All Excited Over A Chaffinch


On Sunday 4 November we were deep into the Margalla Hills inside Khyber Paktunkhwa (KPK). This was a valley we had visited before with its allure of village life and beautiful surroundings. As the sun rose above the hilltops the birds began to appear and the only difficulty endured was where to look next. In all we saw 37 species in just a few hours and huge numbers of many. The photographers within our party, literally, experienced a field day. The irony was that our least common bird of the day is the most numerous species in the UK. It manifested itself in the form of a female COMMON CHAFFINCH. This was a life bird for two of our party and it is only the second time I have seen the species in Pakistan.

Balack-throated Jay Sams Photography

Larger birds seen were two YELLOW-BILLED BLUE MAGPIE and several BLACK-THROATED JAY. However, it was the passerine species seen and the one owl that were the most interesting. We were about 4000 feet above sea level but the sun of the sun soon warmed our backs on what had started as a chilly morning. A quiet tapping noise turned out to be a SPECKLED PICULET, a secretive and tiny woodpecker. Others of the family seen included a male FULVOUS-BREASTED WOODPECKER and a SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

We saw two species of Bunting, several ROCK BUNTING and a couple of WHITE-CAPPED BUNTING. There were many STREAKED LAUGHINGTHRUSH and a pair of VARIEGATED LAUGHINGTHRUSH. A large flock of adult and first-winter SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA and another of ORIENTAL WHITE-EYE.

The unmistakable call of a cettia drew our attention to a pair of BROWNISH-FLANKED BUSH WARBLER that unusually provided more than fleeting glances. A GREY WAGTAIL alighted close to us on a boulder in the stream that was evaporating quickly and raucous call of a LARGE-BILLED CROW was heard overhead. A single HOUSE SPARROW was in a small flock of RUSSET SPARROW and the chestnut heads of the males was a stunning colour in the early morning light.

Indian Scops Owl Sams Photography
Bird of the day, however, had to be awarded to the pair of INDIAN SCOPS OWL of the race plumipes. This has recently been taxonomically split from Collared Scops Owl and its range includes the north of Pakistan. It was great to see not just one new addition to my Pakistan List but there were two of them.

Indian Scops Owl Sams Photography
It was good to find some more RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX especially as one of group had dipped the day before.

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