At dawn on Saturday 9 November 2013 we were deep into the
Margalla Hills National Park to the north of Islamabad. During the past couple
of weeks the temperature had fallen dramatically and this was our cue to seek
out altitudinal migrants that were escaping the cold of the Himalayas. We had
timed this trip to perfection and we were treated with a string of exciting
winter birds. The star of the show was undoubtedly the male PINK-BROWED
ROSEFINCH. In the early morning, crystal clear light this bird was a joy to
behold. This scarce species sometimes appears in winter flocks within the
Margalla Hills. However, this appeared to be a solitary bird.
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| Male Pink-browed Rosefinch Riaz |
Another claimant for top spot was a possible juvenile RED CROSSBILL.
This species can irregularly be prone to irruptions travelling westwards into
Pakistan across the Himalayas in search of pine seeds. Whilst quite a drab
bird, its rarity within the Margallas and the prospect of finding a red male or
green female was enticing. I do have doubts about the identification of this bird. Whilst the upper and lower mandibles undoubtedly cross, the base of the bill does not look broad enough and the overall shape of the bird and its plumage again, don't look quite right. So is it a finch (possibly a female Pink-browed Rosefinch) with a deformed bill? I would welcome suggestions and thoughts on which species of bird it actually is!
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| Definitely a crossed bill but is it a Crossbill? Riaz |
There were more exciting birds to be seen on the day; the
list for which totalled 46 species without too much effort. ORANGE-FLANKED
BLUETAIL was once an almost mystical species for birders; regular records of
first-winter individuals from within western Europe have made it more familiar.
However, many birders would, I am sure, love to record a male in this stunning
plumage. Also in the same area were several first-winter birds.
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| Orange-flanked Bluetail Riaz |
BLACK-THROATED ACCENTOR is also a species of higher
elevations but is only a winter visitor to Pakistan, usually in good numbers.
Nonetheless, it is always a thrill to see them.
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| Black-throated Accentor Riaz |
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| Black-throated Accentor Riaz |
A bird that is commonly seen around Dunga Gali and Nathia
Gali but more irregularly in the Margalla Hill and only during winter is the
SLATY-HEADED PARAKEET. We were lucky enough to find a dozen of these birds but
they managed to evade the camera. A first-winter male BLUE-CAPPED REDSTART and a couple of
females of the same species was a nice find. This species breeds in mountainous
areas from 2300 to 3700 metres and winters at lower elevations within Pakistan.
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| First-winter male Blue-capped Redstart Riaz |
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| Female Blue-capped Redstart Riaz |
Pick suitable habitat within its range and you will usually
find the species you are looking for. A fast-flowing winter stream in the Margalla
Hills had attracted this superb WHITE-CAPPED WATER REDSTART.
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| White-capped Water Redstart Riaz |
Normally, a slightly later winter arrival, we were pleased
to see good numbers of the outrageously coloured RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX. This species
is exclusively a winter visitor to Pakistan and only to the Murree area and
Margalla Hills.
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| Red-billed Leiothrix Riaz |
All of us at the Islbirder Team just love woodpeckers and the Margalla Hills National Park is a great place to look for and watch them. Quite how RMK managed to get these shots is beyond me. They were captured in very poor light before the sun had appeared above the valley side. Anyway, he did and I am pleased that we can show them to our loyal readership. The first is BROWN-FRONTED WOODPECKER, a male. All other species can be discounted due to the 'ladder' markings on the back, the malar streak adjoining the gape, the amount of yellow on the crown and lack of white markings on the uppertail.
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| Brown-fronted Woodpecker Riaz |
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The other two woodpeckers we saw were both the same species, SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER, but were male and female. Scaly-bellieds do spend a lot of the time on the ground, usually anting. The female has the black crown whilst the crown of the male is red.
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| Female Scaly-bellied Woodpecker Riaz |
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| Male Scaly-bellied Woodpecker Riaz |
Another species associated with higher elevations also appeared in the gloom prior to the sunlight cascading into the valley was a VERDITER FLYCATCHER. As I have stated before in this blog, so called because of the colour of its plumage is reminiscent of the of verdigris, the corrosion that appears on copper.
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| Verditer Flycatcher Riaz |
With the valley bathed in sunlight by about 0845 hours, more birds began to appear. The male ROCK BUNTING is a very smart bird with its stunning head pattern. The female is less conspicuous but still attractive. This species usually inhabits the sub-alpine zone below 4200 metres but it can be seen fairly easily around Islamabad during the winter months.
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| Male Rock Bunting Riaz |
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| Female Rock Bunting taking a bath Riaz |
Whilst species after species of birds appeared in this wondrous setting the tranquility was occasionally broken by RMK moaning about little twigs messing up his auto-focus on the birds he was trying to photograph. I recall mention of a big pair of secateurs but I'm sure he was only kidding! A couple of species all too familiar to European birders arrived on the scene. First were some COMMON CHIFFCHAFF. Whilst one might be forgiven for thinking the habitat was more conducive to Mountain Chiffchaff, their close cousin, these were in fact the former species. The green on the supercillium and on the wing coverts confirm this. All of the Mountain Chiffchaff I have seen in Pakistan have much duller underparts and show no sign of green in their plumage.
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| Common Chiffchaff Riaz |
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| Common Chiffchaff |
The other familiar species we saw that would be familiar to Europeans is COMMON CHAFFINCH. I have only seen a handful in Pakistan; a species that in the UK was once the country's most common bird.
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| Common Chaffinch (with annoying twig) Riaz |
Next up was a finch that if were to turn up in Western Europe would cause a mass twitch of excited birders was the HIMALAYAN GREENFINCH which is more often known by the more unwieldy nomenclature, YELLOW-BREASTED GREENFICH. Normally a bird of the warmer hilly slopes up to around 3,000 metres it will descent to around 1,000 metres above seas-level during the winter months and it is always an exciting find.
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| Yellow-breasted Greenfinch Riaz |
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| Juvenile Yellow-breasted Greenfinch Riaz |
Another attractive finch has the exotic name of NUTMEG MANNIKIN or, as we call it in Pakistan SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA. This species has a surprisingly small range in Pakistan but I am sure that area continues to extend.
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| Scaly-breasted Munia Riaz |
We also recorded some of the valley's resident species that includes the very scarce CHESTNUT-BELLIED NUTHATCH that we couldn't get on film this time and the following Laughingthrush species:
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| Variegated Laughingthrush Riaz |
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| Streaked Laughingthrush Riaz |
Grey Bushchat is a familiar winter visitor to Islamabad and its environs and it is photogenic and does provide opportunities that the photographers cannot resist. The male resembles its descriptive name but one could be forgiven in thinking that the female is a different species.
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| Male Grey Bushchat Riaz |
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| Female Grey Bushchat Riaz |
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| What a show off! Male Grey Bushchat Riaz |
We hope you enjoyed sharing our morning in the Margalla Hills National Park and RMK's fantastic photographs. Happy Birding!
