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Greater flamingoes make Shahama Lake their home

The lake, privately-owned by Shaikh Mohammed bin Butti, the Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Municipality and Town Planning Department, is located just near the Shahama Township on the right side of Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway.

In recent years, extensive afforestation, infrastructure development and other associated activities have led to the creation of a number of small to medium size lakes in different parts of the UAE. Such water facilities are initially used by a few species of water birds occasionally.

With year round availability of suitable habitat for feeding, resting and breeding as well as adequate protection, more species start colonising such areas. The Shahama Lake is a prime example of this where a resident population of greater flamingoes is now present, besides several other species of birds.

The whole area of the lake which is extensively planted is fenced and there is only one entry point to the area.

Characterised by an undulating general topography the lake, which was created as a result of dredging the sabkha, is an open sheet of water that is circular in shape. Due to the gradient of 4 to 5m between forestry plantation and lake, the runoff of irrigation water from the nearby plantation also drains into the lake.

The presence of shallow and deep water zones is ideally suited for a range of water birds which use different water depths for foraging and feeding.

Areas around the lake contain sparse vegetation, dominated by Zygophyllum qatarense. The lake also supports a number of introduced mountain gazelle (Gazella) and Arabian oryx (oryx leucoryx), and feeding sheds are present for these animals.

Numerous species of migratory water birds visit the UAE every year either as winter visitor or as passage migrants during the spring and autumn migrations to and from their breeding quarters.

The extensive coastal and some inland wetlands provide ideal feeding and staging sites for these migrants. Of the 435 species of birds that are reported to be found in the UAE, the greater flamingo (phoenicopterus ruber) is one of the common species seen along the coast and inland waterbodies.

The flamingo can be considered a flagship species after it bred in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, the first time in the Gulf after a gap of more than 70 years.

Preliminary visits were made to the lake by teams of the Terrestrial Environment Research Centre and the Environmental Laboratory of the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) to carry out a rapid assessment of the status of the lake.

Faunal observations are based on two visits on March 24 and 25. flamingoes were observed feeding on the bird feed near the pen. However, they flew when approached, showing behaviour of wild birds.

The lake supports a significantly high number of greater flamingo and these are reported to be present there throughout the year. The flamingo population included adult as well as sub-adult birds.

Although no flamingo nests were observed, the description of the nests provided by the caretaker of the area matched their general description. Out of the total of 572 flamingoes seen, 370 were adult birds and were sub-adults.

The other bird species present were mallard (anas platyrhynchos), pintail (anas acuta), shoveler (anas clypeata), Egyptian geese (alopochen aegyptiacus) and little grebe (tachybaptus ruficollis). Black-winged stilts and the kentish plovers were found to be breeding in the area. Several other species were also seen at the lake.

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