Plastic crocodile squeaky toy, found in a hollow full of sphagnum moss at the base of a stump in Camosun Bog, Vancouver. People are typically restricted to the raised wooden walkway around the perimeter of the bog and not allowed to enter unless doing research, as I was: clearly the child whose croc this was found a way around that.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow

Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,

You cannot say, or guess, for you know only

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,

And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,

And the dry stone no sound of water.

- T.S. Eliot, ‘The Wasteland’ (19-24)

An adult male dragonfly of the species Anax ephippiger, discovered resting in the bottom of an old plastic flowerpot. Gender in this species is easily identified – males have the distinctive panel of sky blue behind the wings; the same panel in females and immature individuals is a dull brownish purple. The common name of this species is one of my absolute favourites ever – it goes by the title of the ‘Vagrant Emperor.’

Taken in February of 2011

A male Yellow-spotted agama (Trapelus flavimaculatus) in full defensive display. These lizards are normally a dull brown and olive green colour, mottled in yellow and white. When cornered, or, it is thought, to display to a female, their skin turns to vividest blue, their normally pale yellow tails glow bright orange, their dewlaps unfurl and they open their mouths wide to display the bright scarlet-orange insides. This one was sunbathing by the side of a desert road and found himself cornered when he ran the wrong way to get away from me and found himself up against a heap of metal and plastic construction debris. Cue display!

An osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is massively unimpressed by my temerity in interrupting his grooming ritual with photo-taking.

Taken on the Jebel Ali coast, in February 2011

Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) discovered in distress on a private beach in Abu Dhabi. Loggerheads, as their name implies, have massive, even disproportionate battering-ram heads that allow them to be readily identified. This one was barely responsive by the time she was brought to us, in the back of a 4×4 that even with seats down only barely accommodated her 1.4 metre-long bulk. She is currently under medical observation: condition unknown, but still alive…just.

Dead hawksbill sea turtle hatchling, about 5-10 hours old. Out of a nest of 100-120 eggs buried in a nest under 60cm of sand, up to 70% or so will hatch; of those, several inevitably die in the nest, too weak or malformed to dig their way out like the others. This was one of 5 dead hatchlings unearthed while excavating a translocated nest to evaluate hatching success.

Taken in July of 2010 at Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates

Lone flamingo meditating at sunset in a lagoon on a stretch of marine protected land on the Jebel Ali coast. Ironically, the flamingo itself was one of the palest I’ve ever seen – almost totally white.

Female Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) returning to the sea after nesting in a small cove on the Sir Bu Nair Island off the U.A.E. coast. Most sea turtles nest at night, so this was a rare and fortunate sighting.

Hawksbills lay about 100 eggs in a nest dug in the sand, and may nest up to 7 times in a season. The eggs lie buried for 45-60 days before they hatch. Hatchlings dig their way out of the sand and make immediately for the sea. The males will never return to land again. After 15-20 years, adult females will return to the beaches where they were born to lay their own eggs.

Taken during nesting season of 2010 on the sea turtle monitoring programme I helped start for the Sharjah Environmental authorities.

Mangrove lagoons on the southeast edge of Jenanah, a tiny island off the Abu Dhabi coast with no permanent human habitation. One of the smaller lagoon systems, but one of the nicest I’ve ever seen.