Beating the summer heat

Summer is always uncomfortable in a desert country like the UAE where temperatures hover above 40C.

Like us, animals also do not like the summer much. However, many arid areas in the Arabian Peninsula record a huge number of migratory birds passing through.

A few even come to the UAE and other GCC countries just to raise their families here.

On a recent trip to the eastern coast of the UAE, I came across a flock of blue-cheeked bee-eaters. It was a windy day and I was on a little island in Khor Kalba. There were no trees, but there’s ground vegetation of some kind.

Municipal officials had put up a sign board warning visitors not to swim in the nearby creek, the only elevated place where birds could perch.

It was pretty hot at mid-day with the temperature possibly hitting 44C. As the ground was too hot for the two blue-cheeked bee-eaters, they took refuge on the sign board.

They were having difficulty remaining perched on top because of the strong wind. But they had to gather food and were forced to make aerial sallies every now and then, returning to the same spot after each sortie.

Against all odds the bee-eaters made sallies at an average interval of five minutes. In one out of three sallies, each bird seemed to be successful in catching either dragonflies or bees. It was no doubt a marvellous feat.