Picture by Dr. Mike Hill
First impressions of Qatar are often made through aircraft windows,
looking down upon a sand-coloured peninsula at the wide sweep
of Doha Bay with its impressive corniche, and patches of greenery
where modern horticulture has converted erstwhile desert to verdant
grassy lawns. This birds-eye view of the country’s capital city
also reveals what many migrating birds have discovered over the
last few years: that Arabia’s oil-age development offers rich
delights for flight weary passengers. For our feathered friends
these amount to plentiful drinking water from the numerous swimming
pools and garden ponds; a good source of food and more than adequate
sleeping quarters in the foliage of bushes and trees that garland
the city and its surrounds. For the human visitor, the observant
eye picks out modern hotels, marinas, golf course and all the
trappings of a comfortable place to take up residence for a while.
Once the man and bird have landed however, they tend to go their
separate ways – blithely unconcerned about each others lives.
It is hardly surprising, I suppose, that the jet-lagged business
traveller does not consider Qatar’s natural attractions as being
of prime concern. Despite efforts to develop Qatar as a viable
tourism destination, it remains true, as with many other Arabian
countries, that the vast majority of visitors go there for work
or business rather than purely for leisure purposes. This situation
is likely to continue in Qatar and eco-tourism will remain as
a minor aspect of the country’s overall visitor profile. But this
is not to say that Qatar does not have plenty to offer the keen
naturalist or dedicated explorer.
Areas to Visit
Short of time, but keen to learn something of Qatar’s fascinating
background and natural heritage, the inquisitive visitor could
do far worse than to visit Qatar National Museum which is situated
within the old fort of Doha. It was one of the first modern museums
in Arabia and takes full advantage of its attractive setting,
at the water’s edge. In addition to excellent geological, fossil,
archaeological and traditional displays, the museum houses a well
run public aquarium where one can gain a close view of many of
the Gulf’s sea-creatures. An hour or so spent wandering through
the museum will do much to dispel the mistaken notion that Qatar
has little to offer the nature-lover.
As with other parts of Arabia, what one gets out of a place is
largely dependent upon how much effort one is prepared to put
in to exploring it. Nowhere is this more true than with Qatar.
Prime time for wildlife watching here is soon after dawn. It definitely
pays to rise early and to be out with binoculars by the time that
sun rises. If that proves to be too great an effort, then the
hour before sunset is also very rewarding.
Away from Doha, the main sites of interest are, moving from north
to south, through the peninsula, Al Ruwais and Ras Rakan at the
northerly tip of the country where stronger tidal currents bring
rich fish life and a productive reef system. The coastline from
here around to the magnificent fort at Zubara, has a number of
small abandoned villages and is a quiet coastal region where one
can find an interesting combination of shorebirds and, in spring
and autumn, passage migrants. Moving south along the east coast,
the coastal route which hugs the shoreline from Al Ghariyah to
Ras Laffan, and then cuts straight through the desert to the large
natural harbour at Al Dhakira, is well worth exploring. The region
immediately to the south, at Al Khor, has important archaeological
sites and the harbour is an active fishing port. Inland, northern
Qatar has many irrigated farms which attract birds and other wildlife.
A short distance to the west of Doha is the racecourse which is
always a good birding site. To the south lies the ancient town
of Al Wakrah where some valuable restoration work has taken place
on certain buildings. The date gardens of Wakrah attract many
small birds including the now ubiquitous, but previously scarce,
bulbul.
Close to the southern boundary of Qatar the massive shallow lagoon
of Khor Al Udeid is a fascinating place to visit providing one
has good four-wheel- drive vehicles. In this vicinity, on the
edge of the Empty Quarter, are to be found Qatar’s largest sand
dunes. The lagoon and its tidal sand flats are a frequent resting
place for flamingos and for many other wading birds.
Desert Roses
Desert roses are not flowers but crystals which take the form
of rose-petals. A good place to search for them is on the sabkha
flats around Umm Said where a particularly characteristic twinned
gypsum crystal occurs. Its ‘petals’ are about 2 cm long and have
a shape reminiscent of a swallow’s tail. Such crystals are formed
when high tides bring seawater into the sabkha and the water becomes
cut-off from the sea and evaporates, eventually causing salt deposition
and crystal formation. If you do go in search of these strange
crystals, be prepared to dig quite deeply beneath the surface.
Fossil Sharks Teeth
Evidence that sharks have been around these shores for a long
time can be gathered from the numerous black fossilized sharks
teeth that can be collected from the surface of the ground, or
else embedded within a yellowish -green shale known as ‘Midra
shale’, found especially along the western side of the peninsula.
If you are wondering just how old these sharks teeth are, you
would not be far out if you guessed at 50 million years! A long
time ago, admittedly, but bear in mind that sharks have been around
for eight times as long as that – according to palaeontologists
at least as long as 400 million years! Such ruminations aside,
the sharks teeth scattered across the surface of Qatar are a reminder
that this whole area was once underwater and that the rocks which
form it are in fact the remains of marine sediments.
Marinelife
The best place for experiencing marinelife is out from the east
and north-east of Qatar, on reefs some distance from shore. Hotels
do arrange regular sea-trips when, in addition to snorkelling
to admire shallow-water fish, one may also encounter some of the
Gulf’s marine mammals including humpback and bottlenose dolphins
and, if you are very lucky, dugongs. It is also a good way of
observing seabirds.
Dugongs
Readers of Arabian Wildlife will already be familiar with the
dugong or sea cow: arus el-bahar in Arabic. This shy and elusive
marine mammal feeds exclusively on sea grasses and every winter,
during February, large numbers of them congregate in the sea area
around Qatar. Once thought to be on the verge of extinction, recent
helicopter surveys have revealed that over 600 sea cows, including
families of parents and their young, may occur in the region.
Although they are generally very wary of contact with people,
when they are densely aggregated it is possible to approach them
quite closely by boat, providing the engine is switched off and
one drifts among them. Efforts to photograph dugongs underwater
are usually frustrated by relatively poor visibility which is
exacerbated by they stir upthe seabed whilst feeding.
Pearling
There are pearl beds all around Qatar and although these are no
longer commercially fished, the pearl oysters are still present
in great abundance and there is nothing to stop amateur divers
having a go at finding that elusive jewel of the sea, the perfect
pearl. The Ministry of Information’s Press and Publications Division
has even produced a chart showing where the pearl beds are. The
beautifully produced map plots the position of 206 hayrs or pearl
oyster banks, the majority of which are around 30 miles offshore,
within the 25 m contour. Clearly diving at these sites requires
proper training, experience, guidance and facilities. It does
offer a different kind of challenge for those divers who are weary
of having nothing to do underwater other than to take photographs,
or watch while others take them!
Arab Gulf States Folklore Centre, PO Box 7996, Doha, Qatar. Tel 861941
Qatar University, Faculty of Science, P O Box 2713, Doha.
Arabian Wildlife. Volume 2, Number