heartbeat. And I would certainly know more bird names the next time!
