Islbirder was birding on
the muddy perimeter of a West Midlands Industrial Estate in the centre of the
England looking for a Hume’s Warbler, the first record for the Region and a
British Tick. It was freezing cold with squally and heavy showers. He was thinking
what on earth am I doing here? It was only a few short weeks ago that Hume’s
Warbler was a regular visitor to his Islamabad garden. At the same time RMK had
taken a week away from his office to undertake an expedition to photograph some
of the resident species and exciting winter visitors to Pakistan. RMK takes up
the story of his memorable birding holiday.
It’s been a strange
winter and I am very sorry to inform you that this year the numbers of birds
visiting Islamabad and Punjab appear to be reduced. On Saturday 25 January 2014
I visited Trail 5 within the Margalla Hills National Park. This was the famous
Trail 5 that we had visited on many occasions and seen such wonderful species.
However, birds were few. The CDA had widened the track and many of the people
walking it appeared to have forgotten that whilst it is there for them to enjoy
it is also a wildlife park. It appeared they would rather shout, play loud music
and some would even make fires for BBQs along the path.
Nevertheless, I managed to
get shots of a female BLUE-FRONTED REDSTART. Other birds that came in for water
at the spring were, BLUE WHISTLING THRUSH, WHITE-THROATED FANTAIL and
RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX. There were a few Warblers, including a stunning
GREY-HOODED WARBLER and a few ORIENTAL WHITE-EYE were also present in the area.
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| Female Blue-fronted Redstart Riaz |
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| Red-billed Leiothrix Riaz |
On Sunday 26 January
2014, it was a warmer day with the temperature touching 22 degrees, unusual at
Islamabad at this time of the year (LOL a hot summer’s day in the UK Islbirder). I had a lazy start and visited
the marsh area around 0900 hours. The reeds had been cut down once again and
birds in the area must have moved to some dense shrubs. I could see few HIMALAYAN
BULBUL and some PRINIA spp along the
edges. Surprisingly, a BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE was sitting on a branch and I
managed to get a lovely shot with an
awesome back drop.
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| Black-shouldered Kite Riaz |
After having two days in
Islamabad, on 27 January I left Islamabad early in the morning at 0300 hours and
travelled to an area near Balwal in the Punjab. My plan was to photograph a
very rare species; a DUSKY EAGLE OWL. 0630 hours was the time to see the Dusky
Eagle Owl near its nest, which was in a tall tree. A local boy in the area had indicated
the location of the nest. As it became light, we all waited anxiously to take a
shot of this majestic bird. Photography
is difficult and sometimes one gets unlucky, as I saw the Dusky Eagle Owl fly
in dark hours and I missed the photograph. Sorry guys may be I will be able to
take a shot and share with you this gorgeous bird of prey. But we have to
remember not to disturb the bird in its habitat is a rule of birding.
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| White-throated Kingfisher Riaz |
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| Norther Lapwing Riaz |
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| Siberian Stonechat Riaz |
Lake Balwal is another
good place to visit and see different birds. We saw BLUETHROAT, a pair of ROSE-RINGED
PARAKEETS , PRINIA, WHITE-TAILED LAPWING, PIED KINGFISHER, COMMON KINGFISHER, PAINTED
SNIPE and NORTHERN LAPWING. Unfortunately the birds
of Balwal Lake are very difficult to photograph. On inquiring from the local
photographer the reason of it, he responded quickly, was that hunting is the
main reason. I decided to drive off to
the Chenab River at Marala near Sailkot on 28 January. This has been an amazing place to see flying
machine called the BAR-HEADED GOOSE A local photographer and a wildlife lover
Kamran was anxiously waiting for us.
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| Black Storks Riaz |
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| Black Storks Riaz | |
|
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| Western Marsh Harrier Riaz |
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| Eurasian Spoonbills Riaz |
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| Great Egrets Riaz |
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| Indian Pond Heron Riaz |
Early next morning we set
our hides up at 0600 hours near one of the pools, where BLACK STORK had been
seen a few days previously. As the sun began to rise, few COMMON GREENSHANK
appeared first in pond and were catching small fish. Shortly after that INDIAN
POND HERON, LITTLE EGRET, INTERMEDIATE EGRET and GREAT EGRET started to gather
along the shore. After about half an
hour Black Storks and EURASIAN SPOONBILL appeared flying overhead. The Black Storks
soon got busy catching fish whilst the Spoonbills were not willing to come down
and join the feast. After about two
hours I left the hideout and started patrolling on the track around the ponds
to find some new birds.
