Birding Islamabad

The EURASIAN WRYNECK that I saw on 29 May is still in the private garden in the G5 area of Islamabad. I watched it anting on the ground at about 2pm down to about 5 feet.

On Tuesday 29 May 2012 I decided to eat my lunch whilst sitting in a quiet garden in the G5 area of Islamabad. I had to smile at the comments in many bird books about avoiding the heat of the day as you will see no birds; oh really? It was 1.30pm and probably more than 40 degs C but the garden was full of birds. I gave up trying to count the number of PURPLE SUNBIRD, when I got to 60, feeding on the nectar of a tree sporting beautiful orange flowers. Amongst them were about 10 ORIENTAL WHITE-EYE. Oriental White-eye Lynne Newton As I mentioned in my last blog water will attract birds and a number of species came down to drink. The first of these was a pair of BRAHIMNY STARLING closely followed by a BROWN ROCK CHAT. The noise from the PURPLE SUNBIRD flock was incessant but was itself drowned out by a calling COMMON TAILORBIRD. HIMALAYAN BULBUL and RED-VENTED BULBUL were lured in by the chance to quench their thirst and two, infrequently seen, BLYTH’S REED WARBLER also vi...

Rawal Lake Eastern Shore & Jinnah Road Marsh On Saturday 26 May 2012 I led a group of birders who are all members of the Asian Study Group (ASG) to Rawal Lake and Jinnah Road Marsh. In total there were 13 of us, including some intrepid local kids, who managed to drag ourselves out into the field for a 0530 hours start on the eastern shoreline of Rawal Lake. Amongst the grasses and small cultivated area alongside the track to the lakeside we saw many of the expected species including ORIENTAL SKYLARK that were feeding young, displaying CRESTED LARK and numerous PADDYFIELD PIPIT. From the tops of bushes male PIED BUSHCHAT sang loudly. COMMON BABBLER scurried about in the small area of cultivated land and amongst the long grasses we obtained some good views of ZITTING CISTICOLA as BLACK DRONGO hawked insects nearby. As we made our way to the area close to where the Korang River enters the lake we watched several BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. With the exception of the...

I have about 15 months of birding records from in and around Islamabad and have yet to make the decision about whether to back record convert or not. My 300th species in Pakistan was a personal landmark so I will start with the circumstances regarding that numerical milestone. As all birders will know, lists are so important to the hobby. Before birding began on Saturday 12 May 2012 my list was on 297. Waders were on my mind because of the time of year. As there has been so little rain recently the water levels in Rawal Lake are reducing leaving large areas of exposed mud and shingle, particularly on the eastern shoreline. So, that's where I drove my companions to as dawn broke on that day. As we approached the lake we noticed the large number of BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON flying away from the lake along the Korang River. Others were still around the shoreline and in total we recorded more than 20 of this species. From the lakeside fields the distinctive calls of GREY FRANC...