Plumbeous Redstart A Life Tick
Saturday 1 December 2012 found us deep into the Margalla
Hills National Park on a cold and frosty morning. We visited three beautiful
and different valleys and thereby guaranteed ourselves a greater variety of
birds. As you will note from this and previous blogs Islbirder is extremely
fortunate to have as friends and companions some very talented wildlife
photographers who, very kindly, allow me to use their photographs to illustrate
our recorded birding adventures.
When we arrived at our first valley the ground was very icy
and it had to be Islbirder who slipped and landed heavily on his backside.
Fortunately, natural padding sustained most of the impact but a huge black
bruise covering one buttock bears testimony to the combination of an overweight
birder and a very hard rock.
The sight of the fast-flowing crystal clear stream with mist
above the water indicated that it was warmer that the surrounding air soon
dispelled the pain in the bum and we began looking for birds. The first was a
showy WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER but as the sunlight had not penetrated the deep
valley photography was not an option. However, a little later we found a pair
of WHITE-CAPPED WATER REDSTART and my associates, from inside their portable
hides, photographed them.
 |
| White-capped Water Redstart Sarel van Zyl |
We had been hoping for another altitudinal migrant found
near fast-flowing streams and it was not long before we had located a fabulous
PLUMBEOUS REDSTART, a life tick for Islbirder. Dear readers the light was not
ideal but the photographer did a fantastic job, as you will see below.
 |
| Plumbeous Redstart Sarel van Zyl |
As the sun was taking a long time to brighten up the valley
we decided to move on to a location than we knew would be bathed in sunlight.
Before doing so we tarried to watch the village boys playing cricket and overhead
flew 14, most unexpected, RUDDY SHELDUCK. A familiar call directed us to a
COMMON KINGFISHER that stayed long enough to have its photograph taken. Islbirder checked out some Buntings that included some ROCK BUNTING and at least two WHITE-CAPPED BUNTING.
 |
| Common Kingfisher Sarel van Zyl |
At our next location, warmed by the sun’s rays, the birdlife
was far more active and numerous. At times it was difficult to know where to
look. There were two species of Accentor; the scarce RUFOUS-BREASTED ACCENTOR
and the more common BLACK-THROATED ACCENTOR. There were Warblers in the form of
COMMON CHIFFCHAFF and GREENISH WARBLER. A common species at this location but a very attractive one is the STREAKED LAUGHINGTHRUSH with its collection of calls and songs.
 |
| Streaked Laughingthrush Sarel van Zyl |
When one stayed still the birds approached very close and it
was great to have such good views of YELLOW-BILLED BLUE MAGPIE and
BLACK-THROATED JAY. Overhead were seen several BLACK BULBUL. We obtained
spectacular views of two characteristically skulking species, the RUSTY-CHEEKED
SCIMITAR BABBLER and BLACK-CHINNED BABBLER. The difference in size is
ridiculous but both are classed as Babblers.
 |
| Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler Sarel van Zyl |
On the way to our final destination, a beautiful and wide valley surrounded by forest we noticed a Woodpecker feeding on the last piece of fruit hanging from a tree. When it did move it spent some time on the ground. It was an impressive SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER.
 |
| Scaly-bellied Woodpecker Sarel van Zyl |
