I reached a spot in the middle of the desert in Dubai, some four kilometres away from human habitation. Spring was giving way to summer. At noon, the temperature was almost 40 degrees Celsius.

I was feeling uncomfortable in my full-sleeve shirt, but had to keep it on to avoid sunburn.

I was walking through Dubai Municipality’s Nature Reservation Area No 3, located on the west of the Al Faqa-Dubai-Al Ain border, seven km from the highway.

During a trip to Hatta dam, I came upon a huge Jayakar’s lizard lying on a rock. After lying motionless for about 10 minutes, it suddenly decided to run for its life.

On my return journey, after about four hours, I spotted the same lizard ten metres from the earlier spot.

After driving through the desert for more than two hours, we stopped at an elevated dune some five kilometres southwest of Bab Al Shams Hotel.

When we got down, I heard some commotion.

We walked down the dune and saw hundreds of sandgrouse running helter-skelter and feasting on lush desert greens that had sprouted after the last rains.

I recently visited Umm Al Quwain after a gap of two years. The harbour had not changed one bit since I last saw it.

Broken abandoned boats, discarded nets, piles of ropes, floats, weights and other things left behind by fishermen dotted the area.

I began looking for seagulls and terns that are known to hover around harbours. In the distance, I could see a small flock of little terns diving into the sea. I realised that they were not after dead fish or other sea animals thrown into the water by the fishermen.

The brown-necked raven is the black beauty of our desert. It is the only dominant animal visible all year round.

With many roads in the UAE cutting through the desert, ravens are often found crossing these roads. Some even brave the heavy traffic on Emirates Road or the Dubai-Sharjah-Ras Al Khaimah Road and try to pick up animal offal or titbits thrown by people.

Ravens usually live around clumps of ghaf trees and even build nests in them.