Saturday 2 February 2013 will live in my birding memory for a very long time and my sincere gratitude must be extended to the guys for arranging this particular outing. At 0130 hours we left Islamabad and headed south along the Grand Trunk Road towards Lahore. As any Michael Palin fan will know, this is the road that runs from Kabul in Afghanistan to Delhi in India. Our use of the road was limited to the three hour trip that took us through Jehlum and Waziribad and towards Sialkot in Punjab Province. In a street on the outskirts of the town we met our guide for the day. A man who visits the site we were to explore almost every day and who has produced some exquisite bird photographs as a result. The area we were heading for was Merala Headworks to the east of Sialkot. This area borders onto the Bajwat Wildlife Sanctuary that abuts the border with India.
The species we had most hoped to see, BAR-HEADED GOOSE would have to wait until later in the day. We walked in the total darkness across a marshy area to where we were to position our one-man photographic hides. The air was full of bird calls; the most apparent were EURASIAN TEAL, BANK MYNA and PURPLE SWAMPHEN. As the light of a new dawn began to develop I could make out a white shape a few feet in front of me on a reedstem that eventually materialised into the throat of a WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER. We saw many of this species and PIED KINGFISHER during the day.
As daylight broke more birds joined in the dawn chorus and we were engulfed by a cacophony of bird calls. The Bank Mynas began to leave their reedbed roost in large numbers but the INDIAN POND HERON did so individually. Raptors were in the air and good numbers of WESTERN MARSH HARRIER flew by so close to my hidden position offering breathtaking views.
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| Female Western Marsh Harrier Sams Photography |
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| Juvenile Western Marsh Harrier Sams Photography |
Another bird of prey caught my attention, the unmistakable shape of an OSPREY. Whilst I daredn't call to my colleagues with the cameras we did communicate by text to make sure we were all seeing the birds on offer. Typically, the lensmen moaned about the light and in fairness it was overcast. However, when it's sunny they complain about the harsh light quality. What amazes me is that the guys can get shots like the ones above, just after dawn on an overcast day. When the Osprey dived to catch a fish not far from us I had hoped the photographers had got the shot. They did but considered the quality not of a high enough standard.
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| Don't tell them, I snuck it in! Osprey Sams Photography |
However, sadly the Raptor of the day they did miss as it floated in front of my position. It was a male EASTERN MARSH HARRIER, a species with which I am fully acquainted with following birding trips to Thailand. There is no mention made of Eastern Marsh Harrier in
Roberts. This bird was a male with its dark grey speckled head, piercing yellow eyes, white underparts with the exception of the black primaries and obviously yellow feet. The upperwings were pale grey with black primaries and darker grey or dark shoulders and upper mantle. I must admit to initially believing that the bird was a male Pied Harrier but its typical Marsh Harrier hunting behavoiur over the reedbeds proved otherwise. First record for Pakistan? Maybe!
Other birds of prey seen later in the day were COMMON KESTREL, SHIKRA, LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD, BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE and the GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE that appears in the photographs below.
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| Juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle Sams Photography |
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| Juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle Sams Photography |
Amongst the duck present in this marshy area we EURASIAN TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, FERRUGINOUS DUCK, EURASIAN WIGEON, MALLARD (but no Spot-winged Duck), and NORTHERN SHOVELER. Although still gloomy, birds started to fly in to the area that consisted as a break amongst the reedbeds. One of target species arrived with eight others, the PAINTED STORK, Although they remained distant they did provide excellent views.
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| Painted Stork Sams Photography |
One of the most numerous birds flying over the lagoon were the 100 or so RIVER TERN and it was great to get such close views. Although our previous encounter with this species at Rawal Lake was good, our little portable hides meant the birds approached much closer.
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| River Tern Sams Photography |
Fish, of varying species were clearly abundant in this stretch of water and GREAT CORMORANT gorged themselves. This INDIAN POND HERON maybe bit off more than it could manage; although it did finish the job, eventually.
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| Indian Pond Heron Sams Photography |
We counted more than 20 EURASIAN SPOONBILL during the day and these were some of the early birds. Note their distinctive shape in flight.
