Birding Islamabad

It’s big news for the birders and photographers of Islamabad. I was feeling lazy as, Islamabad had been cloudy for few days but when I heard the news of CRIMSON SUNBIRD in the city I couldn’t wait to pick my photographic gear. In search of the Crimson Sunbird, I left my home with two of my birding friends AF and ZR to seek out this amazing bird. On Tuesday 23 December 2014 we started our search around 1300 hours as the sun started to appear. We searched around our Marsh Area, the southern side of Rawal Lake and around Bani Gala but couldn’t find anything, except this beautiful PLAIN PRINIA playing in the mustard fields. Plain Prinia Riaz After that I asked my friend to take a drive to western side of Rawal Lake hoping we may see something on that shoreline. We drove there and we found three SPOTTED OWLETs sun bathing. Spotted Owlets Riaz I stopped my car and we started moving in different areas in search of the Crimson Sunbird. The area w...

Hello readers; I (RMK) am the happiest man around today, a dream come true at last. The Himalayan wildlife Foundation (HWF) has succeeded in placing buoys or markers around the Eastern Shoreline of Rawal Lake. This is the first phase of creating a Nature Reserve and it means that hunting and fishing will be prohibited and boats will not be allowed into the area designated for the protection of wildlife at Rawal Lake. This is truly a remarkable achievement and will become a major contribution towards the conservation of Pakistan’s incredible fauna and flora. On 12 December 2014, an officer from the HWF accompanied me and we took boat trip over the whole area of the lake. It was a perfect moment of my life and I really missed my colleagues and friends: Shadmena, Richard and Islbirder with whose assistance the first phase is completed. This is, without doubt, a massive achievement by the HWF and huge congratulations to them. We also selected a bird watching point and I b...

I am feeling amazing these days, as many young guys from Islamabad and around the country are contacting me one way or another asking a simple question “ R U THE ONE WRITING THE BLOG BIRDING ISLAMABAD .”   Humbly, I tell them yes it’s me and Islbirder . These feelings can’t be temporary as many people are now holding their cameras and looking for birds all around Islamabad and soon a community in the Capital city will be there to raise their voice for the conservation of the Pakistan’s wonderful birdlife. It’s been long that I wanted to go out for a full day birding but Islamabad is mostly choked these days. Anyway on Sunday 7 December 2014 my friends and me from Islamabad planned a morning trip to the Margalla Hills. The light was perfect and I was expecting large numbers of birds to show up. Kharian is my favourite place in the Margallas. Beside having some time in the middle of the nature, I also interact with a few of the villagers in the area. We left around...