Large-billed Leaf Warbler on the Margalla Ridge


Firstly, apologies to regular followers of this Blog but I have been hard at work and have had no days off for birding until Tuesday 3 September 2013 when we walked along the Margalla Ridge. The weather here is in the mid-30s but still very humid with plenty of thunderstorms around.

Birding was pretty slow during our brief walk. However, there were plenty of HIMALAYAN BULBUL at the beginning of the trail. The blue/grey plumage and red iris differentiated the ASHY DRONGO from the Black Drongos that normally inhabit lower altitudes (we were at 3,700 feet above sea-level).

The two best birds of the afternoon were an ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE and an addition to my Pakistan List, a LARGE-BILLED LEAF WARBLER. There was little birdsong and no calling warblers. We noticed the movement in the nearby bushes first and then the large size of the bird with its stout, dark bill. The most striking element of the bird’s plumage was the long, bright yellow supercilium that was underlined by a black eye stripe that accentuated the supercilium. It also showed one obvious whitish wing-bar and the faintest hint of another that needed close examination to distinguish. The crown looked dark and contrasted vividly with the supercilium. The area below the ear coverts was mottled and the underparts, particularly around the breast were a dirty white colour. We did not hear the bird call.

Large-billed Leaf Warbler is a scarce breeder in Pakistan at higher altitude; so we assume this bird was moving towards India where it winters. It was the only warbler we found during the walk. Sadly, as it wasn’t the weekend the photographers were not with me; unfortunate as we had very close views of the Large-billed Leaf warbler down to only a few feet.

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