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| Common Redshanks Riaz |
We stopped the car next
to a tree where a BLACK-RUMPED FLAMEBACK was busy eating bugs seized from holes
in the bark. A group of LONG-TAILED MINIVET was also hunting in the area. As
the sun was heating up we could hear the sound of Bar-headed Geese in the area
and we could see them flying in to the wheat field surrounded by colourful
mustard crops. We could also see some of them resting along the shore of river
on the sand. Amazingly, these birds can fly through the Himalayas during their
incredible migration.
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| Male Long-tailed Minivet Riaz |
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| Female Long-tailed Minivet |
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| Female Black-rumped Flameback Riaz |
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| Indian Roller Riaz |
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| Indian Roller Riaz |
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| Rufous-tailed Shrike Riaz |
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| Common Starling Riaz |
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| Black Drongo Riaz |
We also noticed that HIMALAYAN
GREENFINCH, INDIAN ROLLER, COMMON STARLING, LONG-TAILED SHRIKE, ISABELLINE SHRIKE
(also known as Red-tailed Shrike) and a BLACK DRONGO were all enjoying the winter
sun with the lovely backdrop of wheat fields. As the evening was about to come
and light was fading, we went back to the pond area and a gorgeous PALLAS’S
GULL was busy fishing. Amazing flight and finally he got the big fish!
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| Pallas's Gull Riaz |
Later in the evening we
went to the fields and saw about 200 hundred Bar-headed Geese busily grazing.
As a wildlife photographer, besides photographing a bird it’s very important to
show it in its environment and I shot these beautiful birds with amazing light
as the sun was about to sleep. Marala has been an amazing place for birding and
photographing. I missed the company of Islbirder who was fighting with the bad
weather in the UK.
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| Bar-headed Geese Riaz |
On 30 January, I headed
back to Islamabad to explore the western side of Margalla Hills and famous
woodland, which has always provided us with surprises. After having a day of rest
at Islamabad, on 1 February 2014. SVZ
and I headed straight for the woodland at the backside Margalla Hills. This
place is always full of birds. The water
source and stream were all dried out but the spring at shrine is always with
water .We sat there for half an hour and surprisingly birds started coming down
for water. We could see and photograph CHESTNUT THRUSH, BLUE-THROATED BARBET, CINEREOUS
TIT, CHESTNUT-BELLIED NUTHATCH, BLUE WHISTLING THRUSH, GREEN-BACKED TIT, GREY-WINGED
BLACKBIRD, LEMON-RUMPED WARBLER, GREY-HOODED WARBLER, RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX and VARIEGATED
LAUGHINGTHRUSH. It was a good day and lovely week to see so many birds at one
place but here again.
We miss Islbirder and his
company followed by a warm cup of coffee from Mrs Islbirder. We wish you a safe
wet week ahead as the weather is forecasting more rains, gales and weather
seems chilled (thanks for that RMK!).
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| Blue-throated Barbet Riaz |
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| Cinereous Tit Riaz |
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| Green-backed Tit Riaz |
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| Chestnut Thrush Riaz |
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| Grey-hooded Warbler Riaz |
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| Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler Riaz |
From Islbirder
I miss you chaps too and
the wonderful country that is home and that I am proud to say was mine for
three years. I am so pleased that my friends are still birding and not only
that but finding and photographing some wonderful species. The photographs are
breathtaking and some species are so rarely captured on film. The following
photograph taken by RMK has me puzzled. On first look I thought the bird was a
Yellow-breasted (or Himalayan) Greenfinch. However, the chestnut colour, white
wing patches and streaking on the breast are all reminiscent of Yellow-breasted
Bunting. If it is the latter then it would be only the second record of
Yellow-breasted Bunting in Pakistan. The first was seen along the Makran Coast
in 1901. I have yet to make up my mind and must do some more research on the
colouration of first-winter Himalayan Greenfinches. The fact it has no tail
doesn’t help matters! Let us know what you think Gajus!
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| Yellow-breasted Bunting Is this the first Pakistan Record for 114 years? |
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| Punjab Sunset Riaz |
