What a Weekend! With overnight frosts and beautifully, clear and sunny days, the conditions in Islamabad on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th January 2013 were perfect. The quality of light was phenomenal and this plays an important part of both watching and photographing birds. If this Blog has not already tempted you to watch birds in Pakistan, then the quality of photographs that my esteemed birding colleagues have produced during the past weekend will surely lure more people into the field. My apologies for the tardiness in updating this week’s Blog but the lightening quick (not) broadband took forever to download the photos.
In the early morning light we made our way along the “Margalla Road” that was bordered by gassy verges white with frost. Just before the Shalimar Cricket Club huge numbers of Flying Foxes (or Fruit Bats) made up the daytime roost that is always present at this time of year. As the sun had just started to rise above the horizon we arrived at the eastern shoreline of Rawal Lake which had the feel of a Norfolk beach with the tide out. Many people are commenting about never having seen the water level so low.
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| Water Pipit Sarel van Zyl |
On the short but pebble-littered grass that used to be underwater there were good numbers of WATER PIPIT a gregarious and common winter visitor to habitats in Pakistan including lake margins. Amongst the Water Pipits were a dozen or so PADDYFIELD PIPIT. Wagtails too were in evidence on the shoreline. There were a couple of superb CITRINE WAGTAIL, a single WHITE-BROWED WAGTAIL, and a handful of WHITE WAGTAIL.
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| White-browed Wagtail Sarel van Zyl |
However, the most numerous of the wintering passerines was undoubtedly the EURASIAN SKYLARK of which there were at least 150 uttering their distinctive calls as they flew over our heads. In an area of long grasses exposed by the low water level about 100 BARN SWALLOW had been roosting and they had begun to take to the air joining the 25 or so COMMON STARLING that were also using the same vegetation.
Those birds were soon joined in the air by just about everything else on the eastern side of the lake when a female WESTERN MARSH HARRIER began quartering the area. As that wasn't reason enough to get the avian life jittery, the LAGGAR FALCON that swooped through at around the same time must have struck fear into all. What a majestic and scarce sight in Pakistan these days. Good enough to confirm the identification, one of the photographers managed to snatch a flight shot of this airborne predator but, being such a perfectionist, he won’t let me publish it here.
As the lake’s population of birds began to return after the danger had passed we noted several GREY HERON, a single EASTERN GREAT EGRET, plenty of LITTLE EGRET, and flights of both LITTLE CORMORANT and their much bigger, wintering relatives, GREAT CORMORANT. Even smaller diving birds were the nine LITTLE GREBE that swam close to the lake’s edge.
As the Pipits and Skylarks burst into flight we looked for the cause and it was another Raptor but this time a large female EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK. Gulls were not numerous and only two species were represented: a dozen BLACK-HEADED GULL and two PALLAS’S GULL.
As we made our way around the shoreline to more Wader-friendly habitat we were not disappointed. We counted four LITTLE RINGED PLOVER, half a dozen GREEN SANDPIPER, three COMMON GREENSHANK, a single WOOD SANDPIPER, a COMMON SNIPE and more than 40 TEMMINCK’S STINT that formed a restless and flighty flock.
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| Common Greenshank Sarel van Zyl |
There were very few waterfowl and we hope their numbers and species count will rise during the later part of this month and next. Only about 40 EURASIAN TEAL and nine MALLARD constituted the raft of Duck in the middle of the lake. Finally, on the water, there were about 30 EURASIAN COOT feeding in the shallows.
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| Pied Kingfisher Sarel van Zyl |
There were many impressive sights in the crystal clear early morning light but the most dramatic had to be the five PIED KINGFISHER that put on a spectacular show of hovering, diving and successful angling. We left RAWAL LAKE more than satisfied. One Life Tick for Islbirder and we were only halfway through our birding day.
Following our early morning visit to Rawal Lake we decided to take a drive to the north-eastern outskirts of Islamabad to an area open land with rocky outcrops under the shadow of the Margalla Hills. The area held good numbers of birds even with its close proximity to building plots. The most obvious species was a garishly-plumaged INDIAN ROLLER that allowed a close enough approach for the below photograph to be taken.
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| Indian Roller Sarel van Zyl |
We saw a couple of female VARIABLE WHEATEAR and a stunning male of the same species. This bird too proved to be photogenic and posed for the camera. The Variable Wheatear is a winter visitor to North-eastern Pakistan in large numbers and it breeds in the West of the country.
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| Male Variable Wheatear Sams Photography |
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| Female Variable Wheatear Sarel van Zyl |
Another cryptically-plumaged species in the same area was BROWN ROCK CHAT. A rare bird in Pakistan-terms that is geographically restricted to the Islamabad and Rawalpindi areas.
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| Brown Rock Chat Sarel van Zyl |
There were plenty of CRESTED LARK in the area and it is not surprising that this species is the most abundant and widespread Lark in Pakistan.
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| Crested Lark Sams Photography |
We moved on further from the built up areas to a location that looked good for raptors and so it proved. A magnificent LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD provided excellent views; initially perched in the top of one of the isolated trees and later in flight. Another common winter visitor to all but the high mountains of Pakistan.
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| Long-legged Buzzard Sarel van Zyl |
On the smaller size was a COMMON KESTREL that one of the photographers spotted in the crown of one of the few trees. This beautiful little Falcon is a familiar sight in Islamabad and the surrounding areas
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| Common Kestrel Sams Photography |
As is usual during winter, once one finds a few birds more will be in the immediate vicinity. We found a large flock of INDIAN SILVERBILL and with them were a number of ROCK BUNTING, more CRESTED LARK and a dozen or so INDIAN ROBIN.
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| Male India Robin Sarel van Zyl |
There was a small shrine nearby and amongst the trees surrounding this area a male BLACK REDSTART had taken up its winter quarters. This species breeds in the high mountains of Northern Pakistan and winters at lower altitudes. The bird in the photograph is a male.
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| Black Redstart Sams Photography |
We saw some wonderful birds during the day, and in total 53 different species. However, my favourite was the superb LONG-BILLED PIPIT, captured so well by one of the photographers. It is only my second in Pakistan (although we now know the area we were birding is a very good location for this species). The Long-billed Pipit is a bird of rocky slopes and it is portrayed brilliantly below, albeit with a slightly menacing appearance.
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| Long-billed Pipit Sams Photography |
There is no doubt that the winter is such a great time to be birding in Pakistan.
