Hud Hud

I saw this gorgeous little Hud Hud (or Hoopoe) out in Tumayr a few weeks ago on my way to find the irises. I had a hard time getting a good shot of him as he kept teasing me and stepping behind a bush every time I got the camera in focus! He didn't want to fly away, though, because as you can see, he was enjoying his meal.


The coloring of his feathers is fantastic, isn't it? I love the black and white stripes!

After about 15 minutes, he finally consented and gave me a beautiful pose on a thorn bush. Look at that profile. I couldn't ask for more than that!

Petroglyphs of Graffiti Rock

I had the most Amazing Adventure yesterday! I went to Graffiti Rock to see the petroglyphs, and it was worth every hot, bumpy minute of the ride! This is the main wall of glyphs, but there are others to be found around the different stones on the mountain. As you can see, it's like an ancient graffiti mural! And the animals are amazing! In Saudi Arabia, everyone expects to see camels, but to find the images of an ostrich came as quite a surprise!

By the way, for any archeologists and history majors out there, please don't be terribly critical of my lack of knowledge in describing these glyphs. I am just describing them how I see them. I have no knowledge in this area, just a keen sense of adventure and a love of art, from the ancient to the modern.

I loved this scene of what looks to be a mother "ostrich" and her 11 babies, but I'm sure I must be mistaken since I can't imagine a brood of 11 to be possible. Still, it seems very sweet to me.

Here is a very clear picture of an Ibex, even to the ridges on its horns. Just in front, you can see a type of beast with large claws. A type of wolf or wild dog, perhaps? Below that, you see a camel and another animal that looks like a dog, without the exaggerated claws.

The animal in the upper right of this picture looks like another wolf/dog to me, although again, no claws are showing. In the lower left you can see a human form with a weapon aimed at some type of deer or antelope.

This can't be too surprising. Bedouins claim that the Arabian horse was captured and domesticated in the Nejd area of Saudi Arabia thousands of years before the birth of Christ!

The sheer variety of animals on this rock face simply astound!

I see five distinctly human figures in this shot. Whether by chance or design that they are all in the same area, I haven't any idea. One shows ribs, and this is the only figure like this that I saw anywhere on the mountain. Could this represent hunger or famine? The one on the left looks like he could have been killed in battle, or maybe in a hunt. The one up above I find most intriguing, but I hesitate to guess on the reason for the pose. I do find it interesting that it seems to be more in a profile view than the other human figures.

Ancient horse racing?

Look past the brighter symbols here, to the faded picture unfolding in the back. Two hunters with weapons closing in on a type of antelope. The horns are very different than in the pictures of the ibex, but what type of antelope this is I can't be sure. Another antelope can be seen behind the hunter on the right.

Overall, yesterday couldn't have been a better day. Although the day was getting a little too warm, there was a breeze which kept us reasonably cool. And what a reward! I had no idea that such treasures existed here! As usual, the sun was so bright that it made it a little difficult for me to take clear pictures without them getting too washed out, but I think I captured at least the idea of how beautiful these glyphs are. I hope that you enjoy looking at them at least a fraction as much as I enjoyed getting out to see them!

A Very Large Lizard!

Dhub

While driving around, exploring the village and farms of Tumayr, we spotted this "dhub" from a distance. A dhub is a lizard that lives in the desert of Saudi Arabia, and they are very fast! They dig holes deep into the ground, and at the first sign of danger, they rush in and hide. It can be a dangerous habit to reach into a hole to catch a dhub, since they often share their home with scorpions! I didn't think there was a chance that I would get more than this one shot of this big guy. We stopped the car about 200 feet away from where he was sunning, and he was off like a shot!
So how is it that we caught him? This guy was so big that he had a hard time getting into his hole fast enough!

This is the biggest dhub I have ever seen! I have seen babies that are the size of my little finger, so that gives an idea how big this guy really is. Doesn't he have the funniest toes? All the better for digging! They can do quite a bit of damage with that spiked tail by swinging it around and hitting with it. Also, their bite causes a world of pain and they won't easily let go, so you have to be careful to hold them firmly from both ends to prevent injury.

If you look at the dhub's left front hand, you will see that his toes are missing. To be this size, he has obviously gone through some skirmishes, but has come out victorious. A dhub is a vegetarian, and is't really a violent lizard at all. His first defense is always to run into his hole, and will only bite or use that tail that looks like some sort of a medieval weapon as a last resort. After taking some pictures and enjoying the chance to get a close up look at this fellow, we let him loose where we found him, and he squeezed into his hole. A week later we were driving through the same area and decided to go take a look, and yes, he was out on his same rock sunning again! Awesome!

Seeking the Wild Irises of Tumayr

Isn't this stunning? Who would expect to find such a flower in the middle of the desert of Saudi Arabia? This amazing beauty blooms in the Spring around Tumayr, a drive of about an hour and a half outside of Riyadh.

I have lived in Saudi Arabia for many years, and until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of these wild irises growing here. They bloom the last week of Feb or the first week of March. You have to arrive at around noon if you want to watch them open up.

When you first arrive, you may feel a little disappointed, seeing a lot of green shoots and no flowers. But patience pays off! The flowers start to open up by 1 o'clock, and by 2 the field is full of flowers in various shades of pale lavender and purple.

They grow up right out of the sand. It's hard to imagine them living in such an inhospitable environment!

Not only is there a variety of color, but such a variety of shapes! There are these with an abundance of long, thin petals, while others have 3 perfect petals which are shorter and rounder.

Fortunately, as beautiful as these flowers are, they are simply not tasty to camels. An entire herd of camels roamed past while I was busily taking pictures, and didn't even bother to stop and nibble.

I am so thrilled to have found the wild irises of Tumayr! After a fruitless search a week ago, I was seriously considering not going out again. Thank goodness I did! It was such a treat to see this little field in bloom, and to lose myself in the wonder of it all. I spent nearly 3 hours taking pictures, watching intently while the little flowers opened up to face the sun. Definitely time well spent!