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| Eurasian Spoonbill Sams Photography |
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| Eurasian Spoonbills Sams Photography |
There were very good numbers of PURPLE HERON but the combination of dark plumage and the, still, gloomy light, did not offer photographic opportunities. However, this majestic GREY HERON did.
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| Adult Grey Heron Sams Photography |
A new life tick for me walked in front of my hide. It was a WHITE-TAILED PLOVER (sometimes called White-tailed Lapwing). It was one of four in total that I saw during the day. The plover was being followed by a lone WOOD SANDPIPER and a COMMON REDSHANK. I could not get over how many PURPLE SWAMPHEN were present at this location; they were everywhere, most emitting their strange call.
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| Purple Swamphen Sams Photography |
After a few hours in our cramped conditions we decided to pack up the hides and make a move to explore more of the area. As we stowed our gear we were still finding birds. A flock of about 40 wintering ROSY PIPIT were close by. This is a bird of the higher slopes that overwinters in this type of marshy lowland environment. Nearby were a few CITRINE WAGTAIL. A couple of small waders turned out to be TEMMINCK'S STINT with their diagnostic small size and straw-yellow legs. A small flight of RUDDY SHELDUCK alighted in a drier field and joined many of the Purple Swamphen already there. Most of which appeared completely unconcerned about the Western Marsh Harriers overhead.
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| Common Redshank Sams Photography |
In the trees that bordered the track on the higher ground we found CINEREOUS TIT, GREY BUSHCHAT and a flock of the stunningly impressive LONG-TAILED MINIVET. On a tree overlooking one of the many lagoons were a couple of INDIAN CORMORANT, smaller than the Great Cormorant but fairly numerous in this part of Punjab Province.
A bird that we had encountered a few times in the reedbeds of Rawal Lake, but not too often, was the STRIATED BABBLER but none had allowed for photography. However, this fine specimen did allow its picture to be taken.
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| Striated Babbler Sams Photography |
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We had only experienced a tiny part of this huge area that often is totally flooded but on this occasion the water level was relatively low. COMMON HOOPOE, SIBERIAN STONECHAT and RED-WATTLED LAPWING were seen from the 4WD as we progressed slowly towards the river and, we hoped, lots of geese.
On the river bank were many WHITE WAGTAIL searching the shoreline detritus and amongst them was a female BLUETHROAT and a few COMMON SANDPIPER were also seen. On the sandbank on the other side of the narrow part of the river were counted seven GREATER THICK-KNEE and an immature BLACK STORK landed in a leafless tree not far from us.
From the higher ground we looked over the river to see probably more than a thousand COMMON POCHARD and EURASIAN TEAL and behind them the unmistakable BAR-HEADED GEESE. There were around 3,000 of these incredible birds on the river and in the surrounding fields. Reputedly, the Bar-headed Goose can fly over Mount Everest, as high as a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. However, recent studies suggest that whenever possible, the migrating Bar-headed Geese use lower valleys during their journey through the Himalayas. Even so, they are still thought to hold the avian high flying record and able to do so because their wings and breathing are synchronised and their oxygen level requirement during their migration is low. Bar-headed Goose was certainly amongst the top three birds I had hoped to find in Pakistan (Lammergeier and Wallcreeper being the other two and I have been lucky enough to have seen all three now).
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| Bar-headed Geese Sams Photography |
On the river from the picnic spot close to the headworks we recorded 11 GREYLAG GEESE and nine PYGMY COTTON GEESE. There were many hundreds of duck and in addition to those already mentioned there were GADWALL and TUFTED DUCK. There were probably more INTERMEDIATE EGRET than I have seen anywhere else and EURASIAN COOT were in abundance.
In all we recorded 80 species in the day with 11 new for me in Pakistan of which five were Life Ticks. As the day drew on it was time to face the return journey north along the GT Road with a late lunch in Sialkot and a pit-stop at KFC in Jehlum. We vowed to return to this magical place and with as many as 10,000 Bar-headed Geese possible later in the month we talked about what an important wintering area this must be for this enigmatic of species.
With my Pakistan List at 331 and my 2013 Big Year List now at 201, it is now me who can grip GRIMMO the GRIM GRIPPER!
