We
were at the Margalla Hills Trail 5 Car Park before dawn. A swift 2.3kms walk to
the spring had us in position at the optimum time. We had listened for the call
of Indian Pitta and Orange-headed Thrush on our way up to the spring. Both
species are summer visitors to Pakistan and are thought to breed in the
Margallas Hills. I have seen singing Orange-headed Thrushes on Trail 5 and observed
what I thought to be a pair near the spring in both 2011 and 2012. However, I
have got nowhere near an Indian Pitta. This colourful but secretive species
spends the winter in Sri Lanka before moving north into India to breed. Pyhala,
in his book “Birds of Islamabad Status and Seasonality” published in 2001 stated
that Indian Pitta was first discovered in Pakistan in 1978 in Daman-e-Koh
ravine, Islamabad. There was believed to have been a tiny breeding population
of around 20 pairs in the vicinity of Islamabad that accounted for the entire
Pakistani populace. However, this must have been based on a guesstimate, as the
species is incredibly difficult to locate, even by call, as it chooses to live
amongst the densest vegetation. The last credible sighting was in 1996
ironically, in the same location as the first. However, the fact it has not
been seen for 27 years will not put me off searching for it long and hard.
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| Margalla Hills Trail 5 Spring Islbirder |
Anyway,
enough of what we didn’t see. The glade was full of birds; the most obvious and
boisterous were the large number of BLACK BULBUL with their bright red bills
and legs contrasting with their sooty plumage. Their head feathers appeared to
have been gelled into position and gives them a rather punk-like look (the
British meaning of the word rather the American). Many of the birds were
collecting insects indicating they were breeding.
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| Black Bulbul Sams Photography |
The spring
on Trail 5 is one of the most reliable sites to find ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER.
In Pakistan we see the white-morph male, the brown-morph male and the brown
female that always has a short tail. At the spring one can see all of these birds.
The white male has the appearance of a will-o’-the-wisp as it floats silently
through the trees in the dell, its amazingly long tail adding to its ghostly
look. The female, in contrast, is drabber and the uninformed can be excused for
believing it to be a different species.
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| Adult Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher Sams Photography |
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| Adult Female Asian Paradise Flycatcher Sams Photography |
The
spring is also a reliable place to spot another highly elusive species, the
diminutive woodpecker known as SPECKLED PICULET. One has to look at the
extremities of branches and this bird has the uncanny ability to hide behind a
leaf due to its miniature stature. RMK tried to get it on film but the Speckled
Piculet just wasn’t playing ball. We had good views of another woodpecker as it
came down to drink at the spring. This was a female FULVOUS-BREASTED
WOODPECKER. We later heard the drumming of this species.
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| Adult Female Scaly-bellied Woodpecker Sams Photography |
The last of the trio
of woodpeckers that we saw around the spring was a SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER
that flew through on several occasions in a fairly raucous fashion. As can be seen from RMK's outstanding photograph this is a large and impressive bird.
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| Adult Male Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher Sams Photography |
We
then met a familiar bird of the area represented by a male and two female
BLUE-THROATED BLUE FLYCATCHER (also known as BLUE-THROATED FLYCATCHER). The
male is resplendent in a variety of blues and orange on the upper breast. The
female has a similar orange breast but a fawn-brown plumage replaces the blues
of the male. The male was singing sweetly and the females were emitting a
buzzing call. One of the females was collecting insects and so we presumed breeding
was taking place. The skill of RMK should not be underestimated here in that he
managed to obtain these fantastic photographs on an overcast morning in the
shade of the trees.
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| Adult Female Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher Sams Photography |
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| Adult Male Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher Sams Photography |
Another
songster that remained with us during our stay was a male ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN
and his female searched for insects around the spring. We also had good views
of BLUE-THROATED BARBET, and having heard their weak whistle call we found two
BLACK-CHINNED BABBLER. At the opposite scale of the vocal scale was the couple
of RUSTY-CHEEKED SCIMITAR BABBLER that paid a visit to quench their thirst. No
additions to my Pakistan Bird List but we saw some difficult species and saw
them well.
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| Adult Female Oriental Magpie Robin Sams Photography |
