Freaky weather effects

Recent changes in weather like summer rain, thunderstorms and lightning, followed by chill in the last week of March and the first week of April, have had a great impact on the lives of reptiles and insects.

During spring, the Dubai Met Office has always recorded an average temperature of 28.3 degrees Celsius in March and 33 degrees Celsius in April. But this year, weeks of rain and chill brought down the temperature to below 25 degrees Celsius on an average.

During this period, on my visit to the Hatta Hill Park, I spotted just one toad-headed Agama basking in the sun and two Semaphore geckos lazing around. There were far fewer insects than I expected.

I also visited a farming area near Jeema Water Bottling plant, where farmers use terrace gardening for crop and fruit cultivation. Most prominent among the seasonal plants there was the tobacco with a metre-long leaf. Permanent plants included mango, guava, pomegranate, lime and oranges.

While crossing a falaj or aflaj (plural) – a local drainage system – I saw a rare Jayakari lizard (Agama Jayakari) basking on the banks of the aflaj. A few metres away, Semaphore geckos were having a field day. They were busy curling their tails up and then unfurling them down. They kept repeating this process in quick succession. In general, they do this often to signal to their mates or their opponents.