11 places
Small deserted islands in a calm mangrove lagoon that make good birding, with almost no visitors on weekdays.
Some 60 bird species including flamingos, egrets and herons in Ajman's mangroves.
The only easy place to see the Arabian collared kingfisher, in old mangroves on the east coast.
Eight viewing decks over a lake and salt flats with 200-plus species recorded, including pink-backed pelicans, flamingos and marbled ducks.
Desert lakes with eight bird hides and over 360 recorded species, including flocks of several hundred flamingos.
As the emirate's only mountain it holds rock and cliff birds you will not see on the coast, and the summit road gives you easy viewpoints at every bend.
The boardwalk puts you a few metres from herons fishing in the mangroves, and a ranger-led walk tells you what you are looking at.
The palm canopy and running falaj water draw garden birds that never visit the desert outside, and the shade lets you birdwatch in comfort.
Viewing platforms along the 3.5 km shaded path look straight over the Mangrove National Park mudflats, where waders feed at low tide.
A mountain where Egyptian vultures live, reached by a road that climbs to the top in 20 to 30 minutes.
More than 60 species turn up along the mangrove edge, including greater flamingos and western reef herons, 15 minutes from downtown.